Distinguished Service to Music Medal | |
---|---|
Awarded for | "Exceptional service to American bands and band music" [1] |
Presented by | Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity |
First awarded | 1964 |
Last awarded | 2024 |
The Distinguished Service to Music Medal is an award presented by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the advancement of the wind band "as a cultural, musical and educational medium." [2] The Distinguished Service to Music Medal has been awarded 156 times to 153 recipients.
The decoration itself is a golden star enameled in the fraternity colors of blue and white. The star, which symbolizes the fraternity ritual and motto, "Strive for the Highest", is surrounded by a golden laurel wreath, symbolizing achievement. Upon the star is the fraternity crest and the words "Distinguished Service" with the Greek letters "ΚΚΨ." The medal is surmounted by a lyre representing the field of music. The decoration may be worn suspended by a blue and white ribbon, for formal occasions or musical performances. The medal was designed by Jack K. Lee, Grand President from 1963 to 1965, and was first awarded to ten men and women. [3]
The first recipients of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal were awarded it in late 1964 and early 1965. The reasons for which these ten men and women were awarded the medal served as the basis for the categories for later awardees. [3]
Following is a list of all recipients of the award, from 1963 to the present. [3] [4] [5]
Hugh E. McMillen, former Director of Bands at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Past National President of Kappa Kappa Psi, has been awarded the medal for three causes: for concert band, alumni achievement, and fraternity service. Al G. Wright, Director of Bands Emeritus at Purdue University, is the only other person to receive the award in more than one category: concert band and marching band. [4]
Alpha Kappa Psi is the oldest and largest business fraternity to current date. Also known as "AKPsi", the fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904, at New York University and was incorporated on May 20, 1905. It is currently headquartered in Noblesville, Indiana.
William Francis McBeth was an American composer, whose wind band works are highly respected. His primary musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. The popularity of his works in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century led to many invitations and appearances as a guest conductor, where he often conducted the premiere performances of some of his compositions, the majority of which were commissioned. His conducting activities took him to forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, and Australia; and for a number of years he was principal conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in the capital of Little Rock. At one time, his "Double Pyramid Balance System" was a widely used pedagogical tool in the concert band world.
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