Date: Nov 29, 2011

Dr. Peter Boonshaft Honored for Leadership in Music Education

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) awarded Peter Boonshaft, Hofstra professor of music and director of bands, the 2011 George N. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education at the Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis on November 12, 2011.

(L to r) Eric Martin, President & CEO, Music for All; Peter Loel Boonshaft; Nancy Dittmer, President-Elect of NAfME; and Michael A. Butera, executive director of NAfME.

Developed by NAfME and Music for All, the award is named for George N. Parks, director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1977 until his death in 2010.

Michael A. Butera, executive director of NAfME, said, "The recipient [of the George N. Parks Award] must have a collaborative spirit, dedication to knowing the students as people, perseverance and enthusiasm, and an ability to instill qualities in students beyond the musical. We are greatly pleased to present Peter Boonshaft with this year's honor."

A member of NAfME and the New York State School Music Association, Peter Boonshaft has been invited to speak or conduct in every state in the nation and many countries around the world. He is conductor of the Hofstra University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, professor of conducting and music education, and director of the graduate wind conducting program.  Prior to this appointment at Hofstra, Dr. Boonshaft was on the faculty of Moravian College and the University of Hartford.  He was founder and music director of the Pennsylvania Youth Honors Concert Band and the Connecticut Valley Youth Wind Ensemble.  In addition, he held the post of music director and conductor of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony of Boston.

Dr. Boonshaft is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise.  His first book for all educators, Teaching with Passion, Purpose and Promise was released in 2010.  In addition, he is the author of Vaclav Nelhybel: His Life and Works, a contributing author of The Music Director’s Cookbook: Creative Recipes for a Successful Program, and author of articles for Instrumentalist Magazine, the National Band Association Journal, MENC's Teaching Music, and Band Director's Guide. 

Active as a proponent of new literature for concert band, he has commissioned and conducted over 40 world premieres by notable composers.  Dr. Boonshaft has been awarded membership in Pi Kappa Lambda and Alpha Chi, as well as twice receiving the University of Hartford Regent's Award and that University's Outstanding Music Educator Award.  His honors include being selected three times as a National Endowment for the Arts "Artist in Residence,” three times awarded Honorary Life Membership in the Tri-M Music Honor Society, and being selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University.  Sound Innovations, a revolutionary new band and string teaching method co-written by Boonshaft was honored at the 2010 winter convention of the National Association of Music Merchants.

Extremely active as a guest conductor, clinician and speaker for conferences, festivals, concerts and workshops nationally and internationally, he has guest conducted the MENC (The National Association for Music Education) All-Eastern Band, MENC All-Northwest Band, MENC All-Eastern Directors Band, and Goldman Memorial Band.  He was also named conductor of the MENC National High School Honors Band for the National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 12,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, communication, education, health and human services, honors studies, a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future. Located in Nassau County, New York, on over 240 acres, the University is less than an hour from midtown Manhattan.
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