Anne M. Fennell, M.Ed.

Anne Fennell is the Western Division President-Elect of the National Association for Music Education, Immediate Past President of the California Music Educators Association, and recently retired UTK-12 Music Program Manager for the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, CA.  She is currently the Advocacy Chair for Music for All and meets regularly with a collaborative team of music educators, identifying current needs in advocacy. Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in music education, a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies, a California Administrative Credential, Orff-Schulwerk certification for levels I, II, and III, and holds additional training and certifications in global music studies, conflict resolution, character education, learner-centered/personalized learning, Gifted and Talented Education, and Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development. Her experiences include 6 years as an arts administrator/supervisor and 32 years as a music educator teaching Kindergarten through Grade 12 music education, integrated arts and music, leading performance ensembles in civic and professional organizations and national conferences, including the annual NAMM Board of Directors meeting (2013 & 2016), and teaching three levels of both steel drum ensembles and music composition through technology, grades 9-12.  Her ensembles have been featured in both InTune Monthly and NAfME’s Teaching Music magazines.

As the UTK-12 Music Program Manager for the San Diego Unified School District, she directly supervised and evaluated 33 elementary music educators who provide music education to 4th- and 5th-grade students at 121 elementary schools. She was hired to develop a team of teachers, implement standards-based learning and teaching, unify best professional and educational practices, ensure that all students receive a high-quality music education, and create systems and procedures to monitor and distribute the $2 million instrument inventory.  As a supervisor, she held monthly staff meetings to provide timely and relevant information and professional learning, and worked with teachers to implement school board directives.  She built relationships with all music teachers and administrators and communicated easily with site principals across 165 schools to assist in hiring and providing support for secondary music teachers through professional learning and necessary coaching. Anne also organized and coordinated 6 district-wide honor ensembles and special performances each year, placing students in world-class venues such as The Rady Shell, The Jacobs Music Center, and San Diego Civic Theatre.  Additionally, Ms. Fennell was the Visual and Performing Arts Department Content Area Lead and attended weekly meetings with all other academic subjects to align outcomes for both elementary and secondary programs. 

Anne Fennell is also a recognized presenter and clinician at professional conferences and workshops at local, regional, national, and international levels, including the International Society of Music Education, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France and in London, England, the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, the National Parent-Teacher Association, Tennessee Arts Academy, National Association for Music Education, California Music Educators Association, and numerous music education conferences and school districts throughout the United States. She supported beginning teachers in multiple subjects through the California Beginning Teachers Assessment program and was also an invited speaker for the U.S. Department of Education’s Research to Best Practice Conference in Washington D.C., which highlighted her curriculum and supporting research that identified positive statistical correlations between second language acquisition and music education. 

In Vista Unified School District, between 2015 and 2019, Anne was chosen as a co-creator of content and professional learning to infuse creativity and critical thinking in all subject matter for K-12 teachers. This was supported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris, France) to provide preliminary data to assess creativity and critical thinking for the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Test. She presented on behalf of Vista Unified for the OECD throughout that time period in London and Paris, sharing results of teachers’ professional learning.

During the summer of 2018, Ms. Fennell presented a keynote address for the Beijing Music Education Conference, as a guest of NAMM, followed by a workshop on creativity and critical thinking, and in the fall of 2015, Anne presented a keynote at the first China Conference for Music Education in Shanghai to an audience of 2000+ in attendance, addressing the Whole Musician, followed by workshops in music composition.

Ms. Fennell has made advocacy presentations and walked Capitol Hill, sharing the benefits of music education with our senators and representatives. She has also served as a consultant for school districts on assessment, standards-based learning, creativity, composition, technology, and integrated arts programs. Her publications include titles from Pearson Education and Silver Burdett, MusicVentures created with a U.S. Department of Education research grant in conjunction with NAMM, Disney – Baby and Little Einsteins, Labels for Education: Discovery Through Music with the GRAMMY Foundation, and K-12 integration connections for the Roots of Rhythm curriculum. She was a Sub-Committee Music Writing Team member for the National Core Arts Music Standards and is a 2016-2018 member of the NAfME General Music Education Council and the 2014-2016 member and 2016-2020 Chair of the National Association for Music Education Innovations Council. Anne has also published numerous articles in various music association magazines.

As the past National Association for Music Education Council Chair for Innovations, she created a national team of 8 educators from middle school through university to provide definitions and models expanding pathways in music education so that all students could find themselves in music, and started the movement to identify language that was marginalizing programs outside of the traditional band, choir, and orchestra classes. In 2018, Anne was the Innovations Lead at the NAfME National Conference, opening with a keynote and providing 2 days of immersive professional learning in innovative music education practices for teachers from around the United States.

In 2024, Anne was awarded the NAMM Make Music Award, and in 2020, Anne received the Technology in Music Education National Teacher of the Year. In 2017, she was honored as the National Magnet School Teacher of the Year and U.S. Region 8 Teacher of the Year, and in 2016, she was chosen as a top 10 Finalist for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award.  Ms. Fennell received the California Music Educators Association’s President’s Award (2025) and Award for Innovation in Music Education (2017), California Music Educators Association’s Southern Border Section Innovation in Music Education (2016), Illuminating Culture Award (2013), Outstanding Music Educator Award, Southern Border Section (2008), and Teacher of the Year in Vista Unified School District.