Small town Alberta band director nominated for national ‘Teacher of the Year’ award

A small-town Alberta band director has been named one of five nominated for the 2026 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award.

One of the five finalists for this year’s annual MusiCounts ‘Teacher of the Year’ award, presented by Anthem Entertainment, is from Cremona School, a Kindergarten to Grade 12 school with 382 students boasting close to 145 enrolled in it’s music program.

Alex Hutcheon, band director, credits the success of the program today to the support of his administration, the community along with parents and the local band society but most importantly the kids and their love of music. He’s humbled by the nomination.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “Because I know how many amazing music educators there are in our country and to be narrowed down to one of five is, is an extreme honor.”

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Hutcheon took over the program in 2017 when it had dwindled to just a nine‑student band and was on the verge of being cut.

“Today we have four concert bands and one jazz band, so five total groups,” he said.

“Our high school band that was once nine is now about 40 kids and I think our biggest group is the grades seven and eight and they are more than 45.”

The award was established in 2005 and recognizes educators whose leadership and creativity make music a lasting part of a student’s life.

The winner receives a $10,000 cash prize, a JUNO Award statuette and a grant to support their school’s music program.

“I’m really proud to represent a K to 12 small country school,” he said. “Just to prove that you don’t have to have the population to be a successful group, you just need some direction, positive attitude and passion for music education.”

His students say Hutcheon makes music fun.

“He is absolutely hilarious,” said Claire Friesen, 15 years old. “He jokes around with us a lot, he’s really enthusiastic about band and that makes us enthusiastic, he makes sure everybody, no matter their circumstances, is able to play so even if maybe you’ve never touched an instrument before or you’ve got five years of experience, you’re all going to be able to play together and work together to be as good as possible and he is the heart and soul of that.”

Oliver Mckinnon, who is 17 years old, has been enrolled in band for seven years and is proud of Hutcheon.

“I think it’s pretty amazing,” he said. “I know he’s the only one (nominated) from Western Canada and I think he’s very deserving with how much he’s done for our program with how much other stuff he does at our school as well, like he’s our academic counselor and coaches volleyball so just with how much he does, I think he’s very deserving of it.”

Ashley Bellamy, Cremona School’s vice-principal is a graduate of the school and now her three children attend. She says Hutcheon is making a difference here.

“He does such a good job at holding the kids to a very high standard of expectation but also creating a very welcoming environment,” she said. “He shows so much passion in his teaching in music and the kids just thrive off of that and they want to do right by him.”

Hutcheon grew up in Didsbury and says his middle and high school band teachers were his mentors.

“My first instrument was tuba,” he said. “I’m getting too old to demonstrate and carry it around the classroom, so I’ve switched to the trumpet and there’s also benefits to that, when they’re learning in grade five, the trumpet can cut through the whole band and then they can get back on track with the melody if they need to.”

Hutcheon says his ‘Teacher of the Year’ journey all started with him applying for a grant to purchase more instruments for his school to keep up with the increasing student enrollment into the band program.

“The message that I want to get across is that Alberta wide there are so many amazing music educators that deserve to be recognized,” he said.

“So I encourage them to apply for a MusiCounts grant because they could easily be taking my place right now.”

Hutcheon is now headed to Hamilton where the winner will be announced Sunday March 29 at the live show.