Annelise Cassar Tedesco
A passionate educator and artist, Annelise Cassar Tedesco is Louisiana’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year. Representing the Louisiana First Foundation as the Music Ambassador, she serves students from all backgrounds and ability levels statewide by joining with Louisiana’s First Lady to advocate for the importance of music and art education, and she serves as the Educator Advisor to the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and is a member of the Educator Effectiveness Committee.
She teaches music and arts electives to 9-12 grade students at Chalmette High School, located in the Greater New Orleans area of Louisiana where she has coached multiple soloists and ensembles for scholarship and award winning auditions and competitions in destinations such as New Orleans, Chicago, Orlando, Syracuse, and New York City, where students performed on the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre.
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A founding member of the Equity and Diversity committee with determination to enrich the lives of students lacking resources and support, Annelise created and hosts Arts Strong, a series where guests share performances, pro-tips, joys, struggles and strength through connection to the arts that is filmed with a live student audience and shared for free on the internet to increase equity of access to arts and emotional education resources.
Annelise graduated from Loyola University New Orleans summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music and a minor in marketing and earned a Teaching Certification from the University of New Orleans. She is the Music Director for CHS Voices, Chalmette High School’s music and theatre and vocal arts program, and Music Director and Coordinator for College Internships and Young Artists for The Performing Arts Academy, a district-wide program she helped to create for in-depth training and accelerated learning in the arts, offered at nearly no student cost.
A professional musician who is no stranger to the concert or theatrical stage herself, some of her performance credits include Mahler for the Children of Aids, and Beethoven for the Indus Valley, two Carnegie Hall benefit concerts to raise funds and public awareness for global pediatric AIDS and victims of the 2010 Pakistani floods, and the Soprano Solo of Handel’s Messiah, a collaborative concert with musicians from Symphony Chorus of New Orleans, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Chalmette High's own Varsity Chorale. She also maintains her professional singing career on a weekly basis at Trinity Episcopal Church.
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She is a member of the National Association for Music Educators and Louisiana Music Educators Association, and she has been awarded the distinction of Louisianian of the Year by Louisiana Life Magazine and the status of Honored Citizen by St. Bernard's Parish Council.
Annelise celebrates her colleagues and challenges her students to create courageous dreams on the stage of life. #CHSCourageousDreams
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