SILER CITY, N.C. — Dr. Zachary D. Wills, the Silk Hope School music teacher who organized and directed the pit orchestra for Jordan-Matthews High School’s North Carolina Premiere of “Frozen: The Broadway Musical,” has been named the 2024 JMArts Community Hero.

Presented this year for the fifth time, the annual award was created to honor a volunteer from the community who has contributed significantly to the success of the arts at Jordan-Matthews High School.

Wills is a music educator currently teaching general music and band at Silk Hope School. He has served in the Marine Corps bands as an instrumentalist and small ensemble leader for 13 years, and has taught music for more than two decades to students from kindergarten through graduate school. He received his doctorate in music education this spring from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

JMArts President Rose Pate said Wills’s contribution was more than anyone could have expected when he volunteered last summer to serve as “Frozen” orchestra director. Not only did he recruit, rehearse and direct the 20-member ensemble, a collaboration of students and teachers across Chatham County Schools, but Wills served as a musical consultant at every stage of the production. And it came at a critical time, when “Frozen” was being developed with an entirely new fine arts faculty.

“Zach’s participation was a critical part of ‘Frozen’ production planning, especially with five new arts teachers,” Pate said. “His enthusiasm and musicianship brought together students, staff, alumni and community members — and created a landmark theater experience for our cast and community.”

This year’s award was presented remotely from The Chatham Rabbit as part of JMArts’s unveiling celebration for the next musical. “Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical” will fill the JM stage during the spring semester with three public performances on March 14-16.

“Thank you to all from the bottom of my heart,” said Wills after accepting the award. “I count it a blessing to have been involved in some small way with such a successful year for the arts at JM and in Chatham County.”

Previous JMArts Community Hero Award winners are Cynthia Bredenberg, Dr. William “Chip” Pate, Sharon Allen and Denise Partin.

More information about JMArts is available online at JMArts.org. The site includes a list of all student award winners over the last several years and details about many foundation initiatives including its flagship JMArts Scholars.

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