Alum Tantillo captures Aspire Award

Megan Tantillo
Megan Tantillo

Glenn Korff School of Music Alum Megan Tantillo was recently named Best New Director at The Aspire Awards.

The Aspire Awards, presented during the Show Choir National Finals, are the show choir industry's top awards for professionals working in, and contributing to, the advancement of show choir. These 11 categories recognize individual excellence in the areas of directing, choreography, costuming, arranging, regional competition and lifetime achievement as well as excellence by an industry professional and school in the areas of service.

Nominees are voted on by peers, making them truly an award for the industry, by the industry. Nominees are determined by an open nomination process where individuals cast votes in the said categories, and the top three vote recipients became the official nominees in each category. A call for nominees begins each January 1st with an announcement of the top nominees in each category on April 15th. Categories include Vocal Vanguard, Visual Vanguard, Best New Director, Best New Choreographer, Best Arranger, Best Costumer, Most Promising New Program, Best Regional Competition, Spirit of Service, Student Spirit of Service and Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It is a great achievement, and I am very thankful for the support of my community and my peers in the industry,” Tantillo said.

Tantillo graduated with a Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2014. Upon graduating, she accepted a job at Millard South High School as Assistant Vocal Music Director and Director of Show Choirs. She is now at Millard North High School as the Director of Choral Activities. Her responsibilities include four curricular choirs, the IB music educator, music director of the musical, and the head director of the three award-winning Millard North Show choirs.