News Release
Robert Conrad to be honored with The Cleveland Orchestra’s
fifteenth annual Distinguished Service Award
Award to be presented at January 8 Cleveland Orchestra concert
Release date: January 6, 2011
Robert Conrad broadcasting from Miami during
the Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency in 2008
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
This weekend, Robert Conrad, whose long association with The Cleveland Orchestra goes back 45 years, will receive the fifteenth annual Cleveland Orchestra Distinguished Service Award, honoring a person or organization that has provided continuing exemplary service to the Musical Arts Association (MAA). The Award will be presented to Mr. Conrad on Saturday, January 8, on the stage of Severance Hall, immediately prior to the beginning of the Orchestra’s subscription concert. The Award will be presented by Dennis W. LaBarre, President of the Board of Trustees of the Musical Arts Association, the parent organization of The Cleveland Orchestra, Severance Hall, and Blossom Music Center.
Executive Director Gary Hanson said, “I am sincerely grateful to Robert for many years of service in bringing The Cleveland Orchestra to listeners across the country and around the globe. His voice and his vision have resonated for decades to the benefit of this institution and for all of classical music.”
Robert Conrad co-founded radio station WCLV with Cecil K. (“Pat”) Patrick in 1962 and with him, built an empire of classical music and cultural broadcasting that has been a cultural leader both in Northeast Ohio and internationally. For 45 years, Mr. Conrad has been the radio voice of The Cleveland Orchestra. He has been the host of Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts since 1965, making him the longest-serving commentator of any American orchestra broadcast series. The heart of WCLV’s operation has remained twice-weekly broadcasts of The Cleveland Orchestra and syndicated programs distributed worldwide. Mr. Conrad serves as president of WCLV as well as producer and host of Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts and of the “Weekend Radio” program.
An award-winning station, WCLV has set the gold standard for giving back to the community. During its existence, it has raised more than $5 million for arts and charitable organizations in Northeast Ohio – more than all other Cleveland radio stations combined during the same period. WCLV’s connection to The Cleveland Orchestra has been particularly close, demonstrated by an annual fundraising marathon for the Orchestra, which was Mr. Conrad’s own idea and which raised $4 million in gifts from 1970 to 1997. In WCLV’s original broadcasting agreement with the Orchestra, Mr. Conrad earmarked all proceeds into the musicians’ pension funds.
In 2001, Mr. Conrad and his partners traded WCLV’s broadcast frequency for a less powerful one plus an additional AM license and a cash payment. Mr. Conrad and his associates created the nonprofit WCLV Foundation and donated the stock of Radio Seaway Inc. to it. Since that time, The Cleveland Orchestra and five other Cleveland arts organizations affiliated with the WCLV Foundation have benefited from its financial support, including the recording and broadcast of all concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall.
Robert Conrad grew up in Kankakee, Illinois. He got his first job at 14 at the local radio station, and went to college at Northwestern University to pursue a career as a broadcaster. Since winning second place in a contest sponsored by NBC for the most beautiful voice in America, he has received Lifetime Achievement awards from the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio and the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters, honorary doctorates from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Baldwin-Wallace College, and a Special Citation for Distinguished Service to the Arts awarded through the Cleveland Arts Prize, among other honors.
Mr. Conrad served his country in the U.S. Army, 14th Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Battalion in Hawaii. As a longtime resident of Northeast Ohio, he has generously brought his expertise to many nonprofit boards, including the Musical Arts Association, Cleveland Music School Settlement, Cleveland Play House, Cleveland School of the Arts, and the City Club of Cleveland. He has shared his knowledge with future generations as an instructor at Cuyahoga Community College, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
The Musical Arts Association established the Distinguished Service Award in 1996 to recognize ongoing and extraordinary service to the Orchestra. Written nominations are reviewed by a committee currently chaired by Musical Arts Association Trustee Marguerite B. Humphrey.
Previous Distinguished Service Award recipients are: Dorothy Humel Hovorka (1996-97), David Zauder (1997-98), Ward Smith (1998-99), Christoph von Dohnányi (1999-2000), Gary Hanson (2000-01), John Mack (2001-02), Richard J. Bogomolny (2002-03), Thomas W. Morris (2003-04), Alex Machaskee (2004-05), Klaus G. Roy (2005-06), John D. Ong (2006-07), Gerald Hughes (2007-08), Louis Lane (2008-09), and Clara Taplin Rankin (2009-10).
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Press Contacts
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Ana Papakhian, Office: 216-231-7476; Cell phone: 216-370-2595; Email: anap@clevelandorchestra.com
