Duane E. Johnson Distinguished Award
2015 Recipient - David R Young

Our second recipient is Dave Young

Dave Young has been involved in a leadership position in NSBA for over forty years. Dave was instrumental in the development of the NSBA marching band festival from the very beginning. Always on the leading edge of the marching band movement Dave helped create most of the rules, procedures, early adjudication forms, and contest management procedures that have either evolved or are still in use today. Dave was always one of the first to adopt new concepts including leading the marching band development from the Casavant marching style to todays marching concepts through the introduction of the computer to all aspects of instrumental music education such as music arranging, drill design, and web site development.

What makes Dave standout from all the great bandmasters that have led this organization is his willingness to always be continually learning new techniques and skills that challenge the membership to raise their standards and then turn around and be willing to share or teach these techniques or skills to help the membership become more successful. Dave also initiated our website and kept it updated and current and spent countless hours keeping our website current. I would hate to even try to count the hours he has dedicated to archiving the history of bands in Nebraska. Dave spent countless hours teaching himself how to write code and web-design, then made revision after revision on the NSBA website. He has shown dedication to NSBA in every facet possible, from his endless years as an educator, attending the NSBA events, conventions, hosting the marching events at Seacrest field, and the many positions he has filled on the NSBA board.

NSBA would not be the leading band organization it has become in our state without the guiding influence that he has lent the membership over all these years and for that we can all be eternally grateful.

NSBA is proud to present the Duane E Johnson Distinguished Service Award to Dave Young!