2023 SPAH Award Packet
We are pleased to present the complete SPAH Awards packet for download here: Awards Nomination packet 2023.
Or, please read on:
SPAH Annual Awards
Nomination Packet for 2023
Includes:
SPAH Awards Criteria & Procedures
Nomination forms for:
Stan Harper Award of Special Merit
Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award
Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award
SPAH awards criteria & procedures
These are the procedures, subject to modification, for selecting candidates and presenting SPAH Awards. The President has adopted the following:
Criteria for eligibility
General conditions for eligibility
- Candidates should have been alive sometime during the twelve months prior to the SPAH convention at which the award is made.
- Candidates must already have benefited the harmonica community in a meaningful and significant way that can be clearly described.
Ineligible persons
- Previous recipients of a specific award are not eligible to receive that award a second time. Any individual may receive any specific award only once.
- Any person active in the selection or evaluation of candidates for the year in which an award is made is ineligible to receive that award. If a compelling reason exists to nominate a person who would normally participate in the selection of award recipients, that person must either refuse the nomination or recuse him or herself from participation in said process for the year in which he or she is nominated.
Eligibility for specific awards
Criteria for eligibility to receive awards should remain broad and flexible enough both to accommodate a sufficiently broad range of candidates and to encompass the variety of harmonica activities worthy of receiving these honors.
Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award
- Candidates should be individuals (not organizations) who are harmonica players
- Candidates’ proficiency should be a source of pride for the community – the award should be for excellence in actually playing the instrument.
- Award should be for distinction demonstrated or attained recently, preferably during a twelve-month period prior to the deadline for nominations.
- Only one person may receive the Bernie Bray Award in any year.
Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award
- Candidates should have a record of achievements over a long period of time that may reasonably be considered to be the virtual equivalent of a lifetime.
- Candidates that have established themselves as outstanding harmonica players are preferred.
- Candidates should be active in promoting the preservation and advancement of the harmonica and the positive and meaningful interaction of harmonica players and devotees.
- Candidates should demonstrate generosity in sharing their talents and knowledge, and in remaining accessible to members of the harmonica community.
- Only one person may receive the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award in any one year unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.
Stan Harper Award of Special Merit (formerly the SPAH Award of Special Merit)
- Candidates must have benefited the harmonica community in a manner that is deserving of singular honor.
- Candidates may be individuals who do not play the harmonica.
- Candidates may be organizations.
Candidate nomination procedures
Eligibility to nominate candidates
Anyone who is a SPAH member in good standing may nominate a candidate for any or all of the annual SPAH awards.
Method of nomination
SPAH members may address nominations in writing to the current president of SPAH or to the president’s announced designee at an address to be published by SPAH at least annually. All nominations must: state the name of the nominee, the name of award for which the nominee is being nominated, and state clearly the reasons that the nominee is deserving of the award.
Publication of required information by SPAH
SPAH shall communicate and make available to SPAH members at least annually the criteria for all SPAH annual awards; any submission requirements; any required forms; and a deadline for each year’s awards, to be announced sufficiently in advance of the deadline to allow SPAH members time prior to the deadline to consider and submit nominations, and to allow the board time to evaluate candidates, make decisions, and acquire the award objects (plaques, certificates, etc.).
Decision procedures
- Neither the evaluation of nominees nor the choice of awardees may be made by a single individual.
- All evaluations shall be made by the SPAH board or by a committee of at least two persons appointed either by vote of the board or by the president.
- All nominations shall be reviewed for accuracy in claims of merit and appropriateness and for prior receipt by the nominee of the award for which the nomination is made.
- Award recipients shall be chosen by the full board, except in such unforeseen circumstances that might render such a decision impossible. Should the full board be unavailable to make a decision or alter a prior decision within seven days prior to presentation, a vote taken among available board members may stand in place of a vote by the full board.
Award procedures
Place and time of award
All awards are presented at the SPAH convention unless a good reason exists to do otherwise (such as an awardee being unable to appear at the SPAH convention at which the award would be presented).
The board may wish to consider announcing nominations for SPAH awards prior to the SPAH convention.
Manner of award presentation
Awards are delivered to the recipient either by the president or by the president’s designee. If the recipient is unable to be present for the award ceremony, a representative may be designated by the recipient, by the recipient’s family, or by the SPAH board.
Character of the award
Each award consists of:
- An award object, such as a certificate, plaque, or trophy, bearing the SPAH name and logo, the name of the award, the year, and the name of the award recipient
- The ceremonial presentation of the award object
- Prominent mention in SPAH media, including Harmonica Happenings and the SPAH website
Record keeping
A record of past nominees and recipients shall be retained for future reference.
Stan Harper Award of Special Merit
In 2002 this award was established so that SPAH might honor deserving individuals and organizations that have benefited the harmonica in ways not reflected in the criteria for other SPAH awards. At its inception the award was called the Citizen Award. In 2010 it was renamed to better reflect the distinction intended in bestowing the award. In 2015 it was again renamed in honor of eminent harmonica player Stan Harper.
Stan Harper (1921–2016) began playing harmonica as a child after finding a diatonic harmonica in the street. He soon persuaded his parents to spend what was then the princely sum of $2.50 for a 10-hole chromatic and started figuring out the names of the notes. He started winning talent contests and met and played with several others who later became harmonica legends, including Alan Pogson, Eddy Manson, and George Fields.
During World War II he entertained the troops together with comedian Carl Reiner and Eddie Shu, a harmonica player better known for his tenor sax work with such luminaries as George Shearing and Buddy Rich. Stan’s later show business activities included working with such names as Pablo Casals, reflecting his increasingly classical inclination that included presenting several concerts of baroque music at Carnegie Hall.
In later years, Stan was a fixture at SPAH conventions, a pipe-smoking curmudgeon who could tell amazing anecdotes from his life when the mood struck. Age never diminished his astonishing talent or performing abilities, and until 2014 he gave peerless cameo performances as a regular feature of the Saturday night show.
In 2015, partly as a result of Stan’s friendship with Carl Reiner, a film crew making a documentary about prominent performers over 90 came to film a segment on Stan his New Jersey home.
- Candidates for the Stan Harper award must have benefited the harmonica community in a manner that is deserving of singular honor.
- Candidates may be individuals who do not play the harmonica.
- Candidates may be organizations.
Past Recipients
2002 | Frank Halovanic | 2013 | Martin Haeffner |
2004 | Joe Fey | 2014 | Mike Caldwell, Harp-l, and SlideMeister |
2005 | Jack Hopkins | 2015 | Charles Spranklin |
2006 | Joe and Fey Martin | 2016 | Paul Davies |
2007 | Bob Herndon | 2017 | Phil Sardo, Tony Sardo, Jerl Welch |
2008 | Rudy and Doris Michelin | 2018 | Frank Davis, Manfred Wewers |
2009 | Phil Duncan | 2019 | David Barrett |
2010 | Dick Lawrence, Michael Anderson, Terry Lewis |
2020 | George Miklas, Steve Watne |
2011 | Michael Polesky | 2021 | Phil Franklin, Vern Smith |
2012 | Roger Bale | 2022 | Bill Dulin, Michael Rubin |
Stan Harper Award of Special Merit 2023 Nomination Form
This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring 2023 issue of Harmonica Happenings and reprinted in this packet.
All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30,2023. No submissions received after that time will be considered.
Information about you (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: | ||
SPAH Member # | Signature: |
Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: |
- Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
- For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or attest to the achievement described.
There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30,2023 |
Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award
Writer, arranger, performer, studio musician, humorist, teacher and showman, Pete Pedersen was all these things and more. Teenage leader of the famed Borrah Minevitch’s Harmonica Rascals and member of the Don Henry Trio, he arranged their hit version of the Sabre Dance, as well as the majority of arrangements for Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, among them, the Alan Pogson-inspired Peg O’ My Heart. As half of the Harmonic-Aires with Fuzzy Feldman, he appeared on the famed Ed Sullivan Show numerous times, while performing regularly at the legendary 500 Club, home of the “rat pack”. When Feldman retired, Pedersen went solo, joining Jerry and Al on an extensive Asian tour before taking a day job as Music Director for one of the largest broadcast production houses in the country.
Over the years he would write hundreds of jingles, IDs, and commercial music for companies like Pontiac, Kellogg’s, and Holiday Inn. During a ten-year stint in Canada, he wrote and arranged over a dozen albums, and appeared on a host of others for some of music’s biggest stars. But it wasn’t until he returned to ‘the states’ that he finally produced two of his own: the jazz–oriented Groovin’ High, and Some of These Days and Some of Those Days, an album that included his two harmonica concertos, test pieces for the 1991 World Harmonica Championship and 1999 World Harmonica Festival.
Featured in Gasoline Alley, Jim Scancarelli’s internationally syndicated comic strip, and posthumously awarded a brass note on Beale Street’s Walk of Fame, Pete Pedersen was a life-long supporter of SPAH, producing two SPAH-sponsored festivals in the 1990’s. Called upon to judge and headline countless international events, he was one of the harmonica’s biggest cheerleaders, sharing his knowledge of and love for the harmonica at the club and national level, on TV and on tour. Renowned for his wit, wisdom, supreme musicianship, along with his accessibility to all, this consummate musician was the first to receive the lifetime achievement award that bears his name.
Criteria for the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award
- Candidates should have a record of achievements over a long period of time that may reasonably be considered to be the virtual equivalent of a lifetime.
- Candidates that have established themselves as outstanding harmonica players are preferred.
- Candidates should be active in promoting the preservation and advancement of the harmonica and the positive and meaningful interaction of harmonica players and devotees.
- Candidates should demonstrate generosity in sharing their talents and knowledge, and in remaining accessible to members of the harmonica community.
- Only one person may receive the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award in any one year unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.
Past Recipients
2001 | Pete Pedersen | 2012 | James Cotton |
2002 | Alan “Blackie” Schackner | 2013 | Tom Stryker |
2003 | Sandy German | 2014 | Peter Madcat Ruth |
2004 | Tony and Dominic Sgro | 2015 | Maurice “Mo” Vint |
2005 | Buzz Krantz, Charlie McCoy | 2016 | Winslow Yerxa |
2006 | Bob McFarlane, Ray Tankersly, Stan Harper | 2017 | Michael Burton |
2007 | Jerry Adler, Danny Wilson | 2018 | Kirk “Jellyroll” Johnson |
2008 | Charlie Musselwhite, Anneliese “Sissi” Jones | 2019 | Steve Baker, Will Scarlett |
2009 | Manji Suzuki | 2020 | Jerry Devillier |
2010 | Dick Gardner | 2021 | PT Gazell |
2011 | Al Smith | 2022 | Phil Wiggins |
Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 Nomination Form
This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring 2023 issue of Harmonica Happenings and reprinted in this packet.
All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30,2023. No submissions received after that time will be considered.
Please include all the information requested on this page. However, there is no need to use this form.
Information about you (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: | ||
SPAH Member # | Signature: |
Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: |
- Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
- Remember that the Pete Pedersen award is for achievement over a lifetime.
- For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or attest to the achievement described.
There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30,2023 |
Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award
The Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award was instituted in 1981 to honor the memory of Bernie Bray, a widely admired harmonica soloist and instrument builder who died that year.
Bernie Bray was a family man, a lover of life and living. He was a featured soloist with the Royal Canadian Air Force Concert Band, for which he did all his arranging and orchestration. This was a 60-piece band located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
He was forever experimenting for improvement on current harmonica models, but he also built many instruments of his own design. He also designed and built many of his own tools for harmonica repair.
His instruments, all handmade, were the envy of all pros that came to play them and marveled at them. One of his instruments, a bass 64 chromatic, was used by Pete Pedersen in his recording of the George Gershwin composition “An American in Paris” on the Hohner sampler album Heavy Duty Harpin’ (released in 1984.)
Those of us who were indeed fortunate to know Bernie have very warm and fond memories to sustain us. The passing of Bernie Bray has left an immeasurable void in the music world.
– Danny Wilson
Past Recipients
1981 | Bernie Bray | 1995 | Jerry Murad | 2009 | Rob Paparozzi |
1982 | Richard Smith | 1996 | Stagg McMann | 2010 | Howard Levy |
1983 | Pete Pedersen | 1997 | Peter Madcat Ruth | 2011 | Brendan Power |
1984 | Gordon Mitchell | 1998 | Lou Delin | 2012 | Phil Caltabellotta |
1985 | Judy Simpson | 1999 | Alan “Blackie” Schackner | 2013 | Jean “Toots” Thielemans |
1986 | Danny Wilson | 2000 | Jack Ely | 2014 | Buddy Greene |
1987 | Alex Fogel | 2001 | Joe Filisko | 2015 | Robert Bonfiglio |
1988 | Norm Dobson | 2002 | Marv Monroe | 2016 | Stevie Wonder |
1989 | Jim Prushankin | 2003 | Buddy Wakefield | 2017 | Jason Ricci |
1990 | Richard Harris | 2004 | Bud Boblink | 2018 | Hermine Deurloo |
1991 | Don Les | 2005 | Douglas Tate | 2019 | Dennis Gruenling |
1992 | Al Fiore | 2006 | Frank Warner | 2020 | Antonio Serrano |
1993 | Cham-Ber Huang | 2007 | Herb Eck | 2021 | William Galison |
1994 | Al Smith | 2008 | Gene Hansen | 2022 | Charlie Musselwhite |
Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award 2023 Nomination Form
This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring 2023 issue of Harmonica Happenings and reprinted in this packet.
All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30,2023. No submissions received after that time will be considered.
Please include all the information requested on this page. However, there is no need to use this form.
Information about you (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: | ||
SPAH Member # | Signature: |
Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):
Name: | |||
Mailing Address: | |||
City/State/ZIP: | |||
Telephone: | Email: |
- Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
- Remember that the Bernie Bray award is for achievement during the past twelve months.
- For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or attest to the achievement described.
There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30,2023 |