Algonquin native piano teacher given national Teacher of the Year award

Algonquin native Dr. Janice Larson Razaq has been named the 2023 Teacher of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association.

The Music Teachers National Association is the oldest music teacher organization in the county, being founded 1876. The nonprofit organization supports and helps music teachers grow professionally.

Razaq, an Algonquin resident, is the director of Keyboard Studies at Harper College in Palatine, where she has been teaching since the 1970s. She teaches individual and group piano lessons to anyone ages 6 to 80 at Harper College’s Community Music Center.

“I want to teach whoever I come in contact with to love music,” Razaq said. “I certainly don’t have any ambitions to make them all into professional musicians. I just want them to be able to enjoy music and share it with their families and their communities.”

The Teacher of the Year award is “our most prestigious of the individual awards for a teacher,” said Gary Ingle, Music Teachers National Association executive director and CEO. He said he personally knows Razaq since she has been a member of the organization for over 50 years.

I want to teach whoever I come in contact with to love music. I certainly don’t have any ambitions to make them all into professional musicians. I just want them to be able to enjoy music and share it with their families and their communities.”

—  Janice Razaq

Razaq has an extensive resume, from attending the Royal Academy of Music in London as a Fulbright recipient to working with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

“She was a very difficult person to beat because she has such a broad and impressive background as a teacher,” Ingle said.

She was nominated by the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, where she was awarded as Illinois Teacher of the Year in 2022. The national award was given to Razaq in March in Reno, Nevada, at the Music Teachers National Association’s conference.

“It was quite an achievement because every state submits their own teacher of the year,” Razaq said.

For future projects, she has an ambition to create a bird-themed recital soon.

“I think probably this last award is a crowning achievement,” Razaq said. “To be honored nationally was really special.”