Faculty

Elizabeth V. Eccles, M.M.Ed.

A Norfolk, Virginia native, Mrs. Eccles is the Music Education Coordinator of the Department of Music. She taught choral music in the Norfolk City School System for more than thirty years prior to her 2001 retirement. Since receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Norfolk State University, Mrs. Eccles has earned a Master of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. Her musical career has included music teaching positions at the pre-school, elementary, secondary, and university levels. Her career has also encompassed that of church organist/pianist/choir director and soloist appointments.

Mrs. Eccles' musical expertise has afforded her the opportunity to conduct music workshops, serve as a music judge for festivals and other vocal music competitions as well as clinician for various churches, musical organizations and school systems throughout the Eastern United States. She rose to prominence among her peers as a presenter at several Virginia Music Educators annual in-service conferences-one of which was an impressive lecture/demonstration session on African American 'spirituals'.

The position of being the "first" has been a trademark of Mrs. Eccles' career. Her secondary school cooperating teacher broke with tradition and allowed her to conduct the school choir in a performance of Howard Hanson's "Song of Democracy" for a master performance class presentation at Norfolk State (College) University. She was among the first African-American teachers to be placed in one of Norfolk's all-white schools, during school integration, when she began teaching in 1966. She was the first to establish an all male chorus class while a teacher at the middle school level and she was among the first Norfolk music teacher to present a performing group at the state conference.

Elizabeth Eccles has earned many accolades and awards during her career including voted Teacher of the Year in 1989 and 1996 by the Booker T. Washington High School faculty, a repeated recipient of the Norfolk Public School Bell Award for excellence in teaching, and named Who's Who Among American Teachers in 1998 and 2002. In 1999, she was honored by the Norfolk State University Music Department as an outstanding alumna. One of the greatest achievements of her career is being selected Music Educator of the Year 1996-1997 by the Virginia Music Educators Association - the first and only African American to receive this honor.

She holds membership in the Music Educators National Conference, Virginia Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association , Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, Phi Delta Kappa Faternity, National Association for the Study of Performance of African American Music where she serves as Financial Secretary, Tidewater Area Musicians chapter of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the Norfolk Chapter of Norfolk State University Alumni Association. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the I. Sherman Greene Chorale and she is also a member of Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church, Norfolk.