# Distinguished Service to Music Medal

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.