Former UIL Music Director Wins ‘Oscar’ of the Band World

By Jamie Oberg, UIL Intern | Monday, February 24, 2014 1:08 PM

Even though former UIL Music Director Richard Floyd officially retired last year, his resume and list of awards continues to expand.

Floyd is a recipient of the National Band Association’s 2013 Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts Award (AWAPA). The nine-inch silver AWAPA award is considered to be the “Oscar” of the band world.

"Knowing personally many of the musical icons who have received the AWAPA Award in the past, I will have to say that I was emotionally stunned to learn I had been so honored,” Floyd said. “I have never considered what I do to be 'award worthy.’ I simply have tried every day to be a ‘positive force’ in the professional world in which I live and work.  My goal remains to make the best music I know how and to make a difference in the lives of the students and colleagues around me."

The announcement was made at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December. Floyd will be presented with the award in December of 2014 at the next Midwest Conference.

The AWAPA is a special, high-level award program created by the first NBA president, Al Wright, to recognize excellence and exceptional service to bands.

Individuals who receive the award have made truly significant and outstanding contributions to furthering the excellence of bands and of band music.

According to the NBA website, “A list of the past recipients of the AWAPA Award is literally a ‘Who's Who’ list of some of the greatest leaders involved in the band movement during the past four decades.”