RACA Award
The Rome Arts Champion Award
(“The R.A.C.A.”)
Definition: The Rome Arts Champion Award was established in 2012 to be given annually to an organization or individual that has demonstrated the highest level of unselfish service to the Greater Rome community through the Arts.
Eligibility: An eligible recipient must be a member of the Greater Rome community. Current RACA Board Members are ineligible to receive the award.
Nomination and Election: Only current RACA members may nominate a potential recipient. Nominations will be made via email and/or mail. We are currently accepting nominations for our 2013 R.A.C.A. winner! To nominate, send the nominee's name and brief summary of their qualifications to info@romearts.org or P.O. Box 203, Rome, GA 30162. Nominations were due Monday, April 1, 2013. The Secretary of the Board will collect all nominations. The Secretary will present each nominee to the RACA Board for discussion and consideration, after which time a preliminary slate of final candidates will be created by unanimous board consent. The board will vote on such final candidates until one receives a simple majority vote by the Board members who are present to vote. A board quorum must be established in order for a slate to be created or vote to be taken. The board may elect multiple recipients to receive the award in any given year, and it may also elect to present the award to a recipient more than once or posthumously. The board will elect the recipient each spring and recognize the award winner publicly at the RACA spring event, Fire Fly Fling.
2012 R.A.C.A. Winner
Harry Musselwhite is Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of Choral Activities at Berry College. A Thomson, Georgia native, he received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia, and his Master of Music degree from Indiana University.
Early on, Harry Musselwhite made a commitment to the arts in Rome and Northwest Georgia. His popular columns on arts and southern culture have appeared regularly for over twenty years in The Rome News Tribune, and he has championed Rome music in the Georgia Music News and Georgia Music Magazine. He has made countless radio appearances and has appeared on Atlanta television supporting northwest Georgia arts.
Harry was choirmaster at Rome’s St. Peter’s Episcopal Church for eighteen years. He led major performances throughout his tenure at St. Peter’s and initiated its popular concert series.
Harry is a passionate teacher and continues the tradition of his mentor and teacher, the legendary Metropolitan Opera soprano Margaret Harshaw. Harry’s vocal students have appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, The London Philharmonic and many more. Harry’s students are choral directors, church musicians, and professional singers the world over, and he has trained two winners of the Atlanta Music Club Competition, including this year’s winner, soprano Amanda Guidi.
Harry has also served as Executive Director of the Rome Area Council of the Arts, and has served as a member of the boards of The Rome Symphony Orchestra, RACA, and Georgia Public Television. He is also a past recipient of RACA’s Artist of the Year Award.
Harry is Executive Director Emeritus of The Rome International Film Festival, and is an accomplished and award winning filmmaker and screenwriter. His films have screened at film festivals throughout the United States, and he boasts Hollywood and New York management.
Harry’s screenplays have been finalists or semi-finalists in Hollywood’s Kairos Prize, The Charleston International Film Festival, and Athens, Georgia’s Dixie Film Festival. His children’s book, “Martin the Guitar,” will be published this summer.
Of all his accomplishments, Harry is most proud of his wonderful family. Wife Laura is an historian and associate vice president at Georgia Highlands College; daughter Dory is an accomplished music teacher in the Gwinnett County School System; and son Austin will be a freshman at Georgia Tech in the fall of 2012.
It is our great honor to present the first annual Rome Arts Champion Award to Mr. Harry Musselwhite!
