The Samuel Simons Sanford Medal is the most prestigious award conferred by the School of Music. The recipients are selected for their distinguished contributions to the musical arts.

Recipients

1973–1979

1973: Phyllis Curtin, Claude Frank, Eugene Ormandy, Joseph Silverstein
1974: Byron Janis, Marcel Prawy, Bruce Simonds
1975: Marshall Bartholomew, Gary Graffman, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Hideo Saito, János Starker
1976: Doriot Anthony Dwyer, Pierre Fournier, Paul Hume, Danny Kaye, Thea Musgrave, Eve Queler, Louise Talma
1977: Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland, Randall Thompson, Jussi Jalas, Leo Ornstein, Dragan Plamenac, Sir Georg Solti
1978: Szymon Goldberg, Mstislav Rostropovich
1979: Betsy Jolas, Lorin Maazel, Frederick Neumann, Virgil Thomson

1980–1989

1980: Philip F. Nelson, Louis Sudler
1981: Robert Shaw
1982: Paul Badura-Skoda
1983: Maureen Forrester, Louis Krasner
1984: Marilyn Horne
1985: Benny Goodman, Fernando Valenti
1986: Krzysztof Penderecki
1988: Sherrill Milnes

1990–1999

1991: Richard French
1992: Fenno Heath
1994: Aldo Parisot, Murray Perahia, Robert Sherman
1996: Jacob Druckman (posthumous), Claude Frank, Ezra Laderman
1997: Dorothy DeLay
1998: Sidney Harth

2000–2009

2000: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Paul Hawkshaw, Keith L. Wilson
2002: Lili Chookasian
2003: Andrew Litton, William Walton
2004: Emanuel Ax, Lawrence Leighton Smith
2005: Robert L. Blocker, Richard Goode, Sir David Willcocks
2006: Richard Stoltzman

2010–2019

2010: Alfred Brendel, Elżbieta Penderecka
2012: William Christie, Joseph W. Polisi, Jian Wang
2013: Matthew Polenzani, Willie Ruff, Tokyo String Quartet
2014: Peter Gelb
2015: Klaus Heymann, Yo-Yo Ma
2016: Yu Long
2017: Carol Colburn Grigor
2018: Peter Schickele

2020–Present

2020: Martin Bresnick
2022: André J. Thomas
2023: Anthony Tommasini
2024: Ani Kavafian
2025: Itzhak Perlman, Toby Perlman, Benjamin Verdery

About Samuel Simons Sanford

Samuel Simons Sanford, a gifted pianist and generous patron, was the first Professor of Applied Music at Yale and a founding member of the Yale School of Music. He joined the faculty in 1894 and served for sixteen years, playing a vital role in establishing the School within the University.

Sanford’s passion for teaching and commitment to musical advancement shaped much of the School’s early development. He often sponsored concert tours and overseas study opportunities for students and faculty, and he oversaw the historically significant installation of the Newberry Organ in Woolsey Hall.

A devoted advocate for the music of Edward Elgar, Sanford was instrumental in securing Elgar’s honorary doctorate from Yale in 1905. At the conferral ceremony, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was performed — marking the beginning of Yale’s tradition of playing the piece and similar processionals at Commencement.

Among Sanford’s many gifts to Yale are the magnificent silver-and-gold mace and the jeweled Presidential collar, enduring symbols of authority used in major University ceremonies.