A passionate musician, Mrs. Means has performed music for local churches, weddings, concerts and played in symphony orchestras throughout her career.
BIRMINGHAM, AL, August 04, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dathia Frances Lanier Means, MEd, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all considered during the selection process.
Having played several instruments since her childhood and throughout her high school years as piano accompanist for the choir and violinist in the school's symphony orchestra, beginning at 13 years of age, Mrs. Means has always had an affinity for music and other academics as a National Honor Society member. This gift was instilled in her and her twin siblings through her mother, who was an educator and her father, who served in the USAAF. Now retired, she served as music educator and director of a symphony orchestra that consistently earned superior ratings for most of her 40 years at George W. Carver High School; she also served as Fine Arts Department Chairperson.
A passionate musician, Mrs. Means has performed music for local churches, weddings, concerts and played in symphony orchestras throughout her career. Additionally, she has taught high school choral music, honors English and African American literature. She serves as a deaconess and was former director of music for the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In commemorating a few of her numerous accomplishments, Mrs. Means was recognized as the Most Outstanding Educator of Birmingham 2008 of the Black Achievers Awards Gala, Woman of Distinction Award 2003 of Iota Phi Lambda, Inc.; the Arts and Letters Award 2007 of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Celebrating Leaders in the Arts 2019 Omicron Omega Chapter of AKA and an NEH fellow in 1991 at the University of Alabama. Mrs. Means is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Mrs. Means holds a B.S. degree with a double major in music education and English and a minor in social science from Alabama A&M University. She did extensive graduate studies in music and English at the University of Alabama and UAB before completing an M.Ed. degree at Cambridge College.
Determined to promote the music of Black composers by continuing to write about them and perform their works, she attributes her success to achieve her dreams by going above and beyond misinformation. She considers her most notable achievements to be her marriage to the renowned band director, Arthur Means, Jr.; her children, founding the first Black symphony orchestra of the Birmingham City Schools, which culminated into some former students taking up the baton and following her lead or just simply having a broader perspective of life and the city construction of a state-of-the art orchestral suite which is included in the Arthur Means, Jr, Fine Arts Complex of G. W. Carver High School, a first of its kind in the city.
Recognizing that numerous people are unaware that a significant number of Black individuals have composed classical music for the orchestra, Mrs. Means feels that the study of Black history and the arts is substantially absent in education. Currently, she is writing a book to help fill the void in this phenomenon.
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