Music for All’s President’s Award celebrates the leadership, service and contributions of individuals who have had an extraordinary positive impact on music for all and the advancement of our mission, vision, and programs, and has had an enduring legacy. The President’s Award is not presented annually, but as special recognition for contributions warrants.

 

Gary Markham

2021 President’s Award Recipient

Gary Markham has been a part of Music for All and Bands of America for more than four decades, serving roles including camp director of the Summer Symposium, Bands of America Chief Judge, evaluator, National Festival coordinator, and leadership roles in all areas of the organization’s educational programming.

Gary Markham retired as the Supervisor of Music for the Cobb County School District in 2013 and previously spent 25 years as a band director in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. His programs have consistently received superior ratings. In 1992, Colonel Eugene Allen, Director of the United States Army Band, presented the Sudler Flag of Honor to the Robinson Band, and Markham received the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Order of Merit, one of the multitude of awards he has received during his career. Markham has been inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Honorary Bandmasters Fraternity in both Pennsylvania and in Virginia and has also been inducted into the Bands of America (BOA) Hall of Fame.
Markham works internationally as a clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator and consultant. He currently serves on several Metro Atlanta Arts Boards, the BOA Advisory Board, the Drum Corps International (DCI) Rules and Systems Taskforce, and the Advisory Committee for the MidWest Clinic. He is the Chief Judge for BOA, Senior Education Consultant for Music for All and Judge Education Director for DCI. Markham received his B.S. degree from Mansfield State University, M. Ed. degree from Penn State University, and did Ph. D (ABD) study in conducting and music supervision at George Mason University.