Marguerite McCormick Founder's Award
John Silantien | 2021 Honoree
The Board of Directors of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio is pleased to announce John Silantien as the 2021 recipient of the Marguerite McCormick Founder’s Award for Excellence. Named in honor of founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Marguerite McCormick, this annual award is presented to an individual or organization demonstrating significant contributions to the mission and values of CCSA and whose work advances arts in the lives of young people in greater San Antonio.
Dr. Silantien served as the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at San Antonio for several decades, and was instrumental in both the development and success of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio. He, is celebrating his 38th season as the Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers, and recently announced he will retire from this position in June 2022 following the group’s tour to Scotland, Wales, and England. Dr. Silantien has taught and conducted choirs on the secondary and collegiate levels in Texas, the Washington, DC, area, and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois. His awards include a Rockefeller grant for choral conducting at Aspen, Colorado, and a Fulbright award for research in London, England.
Between 1992 and 1998, he served as Editor of the Choral Journal, the official publication of the American Choral Directors Association, with a circulation of over 18,000. Choirs under his direction have been invited to perform before the Music Educators National Conference, the American Choral Directors Association, the Texas Choral Directors Association, and the Texas Music Educators Association. They have sung in New York City’s Lincoln Center and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His orchestral conducting credits include performances with the San Antonio Symphony, the San Antonio Pops, and New York’s West Side Chamber Orchestra, as well as CD recordings of three Mozart piano concertos with the Moscow State Radio Orchestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 1994 conducting Mozart’s Requiem, returning in 2008 for a performance of Mozart’s Solemn Vespers.
Dr. Silantien serves frequently as adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor. During the summer of 1999, he lectured at an international conference of choral musicians held in Brasilia, Brazil. He is listed in the International Who’s Who in Music and Who’s Who among America’s Teachers.
Gary Mabry | 2020 Honoree
The Board of Directors of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio is pleased to announce Gary Mabry as the 2020 recipient of the Marguerite McCormick Founder’s Award for Excellence. Named in honor of founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Marguerite McCormick, this annual award is presented to an individual or organization demonstrating significant contributions to the mission and values of CCSA and whose work advances arts in the lives of young people in greater San Antonio.
Dr. Mabry is Professor Emeritus of the UTSA music department, having served 28 years as a choral director, voice teacher, and conducting instructor. He recently served as the Interim Artistic Director (2019-2020) for CCSA, developing young singers and leading the team of directors during a time of transition for the organization. He continues to voluntarily serve as Artistic Advisor. During his tenure as interim AD, he successfully arranged for CCSA singers to perform with the All-State Choir and Orchestra at the 2020 Texas Music Educators Association TMEA) convention. This opportunity with TMEA helped the singers expand their amazing experiences, build on their artistic excellence, and introduced CCSA to music educators across the state. At UTSA, he founded and conducted both the Women’s Choir and Men’s Glee Club. He has served on the Executive Board of the Texas Choral Directors Association as Vice President of the Church Music Division and is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association. He has served as the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Women’s Choirs for TCDA and has been a conducting mentor for the TCDA Student Conductors Symposium. From 1993 to 2006 he was the Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Antonio Choral Society and served several years as Chorus Master of the San Antonio Opera. His continuous mentoring of musicians and directors is still building on his wonderful legacy.
Irma Taute | 2019 Honoree
The Board of Directors of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio is pleased to announce Irma Taute as the 2019 recipient of the Marguerite McCormick Founder’s Award for Excellence. Named in honor of founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Marguerite McCormick, this annual award is presented to an individual or organization demonstrating significant contributions to the mission and values of CCSA and whose work advances arts in the lives of young people in greater San Antonio.
Irma Taute is a respected and beloved music educator and served as an associate director for CCSA for 20 years. Taute has taught in two school districts in San Antonio, the Texas cities of Alice and Kingsville, Texas A&I (A&M) University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from Texas A&I (A&M) University in Kingsville. A frequently contracted choral clinician and adjudicator, Taute also conducted middle school region choirs and prepared choruses for the San Antonio Symphony. She has held leadership positions for TMEA Regions 11 and 12, the South Texas chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers. Taute conducted the advanced-level Youth Chorale and intermediate-level Choristers for CCSA and was an integral component in the creation of the Neighborhood Choir program. She has influenced countless young musicians with her gracious and positive spirit, tireless energy, and keen sensitivity to her singers’ personal growth into young adulthood.