The Distinguished Service to Music Medal is an award presented by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity in the United States. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the advancement of the wind band "as a cultural, musical and educational medium." 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.
Recipients
First recipients
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.
Morton Gould (Composition) Frank Simon and William Revelli (Concert Band) Eugene J. Weigel (Marching Band) Sigurd Raschèr (Artist Performer) Earl Kent of C.G. Conn (Industrial Research and Progress) Meredith Willson for The Music Man (Contributing Layman) Herman B Wells (Alumni Achievement) A. Frank Martin and Grace F. Martin (Fraternity Service)
All awardees Following is a list of all recipients of the award, from 1963 to the present.
1963–65 Morton Gould, Composition Frank Simon, Concert Band William Revelli, Concert Band Eugene J. Weigel, Marching Band Sigurd Raschèr, Artist Performer Earl Kent, Industrial Research and Progress Meredith Willson, Contributing Layman Herman B. Wells, Alumni Achievement A. Frank Martin, Fraternity Service Grace F. Martin, Fraternity Service
1965–67 Karl King, Composition Harold Bachman, Concert Band Glenn C. Bainum, Marching Band H. E. Nutt, Instrumental Music Education Paul V. Yoder, Instrumental Music Education Leonard Smith, Artist Performer Guggenheim family of New York, Contributing Layman F. Lee Bowling, Alumni Achievement J. Lee Burke, Fraternity Service William A. Scroggs, Fraternity Service
1967–69 Clarence Sawhill, Concert Band Manley Whitcomb, Instrumental Music Education Leonard Falcone, Artist Performer Nels Vogel, Industrial Research and Progress Adolph Ostwald, Contributing Layman 1969–71 Lucien Cailliet, Composition Richard Franko Goldman, Concert Band Jack K. Lee, Marching Band Robert Arthur, Instrumental Music Education Doc Severinsen, Artist Performer Traugott Rohner, Industrial Research and Progress Donald Moore, Fraternity Service
1971–73 Robert E. Jager, Composition Mark Hindsley, Concert Band William P. Foster, Marching Band William Moffitt, Marching Band Bertram Francis, Instrumental Music Education Eugene Rousseau, Artist Performer Nilo Harvey, Industrial Research and Progress Forrest McAlister, Contributing Layman D. O. Wiley, Fraternity Service 1975–77 Robert Russell Bennett, Composition Hiram Henry, Instrumental Music Education Robert Kamm, Contributing Layman
1977–79 Raymond Dvorak, Concert Band Frederick Fennell, Concert Band Colonel Arnald Gabriel, Concert Band Harvey Phillips, Artist Performer
1979–81 Truman Crawford, Marching Band John Long, Instrumental Music Education
1981–83 Al G. Wright, Concert Band and Marching Band
1983–85 Charles Carter, Composition Richard Bowles, Instrumental Music Education Louis Sudler, Contributing Layman
1985–87 Clare Grundman, Composition Harry Begian, Concert Band Colonel John R. Bourgeois, Concert Band John Paynter, Concert Band
1987–89 W. Francis McBeth, Composition Claude T. Smith, Composition Fisher Tull, Composition Ray Cramer, Instrumental Music Education
1989–91 Alfred Reed, Composition Hugh McMillen, Concert Band, Alumni Achievement, and Fraternity Service James K. Copenhaver, Instrumental Music Education Stanley F. Michalski Jr., Instrumental Music Education James G. Saied, Contributing Layman Max Mitchell, Fraternity Service Susan Mitchell, Fraternity Service
1991–93 James Barnes, Composition H. Owen Reed, Composition Kenneth G. Bloomquist, Concert Band Richard Strange, Concert Band Walter M. Chesnut, Instrumental Music Education Thomas Henry Delaine, Instrumental Music Education Emery L. Fears, Instrumental Music Education Henry Levy, Instrumental Music Education Stanley G. Finck, Fraternity Service
1993–95 H. Robert Reynolds, Concert Band James Sudduth, Concert Band Conrad Hutchinson Jr., Marching Band
1995–97 Frank B. Wickes, Concert Band Don Wilcox, Concert Band Richard Worthington, Concert Band Kenneth M. Corbett, Fraternity Service
1997–99 James Croft, Concert Band James Jacobsen, Instrumental Music Education Elden Janzen, Instrumental Music Education Gary Langford, Instrumental Music Education Clifford Madsen, Instrumental Music Education
1999–2001 Frank Ticheli, Composition Robert Foster, Concert Band Gary Garner, Concert Band John Whitwell, Concert Band Keith Bearden, Marching Band Robert "Coach" Fleming, Marching Band Gary E. Smith, Marching Band Frederick Hemke, Instrumental Music Education Tim Lautzenheiser, Instrumental Music Education Jim Cochrane, Industrial Research and Progress
2001–03 Ken Singleton, Instrumental Music Education Melvin Miles Jr., Instrumental Music Education Alfred Sergel III, Instrumental Music Education Christopher Haughee, Fraternity Service
2003–05 Melborn Nixon, Instrumental Music Education
2005–07 Karel Husa, Composition Donald Grantham, Composition Craig Kirchoff, Concert Band James F. Keene, Concert Band Johnnie Vinson, Concert Band Issac Greggs, Marching Band Jack R. Anderson, Marching Band Paul Droste, Instrumental Music Education Bentley Shellahammer, Instrumental Music Education Don McGinnis, Conducting William Gora, Conducting Steve West, Industry
2007–09 George N. Parks, Marching Band Jon R. Woods, Marching Band Scott E. Stowell, Fraternity Service Joseph Hermann, Conducting
2009–11 Adam Gorb, Composition Mark Camphouse, Composition Joseph P. Missal, Concert Band William V. Johnson, Concert Band David Patrick Dunnigan, Marching Band Julian White, Marching Band David Gregory, Instrumental Music Education Earl Dunn, Instrumental Music Education Lt. Colonel Alan L. Bonner, Conducting Michael Haithcock, Conducting Jerry F. Junkin, Conducting Mark Morette, Industry
2011–13 Paula Crider, Conducting Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Conducting William K. Wakefield, Concert Band Wava Banes Henry, Fraternity Service
2013–15 Richard Floyd, Instrumental Music Education Gary W. Hill, Conducting
2015–17 Malinda Matney, Fraternity Service Michael Golemo, Conducting
2017–19 Julie Giroux, Composition Alfred Watkins, Alumni Achievement Gary D. Green, Conducting Ray Lichtenwalter, Conducting Dennis Zeisler, Conducting Arthur Himmelberger, Conducting Scott Weiss, Conducting
2019–21 Thomas P. Hannum, Marching Band Brent Cannon, Fraternity Service Daniel A. George, Fraternity Service
2021–23 Robert W. Smith, Composition Mark Spede, Industry Derrick Mills, Fraternity Service Kirk Randazzo, Fraternity Service
2023–25 John Bradley McDavid, Marching Band
Multiple recipients 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.
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