Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Spano has been honored for his commitment to innovation and artistic excellence with two special distinctions: Emory University's Honorary Doctorate in Music, and Columbia University's Ditson Conductor's Award for the advancement of American music. The Grammy®-award winning conductor received his honorary doctorate at Emory's 164th commencement ceremony on May 11, 2009, a distinction awarded to him for his groundbreaking initiatives, high moral standards, and commitment to the advancement of music, all qualities that encompass Emory's mission to support excellence.

In addition to this prestigious award, on April 3, 2009, Maestro Spano proudly accepted Columbia University's 2008 Ditson Conductor's Award for the advancement of American music. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward, chairman of the Ditson Advisory Committee, presented Maestro Spano with a $5,000 award and citation from Columbia University President Lee Bollinger during an Orchestra performance at Atlanta Symphony Hall, a concert which appropriately featured a completely American roster of compositions, including the World Premiere of Christopher Theofanidis's Symphony, along with Samuel Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17 and George Gershwin's Concerto in F Major for Piano and Orchestra with Marcus Roberts.

About Robert Spano
Robert Spano is among the most innovative and imaginative conductors of his generation, and has conducted the major orchestras and opera companies of North America and Europe. Now in his eighth season as Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he has enriched its repertoire and elevated it to greater prominence. With a discography of 12 critically-acclaimed recordings for Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon recorded over six years, Maestro Spano has garnered six Grammy® Awards.

In December, Maestro Spano conducted Golijov's Ainadamar with Dawn Upshaw and the Orchestra of St. Luke's in Carnegie Hall and appeared with Carnegie's Zankel Band as part of its Bernstein Festival, Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds. In August 2009, Mr. Spano returns to the Seattle Opera to conduct three cycles of Wagner's monumental Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Musical America's 2008 "Conductor of the Year," Mr. Spano was Music Director of the Ojai Festival in 2006, Director of the Festival of Contemporary Music at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Music Center in 2003 and 2004, where he was Head of the Conducting Fellowship Program from 1998-2002, and was Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1996-2004. He is on the faculty of Oberlin Conservatory, and has previously received honorary doctorates from Bowling Green State University and the Curtis Institute of Music.

About Emory University's Honorary Doctorate
Emory's Honorary Degrees Committee of the University Senate is comprised of Emory faculty, staff and students. The committee, which reports to the University Senate, the University president, and the trustees, is charged with reviewing all honorary degree nominations submitted by the Emory community and recommending a slate of candidates representing the highest values and the breadth of the University's mission.

In addition to Maestro Spano, Emory University honors three other individuals with honorary doctorates this year: former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, who will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree and deliver the keynote address; Nancy Cantor, chancellor and president of Syracuse University, who will receive a doctor of laws; and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, currently director of the Morehouse School of Medicine's Center of Excellence on Health Disparities, who will receive a doctor of science.

About Columbia University's Ditson Award
Columbia University's Ditson Conductor's Award was established in 1945 by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University and is the oldest award honoring conductors for their support of American music. Previous recipients have included Robert Shaw, Louis Lane, Christopher Keene, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leopold Stowkowski, Leonard Bernstein and Eugene Ormandy.