Session Proposals

GEORGE H. MCDOW
BIOGRAPHY

Dr. George McDow has 50+ years’ experience as a music educator in Oklahoma and around the world. For 19 of his 22 years in Oklahoma, he taught in the Norman Public Schools where his bands and orchestras received many high honors.

Dr. McDow is the premier Oklahoma music education historian. His dissertation, “A History of Instrumental Music in the Public Schools of Oklahoma through 1945,” received national recognition from the Council of Research in Music Education (CRME). In 1992, NAfME presented him with an award of distinction for his work as OkMEA Historian, a position he held from 1985-92 and during which he established the OkMEA Hall of Fame. He is a Past National Chair for NAfME’s History Special Research Interest Group (HSRIG) and currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education (JHRME).

For 10 years he was a professor of music and conducting at universities in China and Thailand. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Ethnomusicology for Liberty University, teaching online graduate courses. He serves as President of the Global Consultation on Arts & Music in Missions (GCAMM), an organization he helped found. He is a Lausanne Arts Catalyst, a designation for those who use the arts in worldwide Christian endeavors.

He holds a BME degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, an MME degree from the University of North Texas, and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma. His international awards include China's Friendship Medal, that country's highest honor awarded to a foreigner, and being listed in International Who's Who in Education. In 2015 he participated as an invited delegate to the United Nations’ world poverty technology conference. In addition to OkMEA, he is a member of NAfME, Phi Beta Mu, and ASBDA. Dr. McDow and his wife, Sherry, married since 1972 and currently residing in Norman, have 3 children and 6 grandchildren who live in the Oklahoma City area.

In 1932, during the dark days of the Great Depression, an independent music festival was initiated in the small Oklahoma town of Enid. From humble beginnings this event became a significant part of music education in the public schools of Oklahoma and neighboring states, and over the years it’s influence spread from regional to national and then international with over 20,000 participants each year. The many famous musicians who participated in the festival included Edwin Franco Goldman, Carl Busch, A. A. Harding, William F. Ludwig, Herbert L. Clark, Earl D. Irons, Frank Simon, Skitch Henderson, and Doc Severinsen.

This historical presentation reveals how the Tri-State Music Festival was founded, how it evolved over time, and its current status, giving insight into its influence as a music education event. Information for the presentation was gathered through searching relevant documents, correspondence from participants, and interviews with those individuals directly involved in the festival. Historical pictures will be included in the presentation’s power point. Half of the presentation will be dedicated to a newly discovered 1955 film about the festival entitled “Holiday for Bands” and narrated by the actor Jimmy Stewart. In June 2026, this history of the Tri-State Music Festival and the 1955 film will be presented at NAfME’s National Symposium for the History of Music Education in Jacksonville, Florida.

• Band - Middle School
• Band - Secondary
• Choral - Middle School
• Choral - Secondary
• Orchestra - Middle School
• Orchestra - Secondary
• Collegiate
• Mentorship/Beginning Teachers