Martha Summa-Chadwick
A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga alumna has been recognized by a national organization for creative achievement in music.
Martha Summa-Chadwick has been chosen as an Honored Artist of The American Prize for 2022. The award is given to individuals and ensembles that have shown outstanding creative or intellectual achievement.
The recognition was announced as part of The American Prize’s annual Independence Day Honors. Other honorees included Erie Mills, PARMA Recordings, Gloriae Dei Cantores, Arts Quincy, conductor Paul Mauffray and composer John Muehleisen.
Summa-Chadwick earned a Master of Music degree from UTC in 1996 and is a well-known piano and harpsichord soloist who has performed with orchestras across the country.
A leading expert in the use of music therapy for children on the autism spectrum, she is executive director of Music Therapy Gateway in Communication, a nonprofit she founded in 2003. The organization brings together healthcare providers, musicians, music therapists, educators, caregivers and IT professionals.
Summa-Chadwick partnered with UTC in April 2021 to create a virtual concert presentation, “Power of Music.” The concert, which also included tenor Richard Cox and violinist Mark Reneau, was recorded in Cadek Hall and is available on YouTube.
The concert’s website also includes panel discussions with Summa-Chadwick; Stuart Benkert, former head of the UTC Division of Music; Bob Bernhardt, music director emeritus and principal pops conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera; and Rick Rader, director of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center at the Orange Grove Center in Chattanooga.
