Marie Forte - Bellingham Public Schools

Marie Forte is the Fine Arts Department Coordinator K-12 and Band Director at Bellingham High School. She conducts the BHS Concert Band, 8th Grade Band, co-curricular Marching Band and Jazz Band, as well as teaches a variety of elective courses. Ms. Forte completed her Master of Music Degree in Music Education with a concentration in wind conducting from Rhode Island College and completed her Bachelor of Music Education at the University of New Hampshire. She has studied conducting with Andrew Boysen, Jr. and Robert Franzblau and flute with Peggy Vagts, Faith Williard, and MaryEllen Guzzio. She has been a conductor and staff member with American Music Abroad, and completed performance tours to Europe with a high school honors band, orchestra and choir in 2017, 2015 and 2013. She is a recipient of the Blackstone Valley Superintendents’ Collaborative Promising Practices Award, the Bridgewater State University Innovative Curriculum Grant, and several grants from the Bellingham Cultural Council. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) as Concert Festival Co-Chair and Host for the Band & Orchestra Festival and previously served as Central District Representative. She is a member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and National Association for Music Education.

The Massachusetts Instrumental Conductors Association's Paul Smith Hall of Fame Award is presented annually to a Massachusetts music conductor who is a musical and personal inspiration to students, the community and other professional conductors. Admission to the Hall of Fame is limited to two conductors per year.

In presenting this award, the MICCA Executive Board wishes to recognize persons who best represent the high personal, musical, and professional teaching standards of the late Paul Smith, Sr., former Director of Music in the Abington, Massachusetts, Public School System.

The criteria for the award is as follows

• Have a minimum of ten years as a Massachusetts conductor.
• Have a variety of conducting experiences
• Be active in promoting the values of music education both in the local community and throughout the state.
• Recognize the importance of regular professional growth in the music field.
• Be a model of professionalism who supports MICCA activities.

MICCA wishes to honor worthy educators with this award and asks fellow music educators to be a part of the process. You are invited to nominate someone who has the qualifications and you feel is deserving.

Nominations will be accepted until December 7th, 2023.

Click here to electronically submit the Paul Smith Hall of Fame Nomination Form.

Click here for a list of the members of The MICCA Paul Smith Hall of Fame.