George Peabody Medal | Peabody Institute

The George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America is the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute. It has been presented annually since 1980, originally as the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America. The name of the medal was updated in 2023 to be inclusive of more of the performing arts and to reflect the addition of a Dance degree in Conservatory.

The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University has awarded the Peabody Medal to the following distinguished composers, performers, philanthropists, scholars, and business and civic leaders.

2023 Terence Blanchard
2022 Herbie Hancock
2021 Renée Fleming
2020 Alex Ross
2019 Tori Amos
2018 Leon Fleisher
2016 Yo-Yo Ma
2015 Jessye Norman
2014 Kim Kashkashian
2013 Pete Seeger
2012 Roy Haynes Benjamin H. Griswold, IV
2011 Marni Nixon
2010 Libby Larsen James Levine
2009 Michael M. Kaiser
2008 Sir Ken Robinson
2007 Quincy Jones
2006 Gilbert Kalish
2005 George Crumb
2004 John Corigliano
2003 Andre Previn
2002 Richard Goode Bobby McFerrin
2001 Isaac Stern
2000 Philip Glass
1999 Eileen Farrell Leonard Slatkin
1998 Anne Wiggins Brown
1997 Jacques T. Schlenger Barry Tuckwell
1996 David Zinman Wynton Marsalis
1995 Robert O. Pierce Melvin A. Steinberg Hugo Weisgall
1994 Jerome Hines Mstislav Rostropovich Billy Taylor
1993 Dominick Argento
1992 Josef Gingold Charles Rosen Randolph S. Rothschild
1991 Robert Mann Ruth B. Rosenberg Eileen Southern
1990 Steven Muller Robert Shaw André Watts
1989 Marilyn Horne
1988 Wilfred Bain David Lloyd Kreeger
1987 Gian Carlo Menotti Oscar Peterson Nicolas Slonimsky
1986 Boris Goldovsky
1985 Sidney M. Friedberg Joseph Meyerhoff Julius Rudel William Schuman
1984 Elliott Carter Todd Duncan William Schwann
1983 Milton Babbitt Ella Fitzgerald Paul Fromm
1982 Elliott W. Galkin Benny Goodman Gunther Schuller Roger Stevens
1981 Peter Herman Adler Marian Anderson Carleton Sprague Smith
1980 Leonard Bernstein Eubie Blake John Brademas