Distinguished Alumni Award

Paul Lavender, ’73, supervises the creative work of many of the music industry’s most respected composers and arrangers, producing more than 600 new instrumental publications each year.

He works as vice president of instrumental publications for Hal Leonard Corp., directing the product development and marketing of the company’s extensive catalog of performance publications for orchestra, concert band, marching band, and jazz ensemble, as well as instrumental books, collections, and methods.

Recently, his association with renowned film composer John Williams has produced the prestigious John Williams Signature Series, featuring Williams’ authentic film scores and concert music for professional orchestras. In addition, Paul served as music supervisor and arranger for several of Williams’ concert events, including the 2003 Marine Band Anniversary Concert, the 2004 Rose Bowl, and the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors program.

Also a prolific writer, Paul has contributed more than 1,000 arrangements and compositions to the educational and concert repertoire and continues to be one of the most widely played writers today. He is co-author and managing editor of the new Essential Elements 2000 method for beginning bands.

Paul did both his undergraduate and graduate work in music theory and composition at CMU, where he also served as a graduate assistant teaching music theory, sight-singing, and ear training. During that time he began his writing career, providing arrangements for the CMU Marching Band under the direction of Norman Dietz and Jack Saunders.

Cheryl Lavender, ’73, is internationally recognized as a master music educator, composer, and clinician.

She has taught music for 30 years at the elementary, middle, high school, and university levels, and currently teaches at Swanson Elementary School and Wisconsin Hills Middle School in the Elmbrook School District in Brookfield, Wis. In 1993, she received the district’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

As an author and composer, Cheryl has published more than 40 classroom resources for music educators including music games, song collections, and teaching strategies. Some of her most widely used titles include “Making Each Minute Count” (proceeds benefit the National Alliance For the Mentally Ill), “The Ultimate Music Assessment and Evaluation Kit,” “Songs of the Rainbow Children” (proceeds benefit South African and American schools), “Rhythm and Melody Flash Card Kits,” and her popular Bingo series including “Instrument Bingo,” “Music Styles Bingo,” and “Rhythm Bingo.” 

Cheryl also is a contributing composer and author for the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill music textbook series “Spotlight-On Music” as well as Music Express magazine. Both publications are used extensively in elementary and middle school classrooms across the country.

In 2004, Cheryl was one of 12 recipients nationwide to be awarded an Arts@Work grant from the NEA Foundation, which funded the Wisconsin Hills Middle School music/technology piano lab. In 1996, she traveled to South Africa representing the United States as a music educator for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Citizen Ambassador Program.