A renowned musician, vocalist and teacher, Earl Coleman has applied his considerable talents to help others become successful performers in their own right. Many of those students remember Coleman as the teacher who made a difference in their lives. Thanks to his guidance and coaching, some of them have been nominated for Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards and performed in opera houses, musical theaters and symphonies across the country.

Coleman recently retired from Columbus State University in Georgia where he served as Curry Eminent Faculty Scholar Chair in Voice and Dean. His extensive teaching career has included time at Hickman High School, Columbia College, Stephens College and University of Missouri; The Barstow School in Kansas City; Bemidji State University; University of Tennessee-Chattanooga; University of Memphis; and University of Michigan.

A seasoned baritone, who has sung with more than 60 orchestras, Coleman earned a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in voice and violin performance and education from the MU School of Music. He also trained at The Julliard School, University of Michigan, Aspen Music Festival and Chautauqua Institute. In 2007, his friends, family and former students established the Earl Coleman Music Scholarship in MU’s School of Music. In 2010, he was selected as one of four Master Teachers for the National Intern Program of the National Association of Teachers of Singing—a lifetime designation.

Many Ozarkers may know Steve Grant as the man to trust for local news, but his former Hillcrest High School classmates remember him as the “morning announcements guy.”

Grant acquired that nickname his junior year but his path toward broadcast stardom began as a freshman in speech and debate competing in radio newscasting. At one competition, a judge, who was broadcast news department chair at University of Missouri and a former CBS Radio network anchor, wrote “has network potential” on Grant’s critique.

Committed to developing his skills, Grant began working as a newscaster at KTXR-FM in the 10th grade. Upon graduation, he received a scholarship to Evangel University and while attending there began an internship at KY3. By the time he earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications, he was a full-time newsroom employee. He never left and now Grant anchors the noon and evening newscasts. His work has garnered him two Emmys, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award, and two honorary doctorate degrees—one from his alma mater, Evangel, in 2020, and another from College of the Ozarks in 2012. Grant is currently president of the NATAS Mid-America Chapter of the Emmy Awards.

Beyond his professional achievements, Grant has demonstrated a commitment to community service. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Springfield Workshop Foundation and has played a key role in KY3’s Honor Flight of the Ozarks mission, helping to raise more than $1 million to send almost 1,400 World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., from 2009 to 2011.