Sheldon, Iowa — The Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association has announced that Sheldon High School Band Director Cliff St. Clair is being awarded the district’s Karl L. King Award.
The award is named for legendary march composer and band leader, Karl King. St. Clair talks about King and his contribution to band music.
(As above) “Back in the day, he and John Phillip Sousa and some of the well-known band directors early in those days, when bands were a big deal…it used to be that bands would be performing at communities…so there were lots of community bands. And that’s what really got bands started in schools, back in the early 1900’s.”
St. Clair says he was nominated for the Karl L. King award by other school band directors in this part of the state.
(As above) “The band directors in this area, the people who nominated me, apparently feel as though I’ve helped out, or been of service to the Iowa Bandmasters Association in our district and so they’ve nominated me for the Karl King Award.”
The Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association is one of six district organizations in Iowa, and St. Clair says that now he moves on and is in the running for the statewide Karl L. King Award.
(As above) “Each district nominates a person to represent their district, and then it goes to a general election amongst everybody in the state. So each district…there are six districts…so there will be six candidates and then the vote will take place in, sometime in April, I believe.”
He says he doesn’t expect to win the statewide award, but it’s nice to be recognized by his peers in this part of Iowa.
(As above) “I have a lot of respect for the band directors in northwest Iowa, so it’s nice to know they’ve appreciated what I’ve tried to do to help out.”
St. Clair currently serves as the Research and Development chairperson for northwest Iowa. In 2018 he served as the District President of the Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association. He regularly has students participate in district band events and they are routinely selected for honor ensembles in northwest Iowa.
