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Lowell Graham

Lowell Graham

A native of Greeley, Colorado, Lowell E. Graham was named the Betty L. Tointon Music Director and Principal Conductorfor the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra (GPO) in 2021. He served as Professor of Music holding the Abraham Chavez Professorship in Music at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 2002 to 2021.  While there, he served as Chair of the Department of Music from 2002-2014 and then as Director of Orchestral Activities and Professor of Conducting from 2010 – 2021. Graham began service in the USAF in 1974 and became the Commander/Conductor of the USAF Band in Washington DC in 1995 retiring in 2002.

In February 1996, he was inducted into the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) School of Music “Hall of Honor.  He received The Catholic University of America’s 1998 Alumni Achievement Award and in 1999 he received the UNC Alumni Association Honored Alumni Award for “Contributions to Music.”  In 2013 the UNC Graduate School honored him with the “Century of Scholars Award” in performance representing excellence and achievement in the previous 100 years for the Graduate School.

He was inducted into the Texas Bandmasters Association's “Hall of Fame” in 2019, the Conn-Selmer Hall of Fame in 2021, and the NBA Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors in 2022.

Graham has released recordings on six labels – Naxos, Telarc, Klavier, Mark, Altissimo, and Wilson.  These recordings have been recognized in Stereophile’s “Records to Die-For” list and The Absolute Sound’s “The Super Disc List.”  He served as the 81st President of the American Bandmasters Association and in 2014 he was named President and CEO of the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

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