Aaron Copland was born November 14th, 1900.

An Initiate of the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha at the University of Arizona, Copland created a vast portfolio of music that many consider being standards in American music. His career and talent as a composer won him the title “Dean of American Composers,” bestowed upon him by his peers. Pieces such as “Fanfare for the Common Man”, “Lincoln Portrait”, “Rodeo” and “Appalachian Spring” are all standards in describing the American attitude and are just a few that earned him a spot among some of America’s greatest composers. It was because of his influence over American music that President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Copland with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

Alongside a prolific career in composition, Copland served as Berkshire Music Center’s Head of Composition from 1940 to 1965 and was named the head of the faculty in 1957. During the years that followed, he began to turn his attention more toward conducting, making appearances as a guest conductor all over the United States and the United Kingdom. Despite his fame, Copland didn’t stray from promoting other American composers and their music. He was instrumental in bringing performances of new American works and their composers by supporting the Copland-Sessions Concerts in New York, the American Festival of Contemporary Music, and the American Composers Alliance.

For his contributions to American music and his lifetime dedication to promoting the arts, Aaron Copland was named Phi Mu Alpha’s 9th “Man of Music” at the National Convention in 1970.

Ellis Marsalis, Jr. was born November 14th, 1934.

Initiated into the Delta Epsilon Chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Marsalis has been regarded by many as the premier modern jazz pianist in New Orleans.

After two years of directing the band and choral programs at Carver High School in Breaux Bridge, Ellis returned to New Orleans to freelance the music scene and performed at several venues between 1966 and 1974. During this time he served as an adjunct professor of African American Music at Xavier University.

In 1974, he joined the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) as an instrumental music teacher with a Jazz studies emphasis. Marsalis later returned to New Orleans in 1989 to become the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of New Orleans. During his tenure at UNO, he helped colleague Charles Blancq develop a campus performance center called the Sand Bar, and would also develop a jazz orchestra that he would later take on a tour of Brazil on the eve of his retirement.

Marsalis has appeared on NBC’s Today show with host Bryant Gumbel; the Tonite show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno; the Arsenio Hall show with pianist Marcus Roberts; the Charlie Rose show; Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood; ABC’s Good Morning America with Spencer Christian, as well as several local and regional television shows. In 1984 Marsalis and New Orleans singer/actress Joanne “Lady BJ” Creighton shared honors at the Ace Awards ceremony for the best single music program on cable television.

Most recently Brother Marsalis received the “Man of Music” award in 2015 at the 55th National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pablo Casals was born December 29th, 1876.

A world renowned cellist, composer, and conductor, Pablo Casals was named Phi Mu Alpha’s Man of Music in 1973. An honorary member of the Epsilon Iota Chapter at Florida State University, Casals founded the Prades Festival and served as its first music director. He also conducted many of the great orchestras of the world. We cannot forget his compositions, as Casals wrote many oratorios, symphonies, masses, choral works and string quartets.  He even conducted one of his favorite pieces, “El Pessebre” (The Manger), all over the world as a personal request for world peace. In 2000, the Pablo Casals Celle Competition was created in his name and still helps to discover and further the careers of future elite cellists.