On Thursday, May 18, former Pioneer School District Orchestra teacher Nanci Bailey will be inducted into the Pioneer Music Department Performing Arts Wall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will occur during the annual String Fling concert at 6:30 p.m., inside George C. Crawford Auditorium at Pioneer High School. There will be a reception prior to the concert in Room D-150, starting at 6:00 p.m.
When Mrs. Bailey came to Pioneer in 1973, the district had recently been centralized and had no string program. She spent the next 40 years until her retirement in 2013 establishing, building, and maintaining the string program at Pioneer.
ABOVE: Nanci Bailey (center) is shown in 2003 with fellow music department teachers April Woolley, Kim Higgins, Donna Catalano, and Jared Burch.
Besides taking top honors with her orchestra in many competitions and consistently having her students selected for All-County, Area All-State and All-State, Mrs. Bailey earned impressive professional honors. She conducted the Niagara County Music Educators Association Orchestra multiple times and was the 2001 recipient of the Erie County Music Educators Association/Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra award for excellence in music education.
Mrs. Bailey has been a member of the Orchard Park Symphony Orchestra since 1973, serving as principal cellist since 1982, and personnel manager from 2000 to 2012. Additionally, she performs with the Cheektowaga Symphony, Clarence Summer Orchestra, Four Seasons Orchestra, Genesee Community, and Southern Tier Symphony.
Mrs. Bailey was the liaison between Pioneer and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for the Stained-Glass Music Series and BPO Community Nights Series between 1984 and 1997. She also served many years as the Music Department chairperson at Pioneer.
Current Music Department Chairperson Jared Burch said, "Come help us celebrate Nanci's induction for the Wall Of Fame!"