Announcing the Winner of the 2025 Avivo Prize, Dr. Amanda Weber

Dr. Amanda Weber is a long-time church musician and educator who is currently in her eighth year as Director of Worship and the Arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, MN. This year she also serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Macalester College, where she leads two choral ensembles and inspires a new generation of singers.

Weber received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota in 2018, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music in 2013, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Art from Luther College in 2008.

Teaching is one of Amanda’s core passions—whether in the classroom or the rehearsal room—and she approaches music as a language, believing that making music begins with learning every facet of that language.

Amanda is the Founder and Artistic Director of Voices of Hope, an organization that creates singing communities in Minnesota prisons. Convinced that community singing is a powerful tool for restorative justice, she has presented widely on the intersections of incarceration and choral music and in 2016 was invited to speak at a TEDx Minneapolis Salon.

As a teacher, Weber journeys alongside her students “in making discoveries about music and themselves.” “I'm teaching music,” she often says, “but I'm really teaching kindness in disguise.”

Amanda’s philosophy of singing as a potent avenue for healing and restorative justice beautifully extends the legacy of our mentor, Grace Newsom Cushman, whose passion was helping students discover their unique creative voice with courage and authenticity. We are certain that Mrs. Cushman, whose legacy we honor with the Avivo Prize, would be thrilled by the transformational impact Amanda is making in the world.

Amanda plans to use the prize money for some international travel next summer.

 

The world of music education has many luminaries, but few shine as brightly as Pamela Layman Quist. Her influence can be traced back to her days as an undergraduate student under the guidance of the visionary Grace Newsom Cushman. As a Peabody Institute faculty member, Mrs. Cushman founded the Junior Conservatory Camp, which taught the language of music through improvisation and composition. Grace saw the potential in two of her students, Pamela Layman Quist and David Hogan. She invited them to join the faculty of the Junior Conservatory Camp and expressed her faith to her colleague Lynn Taylor Hebden that they should carry forward her pioneering work.

True to Mrs. Cushman's vision, after her passing in 1972, a new era began. Pam, along with David Hogan (Hoagie) and Lynn Hebden (Mrs. H.), birthed The Walden School to perpetuate the spirit and teachings of the Junior Conservatory Camp. With its foundation rooted in the Cushman Musicianship Course, Walden School became a sanctuary for budding musicians. Through her 40 year tenure, Walden thrived, becoming internationally recognized as a training ground for holistic musicians capable of effecting positive change in the world around them.

As the sole living founder of Walden, Pamela Quist continues to carry forward the legacy of Grace Cushman through the work of Avivo, a consortium of Teaching Artists, dedicated to preserving and advancing Grace Cushman's foundational concepts of integrated creative learning. The Avivo team, several of whom were a part of the founding generation of The Walden School, share a commitment to inspire learners to embrace music as a living language and nurture their authentic creative voices.

As we reflect on the life of Pam, it becomes unmistakably clear: she is more than an educator; she is a prolific and inspirational mentor. Through her unwavering commitment, she has nurtured countless young artists, empowering them to create and express themselves with authenticity. Her story is a powerful model of dedication to and passion for transformative education.

Today we celebrate a woman, who stepped into leadership at the age of 23, and has continued to give the world an immeasurable gift of musical enlightenment. Here's to Pamela Layman Quist, the heartbeat of a musical legacy that will undoubtedly inspire many more generations to come.