Meet Ms. Abbott

Cynthia Abbott, in her 34th year teaching music at Octavia E. Butler Magnet, directs the Octavia E. Butler Magnet Glee Club, perhaps the strongest and certainly one of the longest- running music programs in the Pasadena Unified School District.

In recent years, she has been able to add piano and music theory to the curriculum. She sings with the Pasadena Master Chorale, and serves on the Board of Directors overseeing the Education Program, which offers students the opportunity to rehearse and perform in the Master Chorale concerts.She has served as music director for PUSD's Summer Musical Theatre program since its inception in 1995 and directed many District Music Festivals. Ms. Abbott has managed and performed in numerous productions for Opera of the Foothills, as well as performing in many Barbershop quartets.  She has directed the music for South Pasadena Middle School's musicals for over two decades. A graduate of Occidental College, with a BA in music, she is a recent recipient of the Pasadena Arts Council's Gold Crown Award for Excellence in Arts Education.