Addison Trail Band Director receives Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator award

Addison Trail Band Director Mark Corey recently received the Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator award.

To receive that honor, a music educator must be nominated by a colleague and selected by a committee of previous winners and prominent Chicago-area college band directors. The Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator awards are sponsored by Quinlan & Fabish Music Company and were established in 1989 as a tribute to professional music educators from the Chicago area. This year, two high school and four junior high school educators received the award. Corey and the other recipients will be recognized June 11 in Montgomery.

“I’m surprised and humbled to receive this award,” Corey said. “It’s very exciting to be recognized by your peers for doing your job well.”

Corey, a lifelong trombone musician, began his music career after graduating from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in classical performance. He began his career in education in Lyons as a beginning band and junior high band director. After four years in Lyons, Corey came to Addison Trail in 1995.

Corey said earning a Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator award has special meaning for him because so many of his mentors and fellow educators have received the award. Those include Leo Henning (Corey’s high school band director); Leo’s son, Pat Henning; Roman Palmer and Bob McNulty (former Indian Trail Junior High School band directors); and Bill Gilmer (Willowbrook Band Director).

“I’m honored to be considered in the same league as them,” Corey said. “There’s an expectation now to keep pushing the envelope, and I enjoy that challenge.”

But Corey knows he didn’t reach this level of success on his own. He credits his music peers at Addison Trail (Music Department Chair Dan O’Connell and Choir Director Jeff Nellessen) and Indian Trail (Directors Lawrence Underwood and George Andrikokus) for supporting him.

“I couldn’t do it without all of them,” Corey said. “It’s truly a team effort.”