Martin Bookspan
is 2002 Fine Arts Radio International^® Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Martin Bookspan, long-time voice of the New York Philharmonic and the public television series Live from Lincoln Center, was recognized for his considerable contribution to music education during the "Beethoven-Bash" concert Saturday night June 8 at the OK Mozart Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Shortly after intermission of the all-Beethoven concert featuring Ransom Wilson conducting the Solisti New York with guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson, the Klassix Society bestowed its 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award on Mr. Bookspan with his friend Mary O'Toole accepting in his place. A sudden health problem prevented Mr. Bookspan from attending this year's OK Mozart International Festival.

The Fine Arts Radio International® Awards were created in 2000 to promote classical music education through the medium of radio. The separate Lifetime Achievement Award was launched to recognize conspicuous achievement in that area. Karl Haas, producer and host of Adventures in Good Music, was the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. His 42-year series of programs provided a benchmark for what the Klassix Society intends to recognize and promote with the annual awards.

Peter Schickele was the second Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, recognized for his outstanding radio program, Schickele Mix in 2001.

88.7KXMS / Fine Arts Radio International® is a cultural resource of Missouri Southern State University. It broadcasts a wide range of classical music 24 hours a day over the Internet to avid listeners throughout the United States and the world at www.kxms.org. The non-profit Klassix Society was incorporated in 1990 in support of KXMS.

Contributions in support of the award may be directed to The Klassix Society at 3950 E. Newman Road, Joplin, Missouri 64801-1595.

Text of the Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation:

8 June 2002
Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Good evening, we are here tonight representing the Klassix Society, Friends of 88.7KXMS / Fine Arts Radio International, as ambassadors of classical music to recognize Martin Bookspan's contribution to music education.

The Fine Arts Radio International Awards began in 2000 with the Friends of 88.7KXMS Radio at Missouri Southern State University recognizing the efforts of radio producers in the service of music education. Mr. Bookspan is tonight only the third recipient of the crystal trophy signifying his enormous contribution to music education through the medium of radio.

Back in the mid 1970's there were three very prominent voices of classical in the United States on national radio, one belonged to our honoree tonight, the host of "Live from Lincoln Center" on public television, and the New York Philharmonic radio programs for nineteen years, produced by WQXR-FM in New York City.

Besides his authoritative presentations on both national radio and television, our honoree is the author of "101 Masterpieces of Music and Their Composers," Consumer Reports Reviews of classical recordings , as well as co-authoring biographies of Zubin Mehta and André Previn.

Mr. Bookspan is quoted as saying 'I want a life in music, and I want to talk on the radio about music and help people enjoy it.' I loved talking about music - and I still do.' Well, Mr. Bookspan, we love hearing you talk about music.

As if the music education his has brought to Americans through radio and television and books weren't enough, our honoree has served as a consultant to the Arts Program of the Rockefeller Foundation, as a panelist on numerous programs of the National Endowment for the Arts, as Director of the Concert Division of ASCAP, and as board member of a variety of musical organizations. He currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.

But it is specifically for his contribution to classical music education via radio that we especially, if not exclusively, recognize Mr. Bookspan tonight.

Therefore, tonight, on this occasion at the 2002 OK Mozart Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, we, the Klassix Society, the friends of 88.7KXMS, present to you, Martin Bookspan, the 2002 Lifetime Achievement trophy from the Fine Arts Radio International Awards.