Society of Peabody Alumni
Citation for the Peabody Alumni Achievement Award Recognizing
Outstanding Contributions to Music in Maryland
Presented to
Frances Dawson
April 17, 2013
Frances Dawson, today we recognize and congratulate you for your distinguished professional achievement as an internationally acclaimed performing and recording artist, and as a beloved teacher.
Frances Dawson, you received both your Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music degrees from Peabody. While at Peabody you were assistant to Opera Theatre Director, Laszlo Halasz. You organized and directed the Louisville Choral Arts Society, which was received with great praise. You were awarded the Governor’s Citation for your contributions to the arts in Maryland in both 1984 and 1989. You presented the Dvorak Festival in Washington honoring the composer’s 150th anniversary, with concerts at the Kennedy Center and at the National City Christian Church.
You now direct the Columbia Pro Cantare, which you founded in 1977 to bring quality music and choral arts to the Howard county region. Comprised of 130 singers, which range in skill from professional to amateur, you lead the Pro Cantare with an enthusiasm to serve the music as well as balance the needs of each singer. What you bring to audiences in Maryland and the region is music of a high quality and substance, for the improvement of the community.
You have also commissioned and premiered with the Columbia Pro Cantare new works from composers in the surrounding area, including Tom Benjamin and Ray Sprenkle. You also have an interest in bringing Czech music to the American audience, and have successfully premiered works by many Czech composers, including Lukas Matousek’s “The Fanfare of November 17” which commemorates the collapse of communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
In 1991 you were awarded the Howie by the Howard County Arts Alliance, and were inducted into the Howard County Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006 for your contributions to the arts and culture in the region. Your entrepreneurial spirit, your dedication to a high standard for music making, and your willing service to the community makes us proud to have you as part of the Peabody tradition of music for the world. The Society of Peabody Alumni is honored to confer upon you the Peabody Alumni Achievement Award Recognizing Outstanding Contributions to Music in Maryland.
With this award we celebrate all that you have accomplished, and we couldn’t be more proud to have you as part of the continuing legacy of this great conservatory.
On behalf of The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University it is our distinct honor to confer upon you the Peabody Distinguished Alumni Award.