Civic Music Milwaukee has announced its 2025 award recipients, and there are several honorees with ties to the Peck School of the Arts. Timothy Klabunde and Dr. Zachary Durlam will receive Citizen Awards, while Trinny Schumann and Cassie Wilson were recipients of the organization’s Education Awards.
Citizen Awards
Timothy Klabunde, who studied violin at UWM, will receive the Lifetime Achievement in Music award. After 44 years, Timothy retired from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where he served in both violin sections and finally as Assistant Principal Second Violinist. He began his full-time employment there at the age of 23.
Additional accolades include holding the title of Concertmaster for the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, being a soloist for the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, and being a member of the teaching staff for Cardinal Stritch University.
He spends his retirement mentoring and advocating for young musicians in the Milwaukee area programs he has helped create. A Milwaukee native, Klabunde attended UWM in the 1970s, taking up violin and studying under the members of UWM’s Fine Arts Quartet.
Dr. Zachary Durlam (Associate Professor, Choral Conducting; Director, UWM Choral Activities) will receive a Distinguished Citizen Award as a professional in the arts. Durlam serves as UWM’s Choral Activities Director, director for the Master Singers of Milwaukee, choir director for Grace Lutheran Church in Grafton, and former president of the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (WCDA).
Under his direction, UWM’s Concert Chorale has been spotlighted at numerous conferences. Along with this, his direction has also led to the Concert Chorale performing with Italian vocalist Andrea Bocelli on his 2021 “Believe” tour and UK rock band The Rolling Stones at Summerfest in 2015.
Klabunde and Durlam will receive their awards on May 7 at Live at the Ivy, a free community event showcasing musicians and community leaders from around Milwaukee at the Ivy House in Walker’s Point. All proceeds from the event go towards Civic Music MKE’s youth programming. To read their full biographies, visit Civic Music MKE.
Education Awards
Choral director Trinny Schumann (MM 2014, Music) is honored as the 2025 recipient of the Music Teacher of the Year award. Schumann received her BA in music from Carthage College, going on to receive her master’s in music from UWM in 2014. After her time at UWM, she became the Choral Director at Nicolet High School, as well as the advisor for Nicolet High’s Tri-M Music Honors Society and the Music Director for North Shore Congregational Church.
In her pursuit to bring music into community spaces, Schumann founded Dominican High School’s North Shore Catholic Music Festival and Nicolet High School’s North Shore Vocal Arts Day. She is an active member of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association, where she continues to connect music to the community.
Cassie Wilson (BFA 2006, Music Education) is a lifelong lover of music and the recipient of the General Music Instructor Certificate. After graduating from Peck School of the Arts in 2006 with a BA in Music Education, she went on to teach music in Cedarburg, WI.
After eighteen years, Wilson still has a passion for what she does and for working with students. She currently teaches over 400 students at Thorson Elementary School. In her free time, Wilson pursues her love of musical theater by holding the title of Youth Music Director for the Falls Patio Players in Menomonee Falls, WI.
Schumann and Wilson were honored on March 9 at the 2025 Educator Awards Reception and Presentation. To read their full biographies, visit Civic Music MKE.
Founded in 1918, Civic Music Milwaukee is a community arts organization that serves musicians in the greater Milwaukee area by providing resources such as scholarships, performance opportunities, award programs, and coaching opportunities to the community. For the past nine years, the organization has been led by Executive Director Nancy Herro ‘80, who earned her BA in Music Education from UWM.
Story by Payton Murphy ’27