The Ditson Conductor's Award was first made in 1945. It is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music. The award included a $1,000 prize which was increased to $5,000 in 1999.

The Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University makes this award possible. Alice M. Ditson (the widow of music publisher Charles H. Ditson), died April 30, 1940. She made a large bequest to Columbia University for "the encouragement and aide of musicians". One project of this fund became the prize for conductors with a commitment to American music. Other purposes included fellowships, public hearings, and the publication of the work of talented musicians deemed worthy of assistance. Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ...

Recipients of the Ditson Conductor's Award 1945-2006

Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981) was a composer, conductor and educator from the United States of America. ... Leon Eugene Barzin was a Belgian-born American conductor and founder of the National Orchestral Association (NOA), the first training orchestra in America. ... Alfred Wallenstein (born October 7, 1898, Chicago, died February 8, 1983, New York) was a cellist and conductor. ... Dean Dixon (January 10, 1915, New York City - November 3, 1976, Zürich) was an American conductor. ... Thor Johnson (born June 10th, 1913, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, died 1975) was an American conductor. ... Izler Solomon (b. ... Leopold Stokowski (born Antoni StanisÅ‚aw BolesÅ‚awowicz April 18, 1882 in London, England, died September 13, 1977 in Nether Wallop, England) was the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air. ... Walter Hendl (born 12 January 1917) is an American conductor. ... Robert Shaw (April 30, 1916 – January 25, 1999) was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. ... Howard Mitchell (born 1910 or 1911, died 22 June 1988 in Palm Coast, Florida) was an American cellist and conductor. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (pronounced Bern-styne)[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. ... Julius Rudel (6 March 1921, Vienna -) is an American orchestra conductor who emigrated to the US from Austria at the age of 17. ... Milton Katims (24 June 1909 – 27 February 2006) was an American violist and conductor. ... Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 – December 7, 2004) was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. ... Gunther Schuller Gunther Schuller (born November 22, 1925) studied at the St. ... Maurice Abravanel, (January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993), was a Greek-born Swiss conductor. ... The conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski (born October 3, 1923) was born in Lwow, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine) and became best known for his work with the Minnesota Orchestra. ... Lukas Foss (born Lukas Fuchs, August 15, 1922 in Berlin, Germany) is an American composer and conductor. ... Antal Doráti (April 9, 1906 – November 13, 1988) was a conductor and composer. ... Eugene Ormandy in the 1950s Eugene Ormandy (November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a conductor and violinist. ... Maestro Julius Hegyi Julius Hegyi, conductor/violinist (2 February 1923, NYC - 1 January 2007, Phoenix, AZ) Hegyi spent a lifetime building orchestras, founding chamber music groups and instilling a passion for music in young and old alike. ... Leonard Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor. ... Dennis Russell Davies (born 16 April 1944, Toledo, Ohio, USA) is an American conductor External links Biography Biography (scroll down for English translation) Categories: | ... Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947) is an American conductor. ... Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич) (born March 27, 1927), affectionately known as Slava, is Russian and a naturalized American cellist and conductor, considered to be one of the greatest cellists ever. ... Herbert Blomstedt was born 1927 in Springfield, Massachusetts to Swedish parents, and moved to Sweden at age 2. ... Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), nicknamed MTT, is an American conductor, pianist and composer. ... David Zinman (born New York, 10 July 1936) is an American conductor. ... Christoph von Dohnányi (born September 18, 1929) is a German conductor. ... James DePreist, Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, is also Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at the Juilliard School and Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony. ... David Robertson [1] (born 1958 in Santa Monica, California, USA) is the Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and is the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, both since 2005. ...

References

• Columbia University press releases, particularly [1]
• "Columbia Receives Trust to Aid Music", New York Times, May 16, 1940, page 31.