Samuel Tsugawa holds Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from Brigham Young University as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from Arizona State University. As an orchestra teacher in the public schools for 28 years, ensembles under Dr. Tsugawa’s baton had a reputation as outstanding performance groups, consistently earning superior ratings at local, state, regional, and national music festivals and competitions.
Recognized by his colleagues as an accomplished classroom teacher, Dr. Tsugawa has received state teacher of the year honors from the Utah American String Teachers Association (1996 & 2011) and the Utah Music Educators Association (2006 & 2011), Phi Delta Kappa’s Utah WalMart Teacher of the Year (2006), and the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Legacy Award for Excellence in Arts Education (2013).
Dr. Tsugawa has a growing number of publications and has presented papers and workshops at national and international research and practitioner conferences. He has published in the American String Teacher, International Journal of Community Music, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, and Advances in Music Education Research. His research and teaching interests include senior adult music learning, music teacher education, popular music, and the life and career of Merle J. Isaac. Dr. Tsugawa has served as president of the Utah Music Educators’ Association (2013-2015) and currently serves as Western Division President for the National Association for Music Education.
Education:
DMA, Music Education, Arizona State University
MM, Music Education, Brigham Young University
BM, Music Education, Brigham Young University