Michigan Composer & FENTON SCHOOLS' Educator Andrew David Perkins’ “TUEBOR SUITE” selected as winner of the 2023 American Bandmasters Association Sousa/Ostwald Award.
Perkins’ 2020 work for concert band was selected from 114 entries across 15 countries to receive the prestigious award.
Fenton, Michigan, October 7, 2023
The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) has announced Andrew David Perkins (b. 1978), of Fenton, Michigan, as the recipient of the prestigious Sousa/Ostwald Award. Perkins’ composition “TUEBOR SUITE,” was selected after three rounds of review by the ABA committee from 114 entries across 15 countries. Established in 1956, the Sousa/Ostwald Award is among the most prestigious composition prizes in the United States.
Composed in 2020, Perkins’ three-movement suite honors the rich agricultural, maritime, and lumbering history of the state of Michigan, incorporating the melodies of numerous folk-tunes.
Perkins’ substantial suite was commissioned by a consortium of directors from across the state, to preserve and re-interpret the folk music of the Great Lakes State. “TUEBOR SUITE” will be recognized and performed in Washington DC at the annual American Bandmasters Association convention, March 8, 2024, by a joint service band composed of members of the US Military Premiere Ensembles.
“I’m thrilled and honored that ‘TUEBOR SUITE’ was selected as this year’s recipient of the award,” Perkins said. “I’m a proud Michigander, and I’m so glad that our traditional folk songs are being recognized for their musical importance and historical value. Folk song suites are a staple of the wind band repertoire, painting pictures and telling stories of bygone eras. They help us understand what life was like for our ancestors, their traditions and values, their trials and successes, their hopes and dreams.”
Composer, conductor, and music educator Andrew David Perkins holds a specialist certificate in orchestration from the Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University. A graduate of Rochester Adams High School, he has been a finalist for The National Band Association Revelli Award, Merrill Jones Award, The Ravel International Composition Prize, and was a quarter-finalist in 2017 for the GRAMMY Foundation Music Educators Award. Mr. Perkins is the winner of the 2018 National Band Association/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Contest, the 2021 American Prize in Wind Band Composition, and the Mackinac State Historic Parks ‘Artist-in-Residency’ on Mackinac Island. He resides in Fenton, Michigan with his family, where he composes, teaches public school music, and serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Fenton Community Orchestra.