Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards 2026: vote for the Lifetime Achievement Winner!
31 August 2026, 11:41 | Updated: 7 September 2026, 11:17
We have revealed the shortlist of five nominees for the Lifetime Achievement Award, in the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards 2026 with ABRSM. Vote now!
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The Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards, in partnership with the UK’s leading music exam board ABRSM, recognise and reward the UK’s incredible music teachers.
Every year, we celebrate inspiring musical educators from across the nation who are making a real difference to the musical lives of young people. And now, nominations are open again for 2026 – with a total of £20,000 of musical equipment to be won thanks to Viking!
Nominations have now closed for the following categories:
- Primary School Music Teachers (Ages 4-11)
- Secondary School Music Teachers (Ages 11-18)
- SEND Music Teachers
- Visiting Music Teachers & Private Tutors
- Best Classical Music Community Programme
We will be announcing the five winners, chosen by our panel of expert industry judges, in due course.
Before we announce the winners, we are putting the sixth and final category, the Lifetime Achievement Award, to a public vote!
The six category winners in The Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards will each receive a share from a pot of £20,000 of music equipment of their choice for their school, all thanks to Viking. Votes close at 23:59 on Sunday 6 September 2026.
Vote for your winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award now >
Lifetime Achievement Award nominees:
- Alison Cox, Bushey
Alison has spent nearly 40 years teaching at The Purcell School, where she founded the UK’s first specialist composition department in a specialist music school. She has created opportunities for composition students to hear their works performed by world-class musicians, and has developed outreach courses, online learning, and projects for students to get involved in composition beyond the Purcell School. Alison also founded ‘IMPULSE’, a student-led outreach programme where Purcell students run workshops and performances for children in school and the local community, and ‘The Commonwealth Resounds’, a programme that brings young people across Commonwealth countries together through music, in collaborative projects and cultural exchange.
- Barbara Clarkson, Maidenhead
Barbara’s teaching career has spanned almost 60 years, 47 of which have been spent at Newlands Girls’ School. In 1979, she founded the Madrigal Choir at the school, and has continued to run it ever since. Barbara organised European tours for the choir, and continually adapted the choir’s repertoire and style to ensure it remained relevant, inclusive and engaging. The choir has performed at some of London’s most prestigious venues, including the Royal Albert Hall and the Southbank Centre, and has appeared on national TV and radio broadcasts.
- Cathy Beeby, Bournemouth
Cathy has been running the Bournemouth Youth Handbell Team since she founded it 21 years ago, running weekly rehearsals and termly performances since 2005. She arranges music for the ensemble herself, and inspires her students to compose their own original works too. Cathy began her career as a Primary School Teacher, before moving to the Bournemouth area and progressing to Director of Music in a prep school alongside a career in community work as a freelance musician. She then moved to Bournemouth School for Girls where she ran two choirs and a vocal ensemble, and added handbells to the extra-curricular programme. Under Cathy’s leadership, the Bournemouth Youth Handbell Team has performed on stages across the world, from the Royal Albert Hall to the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
- Lesley Gibbens, Leeds
Across a 44-year career, Lesley has taught violin and viola, and occupied Head of Music positions at various schools. Despite being retired, Lesley continues to work at Horsforth Music Centre on Saturday mornings, and runs summer orchestra clubs for young people. Anyone at any level can join the orchestra she founded there 43 years ago, to play music from Vivaldi to ‘Wallace and Gromit’. Lesley also runs the Music Centre’s Adult Strings Group for more advanced players, but encourages adult learners at any level to join at the back and play what they can. For the Centre’s 50th anniversary, Lesley co-ordinated, conducted, and co-orchestrated a performance of ‘Mr Bluesky’ with over 160 musicians of all ages and abilities, including full orchestra, choir, rock bands, SEND groups and ‘Little Learners’.
- Stephanie Jarvis, Kent
Stephanie began teaching music in 2003, starting with a recorder ensemble in a primary school and progressing quickly by learning saxophone, clarinet and trumpet to become a visiting wind instrument teacher. In 2005, Stephanie founded ‘Notable’, a music teaching business, and by 2008 she was teaching wind instruments in 8 primary schools as a Lead Teacher. Stephanie has co-ordinated large-scale performances and projects, including a concert featuring 500 children from 11 schools, as well as the Schools Experience Day at the Kent Music Summer School. Stephanie also founded the Hextable Wind Band in 2009, and the Hextable Training Band in 2021, creating opportunities for musicians at all ages and levels to perform for the local community.
Vote for your winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award now >
