OSMA Recipients

2009 - Dr. Jill M. Sullivan was presented with one of the 2009 OSMA awards. Dr. Sullivan is an Associate Professor of Instrumental Music Education at Arizona State University. She teaches undergraduate instrumental methods, doctoral research classes in quantitative and historical methods, and a master's level course in instrumental literature. Prior to working at ASU, she held teaching positions at the University of Oklahoma, Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and Sequoyah Middle School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Dr. Sullivan has experience teaching band to elementary, middle level, and high school students. In addition, she started a New Horizons Band for senior adults at the University of Oklahoma, which still exists today.
Her research agenda includes historical publications pertaining to 19th and 20th Century women's bands. She is currently completing her book American Women's Military Bands during World War II as part of The Scarecrow Press new series on American Wind Bands. Because of her extensive research in the area of women in bands, the Tau Beta Sigma National Council selected Dr. Sullivan as the recipient of this honor.  Her award was presented during her workshop session during her Women In Music presentation.

2009 - Rebecca Burkhardt was awarded the OSMA during a concert at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Burkhardt is Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the UNI School of Music, is a member of the music theory and conducting faculties at UNI, and active as guest conductor, clinician and performer. She performed as guest clinician and conductor for the 2004 Iowa All-State Orchestra and performed with that group at the 2005 National Governor's Convention in Des Moines. In 2003 she was given the Award for Faculty Excellence by the Iowa Board of Regents and currently serves as the National President of the College Orchestra Directors Association. She has traveled the world with ensembles and has directed groups ranging from youth orchestras to musicals to chamber groups. A native of Texas, Dr. Burkhardt earned her Ph. D. at the University of Texas, Austin. She was the Women In Music Speaker at the 2008 MWD Convention and remains a strong role model for female conductors and music students.

2008 – Linda A. Hartley was presented with one of the 2008 OSMA awards. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelors of Music Education, where she was an active member of Tau Beta Sigma. She received her master of music degree and Ph.D. in music education from Kent State University. Currently she is Professor and Coordinator of Undergraduate and Graduate Music Education at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. A recipient of the University of Dayton Outstanding Teaching Award and the UD College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award, Dr. Hartley teaches courses in instrumental music methods and jazz pedagogy, and supervises student teachers. Founder and director of the University of Dayton New Horizons Band, Dr. Hartley’s senior adult ensembles include concert band, jazz band, Dixieland combo, and various chamber ensembles. Prior to teaching at the University of Dayton, Dr. Hartley taught bands and music education at Virginia Tech, applied woodwinds at Mt. Union College, and for 11 years taught bands in grades 5-12 in northeast Ohio. Her research has been published in Journal of Research in Music Education, Contributions in Music Education, and Journal of Band Research. She has served as a research associate for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. Other articles have been published in The Instrumentalist, various state music education journals, and the CBDNA Journal. She is an active adjudicator and clinician for school bands, and frequently guests conducts for school honors bands and New Horizons Bands.

2008 – Deborah Sheldon received one of the 2008 OSMA awards. Dr. Sheldon is Professor and Chair of Music Education and Therapy in the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Her specialties include instrumental conducting, wind band literature, rehearsal techniques and teaching methods, assessment, research, music psychology, cognitive-behavioral techniques, and systematic observation. Prior to university teaching, Sheldon taught elementary and secondary instrumental music in Pennsylvania and New York. She advises undergraduate and graduate students in music education, and directs research. A prolific author, Sheldon’s numerous articles in music education, pedagogy, and research are published in numerous journals including the Journal for Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal for Music Teacher Education, Journal of Music Therapy, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Band Research, and The Instrumentalist, as well as in several state music education journals. She has co-authored the texts The Complete Woodwind Instructor: A Guidebook for the Music Educator and Lessons in Performance (FJH), and editor of Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks, and Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands. She is an instrumental editor, arranger, author, and consultant for the FJH Music Company. Sheldon is currently in her 11th year as a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Research in Music Education. Sheldon guest conducts regularly across the United States. She will conduct the Pennsylvania All-State Wind Ensemble and the New York All-State Symphonic Band in 2009. Sheldon maintains a regional, national, and international profile through ensemble adjudication, conducting, workshops, and research dissemination forums. Mansfield University has recognized her as a distinguished alumnus.

2007 – Gail Robertson earned a M.M. from Indiana University and a B.M. from the University of Central Florida. She was a founding member of Walt Disney World's "Tubafours." Robertson is currently Instructor of Euphonium and Tuba at the University of Central Florida and Valencia Community College. Prior to UCF, Gail taught at the University of Florida and Bethune-Cookman College. Gail is currently a member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek, Keith Brion's "New Sousa Band," Symphonia, Euphoniums Unlimited, the Brass Band of Central Florida, the Athena Brass Band, and the Florida Wind Band. Gail is very active as a soloist, clinician, judge, composer/arranger, and enjoys her travels. She has been a clinician for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Howard Hovey Tuba Day, the Harvey Phillips Big Brass Bash, the College Band Directors National Association, the Florida Music Educators National Association, the US Army Band Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, and the International Women's Brass Conference. Gail is also currently the President of the International Women's Brass Conference and she most recently has become a York Brass International Euphonium Artist and has designed her own mouthpiece by Terry Warburton.

2006 – Director of Bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Andrea DeRenzis Strauss was a 2006 recipient of the OSMA. Dr. Strauss holds Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from the University of South Carolina and a Doctoral degree in Music Education with a minor in conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. Under her leadership, bands at Georgia Tech have performed for the Southern Division of College Band Directors National Association and National Band Association Conference, as well as Georgia Music Educators Association conferences. Her groups have also played in Dublin, Shanghai, and Beijing. Active in several organizations, Dr. Strauss has served on the Board of Directors for the National Band Association in conjunction with positions as a committee chair and mentor director. She has also held offices in CBDNA and Phi Mu Alpha. Dr. Strauss is an active conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States, Ireland, Canada, and Italy. In addition to being recognized by Tau Beta Sigma, she has received accolades from Women Band Directors International, Georgia Tech, and Omicron Delta Kappa. In 1992-96, she served as the Associate Director of the Atlanta Olympic Band. Having taught at all levels from elementary music through college bands, Dr. Strauss continues to teach in addition to performing and conducting in community bands.

2006 – One of the 2006 OSMAs was awarded posthumously to Maxine Lane Lefever. A graduate of Western State College (CO) and Purdue University (IN), Mrs. Lefever joined the faculty at Purdue in 1966. She became a teaching assistant with a responsibility for percussion instruction, and would continue in that position until her retirement in 1987. In 1966, she became the administrator for the Purdue Summer Music and Twirling Camps, two of the largest music camps in Indiana. During her time at Purdue, Mrs. Lefever composed extensively; she penned over thirty-two works for solo percussion, transcribed multiple orchestral works for band, and also wrote for various music education journals. She also served as a percussion clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. Active in professional organizations, Mrs. Lefever held offices in the American Band Association and the John Philip Sousa Foundation. She held honorary memberships in Tau Beta Sigma, Delta Omicron, Sigma Kappa, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Alpha Lambda Delta and was also member of College Band Directors National Association, Big Ten Band Directors Association, and the Purdue President’s Council. Mrs. Lefever was one of the most significant donors of the Purdue Band program and had established endowments for percussion activities.

2003 – Past National President Katherine A. Rodeffer received the OSMA in 2003. Ms. Rodeffer earned a Bachelor degree in Music Education from the University of Maryland and a Master degree in Administration and Supervision from Bowie State University. She has been involved with the music education system in Prince Georges County, Maryland for over twenty-nine years. Ms. Rodeffer has taught music in elementary, middle, and high school settings and then assumed the role of Instrumental Music Supervisor for Prince George’s County Public Schools in which she oversees music and curriculum programs in over 200 schools. During her time in the classroom, her bands consistently received Superior ratings and were invited to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium State and the Rayburn Congressional Office Building. She has held offices in the Maryland Band Directors’ Association, the Maryland Music Educators Association, and holds membership in Women Band Directors International and MENC. She was instrumental in commissioning the Tau Beta Sigma March, Crest of Allegiance, and helped create the ΤΒΣ Board of Trustees Scholarship to assist women preparing to enter the field of music education.

2000 – Deborah J. Bradley has been a music educator in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama with experience in middle school, high school, and junior college bands. A founding member of the Epsilon Xi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma at Troy State University, Mrs. Bradley has also served as president of the alumni band at that institution. In 1984, she received the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation for special contributions to the excellence of bands and band music. She has been voted Teacher of the Year at two different schools, once in 1982 and again and in 1998. Mrs. Bradley is an active member in Women Band Directors International, MENC, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Kappa Delta Pi. She also is a contributing author to the publication Band World Magazine and has been the Regional Chair for the Sousa Foundation National Project Honor Bands.

1999 – Dr. Mallory B. Thompson is the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). In addition to having one of the most prestigious conducting positions at the collegiate level, she has also been the Director of Wind Studies at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and the Director of Bands at the University of South Florida, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Bucknell University. Dr. Thompson is in great demand as an international adjudicator and clinician. She has appeared as a conductor or clinician at College Band Directors National Association regional and national conventions, the Midwest Clinic, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Aspen Music Festival. She has conducted the United States Army Band in Washington, D.C., the United States Air Force Band, the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Symphony Silicon Valley, and the Northshore Concert Band. Dr. Thompson is also affiliated with Pi Kappa Lambda, MENC, CBDNA, and the American Bandmasters Association.

1999 – Composer Julie Giroux is an Emmy Award winner. Her composition career started in junior high, where she began writing pieces for her school’s concert band. Shortly after her graduation from Louisiana State University, Ms. Giroux was given the opportunity to arrange music for a live ESPN National Sportsfest. At that time, she met composer Bill Conti, who later invited her to Hollywood to work on the musical scores for the mini-series “North & South.” She went on to compose and orchestra music for television and film and received her first Emmy nomination in 1989 and would win the Emmy for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction” in 1991. At that time, she was the first woman and youngest person to receive that honor. During her career, she has studied with John Williams, Bill Conti, and Jerry Goldsmith. She has scored for Celine Dion, Paula Abdul, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones, and many other performers. Ms. Giroux has composed numerous works for professional, military, college, and public school use, including the 2001 National Intercollegiate Band commission.

1998 – Joyce Pinnell-Martin was awarded the OSMA after thirty-five years of service to print music industry. A long time employee at Wingert-Jones Music, Mrs. Pinnell-Martin was instrumental to the company’s growth. She was the first full-time employee at the company, hired directly by Mr. George Wingert and Mr. Merrill Jones; she would eventually become the company president in 1985. Mrs. Pinnell-Martin has served on countless boards and committees including the Board of Directors for the National Association of Music Merchants and the as the Executive Secretary of the Retail Sheet Music Dealers Association. An active spokesperson, she has delivered presentations on multiple topics including computers in the music industry and gender communication in the workplace.

1997 – Dr. Patricia Hoy is the Director of the School of Music at The University of Memphis. Prior to that appointment, she served for seventeen years as the Director of Bands at Northern Arizona University. She has been elected into membership in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and has received awards in the areas of both performance and education. Dr. Hoy is highly respected as an administrator, conductor, music educator, and performer whose experience spans orchestral music, chamber music, and jazz. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Redlands (Redlands, CA) and her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Conducting at the University of Arizona. Dr. Hoy is a member of the American Bandmasters Association and the first female officer of the College Band Directors National Association. A guest conductor in over twenty states, Dr. Hoy has directed bands ranging from high school to professional levels. She has served as a panelist for the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Her recordings have been used in numerous Public Broadcasting Service and Smithsonian Institute productions.

1993 – Beth Gottlieb is a performer, teacher, clinician, and soloist. She is the Percussion Professor and head of the Percussion Studio at Rollins College (Winter Park, FL). Mrs. Gottlieb is the Principal Timpanist with the Bach Festival Orchestra, Principal Percussionist with the Walt Disney World Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with numerous artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, and Gary Sinise. An active educator, she has taught in several camps and institutions, including the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Norwegian Jazz Camp, and the Rhythm Sticks Festival in London. Mrs. Gottlieb is also an active clinician and adjudicator in Florida and a member of Percussive Arts Society Marimba committee, the Music Teacher National Association membership committee, and the Florida Bandmasters Association music list committee. An artist/clinician for Musser/Ludwig, Zildjian, Grover, Remo, and Innovative Percussion Companies, Mrs. Gottlieb earned her graduate degree at the Eastman School of Music.

1993 – Paula Crider is a Past President of the National Band Association. She has been a member of NBA since 1969. Following a distinguished thirty-three year teaching career, Professor Crider continued to work with young musicians, and has served as guest conductor, lecturer, and adjudicator in 29 as well as overseas. Prior to her 17 years of service on the faculty of the University of Texas, Ms. Crider enjoyed 16 years of public school teaching. She has taught at all levels, and holds the distinction of having been the first female in the State of Texas to serve as Director of Bands at a class 5-A high school. Her Crockett High School Bands in Austin earned numerous awards, performed for national conventions, and were twice named Texas State Class 5A Marching Band Champions. Professor Crider retired from The University of Texas in 1999 where she served as director of the University of Texas Longhorn Band. While at the university she taught conducting, brass techniques, and marching band methods; supervised student teachers; and conducted the Symphony Band. She is the only woman to oversee a Big-12 band program. Honors and awards include the “Eyes of Texas” awards for teaching excellence, the Sudler “Legion of Merit,” and the Texas Bandmaster’s “Meritorious Achievement” Award. She is a member of the prestigious American Bandmaster’s Association, and is the third woman to have been so honored.

1991 – Mildred R. Reiner became the Supervisor of Music for Baltimore County, Maryland in 1978. Prior to that appointment, she had taught music at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. One of Mrs. Reiner’s interests was music teacher preparation. She focused on guiding teachers to work towards a standard of excellence and helping them learn to instill within their students a desire to do their best. She was presented with the OSMA at the 1991 National Intercollegiate Band Concert.

1990 – The 1990 OSMA was awarded to composer Anne McGinty. Her many compositions and arrangements for concert band, string orchestra, flute, and flute ensembles extend from the elementary through the professional level. Her current work is published through Queenwood Publications, which she helped found in 1987. Ms. McGinty was also the first woman commissioned to write an original work for the United States Army Band. That composition, “Hall Of Heroes,” premiered in March, 2000, with Ms. McGinty conducting. She played principal flute with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Pops Orchestra, and in the TSO Woodwind Quintet. A life member of the National Flute Association, Ms. McGinty has served on its Board of Directors. Although no longer performing as a flutist, she remains well known as a flute choir specialist. She is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and has received annual composition awards since 1986. She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women and the International Who’s Who in Music. Ms. McGinty is also active as a guest conductor, clinician and speaker throughout the United States and Canada. She has conducted regional and all-state bands, given clinics at many state conferences, and has given speeches at state and national conventions.

1989 – Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell was presented the OSMA at the closing banquet of the 1989 National Convention. At the time, Mrs. Fennell was the president of the Ludwig Music Publishing Company. Her and her late first husband Carl Ludwig had built the publishing company and it has become one of the prominent music publishers in the country. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, her business skills were notable, especially in a male-dominated field. Early in her career at Ludwig, Mrs. Fennell composed beginning band level music under a pseudonym, fearing that band directors would not buy music written by a woman. She penned music with the junior high band in mind, since that was not a common audience that composers were writing for. When Mr. Ludwig passed in 1982, Mrs. Fennell gained control of the company. She continued to promote quality band literature and repertoire. In 1985 she married fellow Interlochen alum Fredrick Fennell. Mrs. And Dr. Fennell founded ELF Records in 2000. Mrs. Fennell was the first woman elected to the Music Publishers Association. The 1990 composition by Robert Foster Crest of Allegiance was commissioned for Tau Beta Sigma with funds donated by Mrs. Fennell.

1988 – Patricia L. Garren received the OSMA at the 1988 Southeast District Convention. Mrs. Garren was the band director of the Asheville Junior High School Symphonic Bands (Asheville, NC) for several years and during this time performed commissioned works by three composers, performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and was the first recipient of the Sudler Cup. A recipient of numerous high honors in the band world, Mrs. Garren has conducted All State and Honor Bands in several states and is an adjudicator, lecturer, and clinician through the United States and Canada. She was named one of the ten most outstanding band directors in the country in 1978-9. Also in 1979, Mrs. Garren founded the Asheville Community Band. Upon her retirement in 1996, the members founded the Patricia L. Garren Music Education Scholarship in her honor. Other honors include recognition from Women Band Directors International, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, East Carolina University, and the North Carolina Bandmasters Association.

1986 – National President Ann Sheets presented the OSMA to Dr. Elizabeth A. H. Green, Professor Emeritus (Music) at the University of Michigan during the opening concert of the Midwestern Music Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Green is a master teacher, noted author, composer, arranger, conductor, and mentor. She is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on conducting and strings teaching. Her book The Modern Conductor is a standard text for conducting classes across the nation. She began her teaching career in 1928; she taught in Waterloo, Iowa and was a founding member of the Waterloo Symphony. In the symphony she would hold numerous positions including principal viola, principal bass, concertmaster, featured soloist, business manager, and a member of the board of directors. Before retiring in 1975 she was awarded many recognitions and was in demand as clinician and speaker until her passing in 1995.

1985 – Barbara Lovett, a public school music educator in Lubbock, Texas, was presented with the OSMA at the 1985 National Convention banquet. Her teaching career started in 1947 after she received her music degree from Texas Tech. Mrs. Lovett taught band in Texas until her retirement in 1991. In her forty-four years of teaching, Mrs. Lovett was a leader on the podium and her professional career, serving in many organizations over the years. She was a charter member of Women Band Directors National Association and a member of Texas Music Educators Association, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Beta Mu, and several other groups. Her bands earned 25 superior ratings over 27 years of participating in contest and her 1963 and 1965 bands participated in the Sun Bowl Parades. A recipient of many accolades from several professional music organizations, Mrs. Lovett’s career is also defined by her introduction of jazz programs at the schools in which she taught.

1984 – The OSMA was presented to Constance Weldon, who at the time was Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of Applied Music in tuba and euphonium at the University of Miami. Ms. Weldon has been a tubist in many notable ensembles including: the Tanglewood Music Festival under Leonard Bernstein, the Boston Pops Touring Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Netherlands Ballet Orkest, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic, and the Miami Philharmonic. As a Fulbright Fellowship recipient, she studied in Amsterdam with Adrian Boorsma. Once in Miami, she joined the faculty at the University of Miami and began the Tuba Ensemble in 1960; this was the first such established group at a university. During her tenure, she also directed the University of Miami Brass Choir. She served as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies until her retirement in 1991.

1983 – Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn, composer of the 1983 National Intercollegiate Band Commission, Lux: Legend of Sankta Lucia, was awarded the OSMA that year. The 1982 Virginia College Band Directors recognized Lux as a notable piece of new band music. Born in Holland, Ms. Van Appledorn earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at the Eastman School of Music and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1956. She has been on the music faculty of Texas Tech since 1950 and has taught composition and theory for over fifty years. Her post-doctoral work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) focused on computer-synthesized sound techniques. Her compositions have been published, performed, and recorded internationally.

1979 – At the 1979 National Convention, Dr. Dollye M. E. Robinson was presented with the OSMA. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Robinson earned multiple Bachelor degrees at Jackson State University and Northwestern University. Also at Northwestern, Dr. Robinson received two Masters degrees, one in trumpet performance and the other in music education, as well as her Doctoral degree. In 1952, Dr. Robinson joined the faculty at Jackson State as the assistant band director, and would remain at that institution for over fifty years. She has also served as the chair of the music department for twenty years and then as the acting assistant dean, the associate dean, and eventually the Dean of Liberal Studies. Jackson State named the school’s liberal arts building in her honor. Two different Governors appointed Dr. Robinson to the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Mississippi Commission for the Humanities. Over the course of her career, Dr. Robinson helped to influence arts awareness in the state of Mississippi.

1978 – In 1978, Past National President Sharon Lebsack was awarded the OSMA. In her career as a musician and music educator, Ms. Lebsack served 36 years at the University of Southern Mississippi where she taught flute, harp, and chamber music. After her retirement, she continued to perform as the principal flutist, personnel manager, and librarian of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. An active performer, she has played with several symphonies and has recordings on both flute and harp. Ms. Lebsack is active in other professional organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association.

1977 – Named one of the “Outstanding Young Women” of 1974, Patricia Ellison was the 1977 recipient of the OSMA. Ms. Ellison was also named the 1975 Outstanding Young Band Director in Arkansas, where she would continue to teach for thirty-five years before retiring. A member of the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association, Ms. Ellison was the first woman elected as an officer of that organization. She is also a past president of the Arkansas State band Directors Association. In 2003, Ms. Ellison became the Musical Director for the Ozark Mountains British Brass Band. She is the seventeenth member to be elected to the Phi Beta Mu Arkansas Bandmasters Hall of Fame.

1976 – Marjorie Skinner Hemphill was presented with the OSMA at the District VI Convention in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As a music educator, Mrs. Hemphill’s bands received several outstanding ratings in district, state, and tri-state contests in the Midwest and Southwest. An active lecturer and clinician, she has presented in several states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, and Michigan.

1975 – Barbara Lambrecht retired in 2007 from her position as Director of Bands at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Belton, TX) after serving two years at UMHB and forty years of teaching band at the secondary level in Texas and New Mexico. Mrs. Lambrecht’s bands have been selected for numerous honors including performing at Midwest Clinic, State Honor Bands both in Texas and New Mexico, and winning the prestigious Sudler Cup of Excellence. Her marching bands have been finalists at Bands Of America Regional competitions and have won their class at numerous marching festivals. Mrs. Lambrecht adjudicates state and local competitions in numerous states and has conducted honor groups across the south and southwest. Barbara also presents in-service clinics for public schools, colleges and universities, and has presented clinics at statewide music meetings in several states. She has performed with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, Roswell Symphony, Mid Cities Woodwind Quintet, Temple Community Band and sung with the Bell Civic Chorale. She has been recognized by several professional organizations. In addition to her school duties, Mrs. Lambrecht writes for and serves as Contributing Editor for The Instrumentalist.

1974 – This award was presented posthumously to Fay Hanson. Fay was the assistant director of bands and Professor of Brass at Weber State University (Ogden, UT) with a specialty in trumpet and cornet. She was a national clinician for Bach and Selmer and appeared in over twenty-five states and many national conferences. She also penned a trumpet technique book, Brass Playing, which was published by Carl Fischer. As a research pioneer in the physical aspects of brass playing, she received federal grants to aid in the funding of her work. Her research examined the internal actions of the body while playing brass instruments and utilized x-ray machines to study tongue, teeth, and mouth positions. In addition to her duties at Weber State and Utah State, she was on faculty of the Western State College Summer Music Camp in Gunnison, Colorado for sixteen years.

1973 – Major MaryBelle Nissly has a remarkable amount of ‘firsts’ in her musical career. Growing up in Pennsylvania, she served as the first female drum major and student conductor of her high school band before auditioning for the Army Music School. MaryBelle was one of the first women to be accepted into the school and was first in her graduating class of 1943. Her superiors noted her musicianship and she was appointed as the conductor of one of the early Women Army Corps Bands. In 1944 she became the first female warrant officer officially accredited as a United States Army Band Leader. In this position, she organized bands to perform at the welcome home ceremonies of World War II troops. She eventually became the first conductor of a Women Air Force Band, where she continued to focus her energies on the musical growth of her female musicians. When the WAF Band was deactivated in 1961, Nissly’s Air Force duties took her to England, where she studied church bells and hand bells. Eventually Nissly joined the music faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she organized and directed their first orchestra and also taught hand bell and recorder classes.

1971 – Gladys Stone Wright was awarded the OSMA in 1971. Gladys earned music degrees from the University of Oregon in 1947 and 1952. She served as a high school band director for more than 36 years primarily in Oregon and Indiana. During her career she received 60 superior ratings at district and state band contests, and over one thousand superior ratings in solo and ensemble contests. In 1969 Gladys founded Women Band Directors International and was the first woman elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. In 1999, she was inducted into the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors. At that time, she was the only woman to hold this honor; she has also been awarded the National Band Association Citation of Excellence and the WBDI International Golden Rose Award. She also serves as administrator and conductor of the United States Collegiate Wind Band which has toured Europe each summer for more than 25 years.

1969 – The first OSMA recipient was Barbara Buehlman. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1960, Barbara started teaching in Illinois, where her bands received first division ratings at district, state, and national competitions. While teaching full-time, Barbara also performed in the Northshore Concert Band, where she was principal horn for over thirty years. Along with being one of the first three female members of the group, she served as the band’s business manager and assistant conductor until her death in 1997. Barbara was an integral part of the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, serving as the Executive Administrator for several years. Ms. Buehlman has also published band arrangements and method books as well as guest conducted throughout the United States and Canada. She is the recipient of several awards and honors, as well as an Honorary Doctorate from VanderCook College of Music.