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Al & Gladys Wright Nominations will be open until August 1.
Al & Gladys Wright Award
Al & Gladys Wright Award
The Wright Award is a newly created recognition made possible by the ASBDA through the generous donation and contribution of Gladys Wright in memory of her husband Al.
The Wright Award is meant to recognize a retired band director who has made significant contributions to school bands during a distinguished career and continues to do so during retirement.
To be eligible for the award a recipient must have:
1. been an active ASBDA member and is currently a retired, dues-paying ASBDA member.
2. had a distinguished career prior to retirement which included service to bands and continued involvement by providing leadership, service, and/or other meaningful value to school bands, their directors, and the profession as a whole.
The American School Band Directors Association created the Edwin Franko Goldman Award as a symbol of high esteem and respect and as a measure of appreciation and gratitude for outstanding personal contributions to the school band movement.
The recipient may or may not be a member of ASBDA, but shall be an active or retired director whose teaching career shall have included work in the schools and who has contributed substantially in the fields of Grade, Junior, and Senior High School Band work
Edwin Franko Goldman
Edwin Franko Goldman
2026 Recipient
Dr. Timothy Mahr
Since the premiere of Fantasia in G in 1983, Timothy Mahr's compositions have been performed worldwide, recorded, and broadcast. The first recipient within the American Bandmasters Association Commissioning Project, Mahr has composed works for the Music Educators National Conference, the United States Air Force Band, the American School Band Directors Association, and the Kappa Kappa Psi/Tau Beta Sigma National Intercollegiate Band. He received the 1991 ABA/Ostwald Award for his work, The Soaring Hawk. A professor emeritus of music at St. Olaf College, Dr. Timothy Mahr conducted the St. Olaf Band and has taught courses in composition, music education, and conducting.
A well-known composer, Mahr has written over 100 works, many of which are published for band and orchestra. Beyond The Soaring Hawk, five other works have been finalists in national composition contests. He has received more than 70 commissions over the years.
Mahr is a past president of the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Band Association and the Minnesota Band Directors Association. He has led the St. Olaf Band in performance at the national conventions of the American Bandmasters Association (1997), Music Educators National Conference (2005), College Band Directors National Association (2013), and led the Minnesota Symphonic Winds’performance at the American School Band Directors Association National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2024).
Mahr has appeared in 38 states as a guest conductor and clinician, including leading over twenty all-state bands, and he has also been engaged professionally in Norway, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia.
Dr. Mahr is married to Jill Mahr, musician and educator, and their family includes Jenna and her husband Michael, and Heron.
The American School Band Directors Association created the Edwin Franko Goldman Award as a symbol of high esteem and respect and as a measure of appreciation and gratitude for outstanding personal contributions to the school band movement.
The recipient may or may not be a member of ASBDA, but shall be an active or retired director whose teaching career shall have included work in the schools and who has contributed substantially in the fields of Grade, Junior, and Senior High School Band work.
2026 Recipient - Max Treier
Max Treier received his B.S. in Music Education degree in December 1962 from the Ohio State University. His first position as Band Director was held for four and a half years at Reynoldsburg Junior High School. In the summer of 1967, he moved his young family to Cambridge, Ohio, where he would hold the position of High School Band Director until the summer of 1997, when he retired. The Cambridge schools band program became respected throughout the State and beyond. The majority of the students received top ratings at Solo and Ensemble events, and the Symphony Band consistently received top ratings at the large group adjudicated events. They also performed at multiple OMEA State Conferences and ASBDA National Conventions. In December of 1974, they performed at the Midwest National Music Reading Clinic.
Max became a member of ASBDA in 1973. For most of his career, he was an active member of the OMEA Adjudications Committee and became the OMEA Adjudications Coordinator after he retired, a position he held for 17 years. He is now enjoying retirement and his family, which includes four great-grandchildren. He also continues to play Euphonium in the Worthington Civic Band.
The American School Band Directors Association created the Edwin Franko Goldman Award as a symbol of high esteem and respect and as a measure of appreciation and gratitude for outstanding personal contributions to the school band movement.
The recipient may or may not be a member of ASBDA, but shall be an active or retired director whose teaching career shall have included work in the schools and who has contributed substantially in the fields of Grade, Junior, and Senior High School Band work.
Outstanding Potential Award for Young Directors
Outstanding Potential Award for Young Directors
Sponsored by the ASBDA Foundation
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