Joe Giles joined the Music Educators National Conference student chapter (today’s CMENC) while an undergraduate at Austin Peay State University. He served as president of that chapter in 1960-61 when it was the largest student chapter in Tennessee. He attended his first Southern Division conference in Asheville, North Carolina in 1960. While teaching in Metro Nashville Public Schools, Joe served as president of Middle Tennessee Vocal Association. This led to his membership on the Tennessee Music Educators Association (TMEA) board and, subsequently, to his election as president of TMEA in 1980-82. He served as All-State choral chair, All-State general chair, conference program chair and conference general chair on several occasions.
While serving as Director of Arts Education Programs at the Tennessee Department of Education, Giles was nominated for president of MENC’s Southern Division. He held that position, with its accompanying membership on the MENC National Executive Board, from 1994-1996. He was a member of the National Standards Task Force and helped to lead the process of adoption of the Standards by the Tennessee State Board of Education.
Giles also served as president of the National Council of State Supervisors of Music, and has represented MENC in various capacities on committees and as speaker and/or clinician in more than a dozen states. In 1988, he was given the Governor’s Award for Arts Education by Governor Ned R. McWhorter. This award reflected Joe’s many accomplishments in the area of arts education—but particularly his role as founder of the Tennessee Arts Academy, a nationally recognized summer program in arts education that has profoundly influenced Tennessee teachers in the areas of music drama/theatre, and the visual arts.