In Memoriam

margaret knight

July 3, 1938 – May 7, 2023

Margaret E. Knight passed away on May 7, 2023 at the age of 84 in Southampton, NJ; a beloved wife of 44 years to the Rev. Arthur J. Knight.

Margaret E. Knight was a musician and private piano teacher in Shamong, New Jersey, who had been teaching in her own studio since she came to the United States from England in 1972. In England, she was the assistant to the head of the music department at Thistley Hough School for Girls in Stoke-on-Trent, England, between 1959 and 1965. Later, she headed the music department at the Macclesfield High School for Girls in England from 1966 to 1972. Between 1963 and 1972, she was an adjunct faculty member of music, teaching piano and conducting, at Crewe Teachers College. Additionally, she spent much of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s as secretary of the Conservative Party in Congleton, England, and served on the Congleton Town Council.

Active in her field, she spent many years as the director of student activities for the South Jersey Music Teachers Association. She was also the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware representative for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London from 1991 to 2008. As developmental consultant for the organization, she introduced the prestigious ABRSM examination program for all instruments and music theory to the Tri-State area.  

In 2010, Margaret, as a member of the Music Teachers National Association, was named an MTNA Foundation Fellow for distinguished service to the music profession. She was a former student audition judge of the National Guild of Piano Teachers and former president(1992-1994), director of student activities, and historian of the New Jersey Music Teachers Association. She has since been included in more than twenty editions of Who’s Who, including Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who in Entertainment. On November 12, 1999, she was also featured in an article, “Practicing the Piano, The American Way Horrifies the British”, published in the Wall Street Journal as a page one feature.

As a member of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, since 1972, she served faithfully as Sunday School Music director, children’s choir director, lay lector and training coordinator. Her service to the church community was one of love and devotion for Our Lord with music and the proclamation of the Gospel.

Born in Biddulph, Staffordshire, England, her first piano teacher was her mother who was also a musician. She wisely sent her at the age of six to another teacher because she felt that she would achieve better results from that experience. She was also greatly influenced by her high school music teacher, Greta Fleetwood, who was an inspirational teacher and mentor. In 1955, she was awarded the County Music Scholarship by the Cheshire County Council in Chester, England. Her education continued at the Northern School of Music, Manchester, from which she graduated in 1959. Additionally, in 1957, she received an Associate diploma in Piano Teaching from the Royal College of Music. From the Royal Academy of Music, she received Voice Culture and Aural Training diplomas in 1958, and the following year a School Music and Psychology diploma. 

Margaret was an avid tennis enthusiast and enjoyed a good game when traveling to Florida on vacations. Margaret and her husband had many opportunities to enjoy traveling during their blessed marriage. She had a true sense of people and demanded the best from her many students over the years. The hallmark of her life was her extraordinary dedication to music and its importance to the community in which she lived. A person of integrity, you never had any doubt where she stood on any issue.

To honor the immense impact and contribution of the late Margaret Knight to NJMTA, the High School Scholarship has been renamed the Margaret Knight High School Scholarship.