Edward Norris III said all he could do was laugh when he received a phone call saying he was the 2025 Educator of Note winner from the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
“I was just speechless and started laughing because I was shocked,” he said.
Norris will become the 19th Long Island music teacher to be recognised by the Hall of Fame since the honor was created in 2007. The award is given to teachers who demonstrate a commitment to music education, play an active role in the community and have a significant impact on the lives of music students of all backgrounds and abilities.
Norris is the director of choral music at Glen Cove High School, conductor of the Nassau Chamber Chorale at the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and director of choirs at Long Island University. He is also an adjunct professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music, his alma mater, and at Long Island University, teaching classes on choral music education and conducting. Norris also conducts the choir at LIU.
He has worked in the Glen Cove City School District since 2002, saying that the local community has embraced him and makes him feel at home.
“I absolutely love the energy in this place,” Norris said. “This is home to me.”
In Glen Cove, Norris leads the school’s Mixed Chorus and Select Chorale and teaches courses in Music Theory and AP Music Theory. He said he enjoys working with the students and that they show him that they want to learn more about what music has to offer.
“I really feel like I’ve got the greatest kids in the world and they are so hungry and thirsty for music and experience,” Norris said.
Norris has performed in front of prominent people around the world.
In 2013, the Select Chorale was invited to perform at the White House for the president.
Three years later, Norris and the Select Chorale performed in a concert tour of Italy, which included performances at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Church of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of St. Francis and they were able to meet Pope Francis.
In 2025, they went on another international concert tour, this time in the UK, which included the European premiere of Jeffrey Ames’ Requiem for Colour as well as a performance of the Music of Ola Gjeilo with Ola Gjeilo at the piano.
Both the mixed chorus and select chorale have performed at some local historical venues as well, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Centre, Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Citi Field.
“I like to give life experience through our music. It has really been a mantra of mine throughout my career,” Norris said.
“Gold medals, national conferences, and international tours tell part of the story, but Edward Norris’ real legacy lives in the generations of students whose lives he’s transformed through music,” Tom Needham, the vice chairman of the Hall of Fame who manages its education programs, said.
Norris has also served as the choir chairperson for the National Association for Music Education All Eastern Choir and has held leadership positions in the state School Music Association and Nassau Music Educators Association.
“Long Island’s rich musical legacy has shaped generations of artists, and to play a role in nurturing that tradition through education is incredibly meaningful to me,” Norris said.
He said that the award is a shared effort and that it was a “profound honor and a deeply humbling moment” to find out that he was this year’s recipient. He also said he thanked the thousands of students he has worked with, along with his family and the Glen Cove community.
The Glen Cove music teacher will be celebrated at a special presentation ceremony on Friday, March 20, at the Hall of Fame in Stony Brook. The event will feature music performances by students from the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and by former and current Glen Cove High School students.
