FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/24/2023
Richard Floyd Named Music Director Emeritus; Receives Austin Tribute
Austin, TX:
The Austin Symphonic Band has named Richard Floyd as Music Director Emeritus. Floyd was Music Director of the band for 35 years, from 1986 to 2021, and contributed to its artistic excellence and community outreach. The appointment was announced at the band’s concert on Sunday, April 23.
Coinciding with the concert, the City of Austin proclaimed April 23 Richard Floyd Tribute Day. The proclamation was presented by Council Member Alison Alter on behalf of Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin City Council.
Richard Floyd is in his 61st year of active involvement as a conductor, music educator and administrator. He has enjoyed a distinguished and successful career at virtually every level of wind band performance, from beginning bands through high school and university wind ensembles to community bands. In 2014 Floyd retired as State Director of Music at UT Austin. He now holds the title Texas State Director of Music Emeritus.
He is a recognized authority on conducting, the art of wind band rehearsing, concert band repertoire, and music advocacy. As such, he has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe as a clinician, adjudicator and conductor.
In 2002 he was the single recipient of the prestigious A.A. Harding Award by the American School Band Directors Association. The Texas Bandmasters Association named him Texas Bandmaster of the Year in 2006 and recognized him with the TBA Lifetime Administrative Achievement Award in 2008. He received the Texas Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award in 2009 and was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame and Texas Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame in 2011. That same year, he was awarded the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic Medal.
In 2014, he was inducted into the National Band Association Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts and was honored with the Kappa Kappa Phi Distinguished Service to Music medal. Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters fraternity named him the PBM 2022 Outstanding Contributor to the support and development of bands. That same year, the CBDNA Executive Board established The Richard Floyd CBDNA Distinguished Service Award in his honor and in recognition of his contributions and years of service.
In addition to being an acclaimed author on music-making, Floyd was named a Yamaha Master Educator in 2016 and remains active as a clinician and mentor.
Richard Floyd and Austin Symphonic Band
Floyd served over three decades as Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band. His leadership was instrumental in expanding the band’s presence from local to national levels. In 1989, ASB was the first community band to perform the Grand Finale Concert at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, and the band returned for appearances in 1997 and 2007. ASB was featured at the American Bandmasters Association Conventions in 1993 and 2006, and was invited to perform at the Western International Band Clinic in 2004. During his tenure, Floyd championed the band’s collaboration with professional guest performers and conductors, including Boston Brass, Rhythm & Brass, Jim Walker, Pat Sheridan, Tito Carrillo, Steve Williamson, Clint Foreman, Synaesthesia Saxophone Quartet, Frank Ticheli, and Peter Bay.
Through his 35 years of leadership, Floyd helped establish a firm foundation for community music-making, ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.