Barry Manilow honors Gorham High music teacher with $10,000 award
Gorham High School music teacher Isaac Hawkins holding a giant check at the July 3 Barry Manilow concert at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. (Aimsel Ponti/Staff Writer)
Barry Manilow’s farewell performance at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Friday featured many hits, including “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile Without You” and the show-ending “Copacabana (At the Copa).”
It also featured a special moment for Gorham High School music teacher Isaac Hawkins, who was the recipient of the $10,000 Manilow Music Teacher Award, given by the Manilow Music Project. The project’s mission is to give young people the opportunity to experience community, passion and creativity through music.
Gorham High School music teacher Isaac Hawkins being recognized at the July 3 Barry Manilow concert at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. (Aimsel Ponti/Staff Writer)
As the contest winner who received the most votes, Hawkins, 30, received a $5,000 cash award and $5,000 “Manilow Bucks” for classroom instrument purchases.
Hawkins, who has been Gorham High School’s band director and music teacher since 2022, said he became aware of the contest last year. Voting opened in February and ran through mid-March.
Hawkins was notified at the end of March that he was the winner. About 10 other music teachers in Maine were in the running, he recalled.
Hawkins and his husband, Eddie Holmes, who teaches music at Waynflete School in Portland, attended the concert together, along with his mother-in-law, friends and colleagues who had helped spread the word about the contest.
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Before the show started, the group went backstage for a meet-and-greet with Manilow. Hawkins said that Manilow asked him why he became a music teacher, what instrument he plays and what he listened to growing up.
Hawkins was told that Manilow might mention the award on stage, which came about halfway through the show.
Manilow, his backup singers and a few members of the band performed a dazzling vocal version of the “William Tell Overture.”
Then Manilow shared a story about how his grandfather played a huge role in steering him toward music. He talked about the award and announced Hawkins as the winner. Hawkins stood up from his 10th-row seat and waved to the crowd, which applauded.
Hawkins, a native of Steelton, Pennsylvania, was floored.
“I was shocked and honored he took such a substantial amount of time out of his setlist to honor me and the work that I do,” he said.
The honor says more about his community than him, Hawkins said. “I wouldn’t be here without the people in Gorham, the people from my hometown that voted every day and my family and friends who voted.”
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Tagged: live music
Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town. More by Aimsel Ponti
