Knox-Galesburg Symphony and conductor win awards

The Knox Galesburg Symphony and its artistic director/conductor Bruce Polay, professor of music at Knox College, recently received two awards from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. Polay received the 2008 Illinois Cultural Leadership Award, while the symphony received the 2008 Illinois Orchestra of the Year Award. The honors were presented February 29 at the Illinois Council of Orchestras annual awards ceremony in Chicago.

The 2008 Illinois Cultural Leadership Award cites Polay's "sustained leadership, dedication, and vision... that has profoundly impacted the arts in Illinois, nationally and internationally." Artistic director/conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony and a member of the Knox College music faculty since 1983, Polay is an award-winning composer and conductor who has brought artists of national and international stature to Illinois to perform with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. He won the Conductor of the Year Award from the Illinois Council of Orchestras in 1997 and again in 2004.

The 2008 Illinois Orchestra of the Year Award recognizes the Knox-Galesburg Symphony for its "artistic quality, programming, community involvement and outreach, opportunities for youth, fiscal responsibility, and community support."

The awards were presented to Polay and David Sherrard, president of the Galesburg Symphony Society, by Marie Ann Vos, president of the Illinois council of Orchestras, and Bryan Shilander, chair of the Council's Awards Committee. The Illinois Council of Orchestras has 110 member orchestras, including professional, community, youth and college orchestras from throughout Illinois.

Founded in 1951, the Knox-Galesburg Symphony won the Illinois Orchestra of the Year Award in 1986 and again in 1998. Since 1986, Polay and the KGS, including its staff, volunteers and supporters, have won 16 Illinois Council of Orchestras awards.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Bryan Shilander (left) and Marie Ann Vos (right), of the Illinois Council of Orchestras, present awards to Bruce Polay (center) of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.