The Ditson Conductor's Award, established in 1945, is the oldest award honoring
conductors for their commitment to the performance of
American music. The US$5,000 purse is endowed by the
Alice M. Ditson Fund at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, increased in 1999 from US$1,000.
The Ditson Conductor's Award was established five years after the 30 April 1940 death of Alice M. Ditson, widow of music publisher Charles Healy Ditson and daughter-in-law of
Oliver Ditson, founder of the publishing house that bore his name. Her will bequested $400,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) to Columbia University was for "the encouragement and aide of musicians."
From this was born fellowships, public hearings, publication of the work of talented musicians and the Ditson Conductor's Award.
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Ditson Conductor's Award recipients
*1945 Howard Hanson
*1946 Léon Barzin
*1947 Alfred Wallenstein
*1948 Dean Dixon
*1949 Thor Johnson
*1950 Izler Solomon
*1951 Robert Whitney
*1952 Leopold Stokowski
*1953 Walter Hendl
*1954 David Broekman
*1955 Robert Shaw
*1956 Victor Alessandro
*1957 Howard Mitchell
*1958 Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
*1959 Julius Rudel
*1960 Richard Bales
*1961 Richard Franko Goldman
*1962 Guy Fraser Harrison
*1963 Milton Katims
*1964 Emerson Buckley
*1965 Jacob Avshalomov
*1966 William Strickland
*1967 Igor Buketoff
Igor Konstantin Buketoff (29 May 19157 September 2001) was an American conducting, conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian classical music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted Unit ...
*1968 Alan Carter
*1969 Frederick Fennell
*1970 Gunther Schuller
*1971 Maurice Abravanel
Maurice Abravanel (January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993) was an American classical music conductor. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony for over 30 years.
Life
Abravanel was born in Salonika, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Emp ...
*1972 Louis Lane
*1973 Stanisław Skrowaczewski
*1974 Lukas Foss
*1975 Antal Doráti
*1976 José Serebrier
*1977 Eugene Ormandy
*1978 Gregg Smith
*1979 Sergiu Comissiona
*1980 James A. Dixon
*1981 Michael Charry
*1982 Russell Patterson
*1983 Julius Hegyi
*1984 Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Early life and education
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
*1985 Jorge Mester
*1986 Efrain Guigui
*1987 Dennis Russell Davies
*1988 Lawrence Leighton Smith
*1989 Gerard Schwarz
*1990 Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...
*1991 Christopher Keene
*1992 Herbert Blomstedt
*1993 Michael Tilson Thomas
*1994 Gerhard Samuel
*1995 Gustav Meier
*1996 James Bolle
*1997 David Zinman
*1998 JoAnn Falletta
*1999 Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conducting, conductor.
Biography
Youth and World War II
Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to Hans von Dohnanyi, a German jurist of Hungarian ancestry, and Christine von Dohnan ...
*2000 James DePreist
*2001 Joel Sachs
*2002 Edwin London
*2003 David Alan Miller
*2004 Donald Portnoy
*2005 David Hoose
*2006 David Robertson
*2007 Gil Rose
*2008 Robert Spano
*2009 James Levine
James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
*2010 Osmo Vänskä
*2011 Alan Gilbert
*2012 George Manahan
*2013 Jeffrey Milarsky
*2014 Harold Rosenbaum
*2015 John Mauceri
*2016 Cliff Colnot
*2017 Marin Alsop
*2018 Oliver Knussen
*2019 Bradley Lubman
*2020 Steven Schick
*2021 John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
*2022 Delta David Gier
*2023 James Baker
*2024 Vimbayi Kaziboni
References
{{reflist
External links
The Alice M. Ditson Fund , Conductors Award
(official winners list)
American music awards
Awards established in 1945
Awards and prizes of Columbia University