
Mission:
To ensure the continued existence of major symphony orchestras in North America through volunteerism.

STANDING OVATION AWARDS
Volunteerism is what AMSOV stands for.
Standing Ovation Awards recognize outstanding individuals who give their time to their volunteer organizations, in service to their cities' orchestras.
Winners are announced throughout the year, featured in AMSOV's eNews, and formally recognized at the next biennial conference. Upcoming winners will be presented with their pin, framed award certificate and a complimentary one-year membership to AMSOV at our next conference in Kansas City, Missouri, April 4-7, 2024.
GUIDELINES FOR NOMINATIONS
The Standing Ovation Award is given to individuals only, not to organizations. The award is for personal volunteer service and not for monetary contributions. An individual is not excluded by being a donor, of course, but our focus is on volunteer service. Anyone receiving compensation for services cited in the nomination is ineligible.
The Standing Ovation Award program is administered by a committee in the city of the upcoming AMSOV conference. The committee will consider all submissions and forward its recommendations to the Board of Directors of AMSOV which will choose the winners. The Board’s decisions are final. Current members of the AMSOV board are ineligible for nomination. Conference committee members and volunteers in the city of the upcoming conference are also ineligible until after the conference in that city has been held.
One winner may be chosen at each of AMSOV Board’s semi-annual meetings leading up to the biennial conference, for a total of four possible winners to be recognized at the conference. However, the Standing Ovation committee is not obligated to recommend a winner and the AMSOV Board is not required to select a winner at each meeting.
The submission deadlines for the current cycle are:
July 1, 2023
January 1, 2024
Self-nominations are not allowed.
No person may receive more than one Standing Ovation Award.
A nominee who is not given the award remains eligible for future consideration but the submission does not carry over. A nominator wishing to resubmit the nomination should do so prior to the next deadline.
There is no limit to the number of submissions from any one city, although the award committee may take into account that volunteers from that city have already won Standing Ovation Awards.
Submissions must be made using AMSOV’s form. However, supporting documentation may be attached such as articles, post or blogs about the nominee’s volunteer work, letters of recommendation from orchestra staff members or fellow volunteers, and copies of documents pertaining to the nominee’s volunteer work.
The submission form requires two signatures: 1) that of the nominator, who must belong to an AMSOV member organization, and 2) the signature of either the president of the volunteer organization or, if there is no such organization, the president or CEO of the symphony orchestra for which the nominee volunteers.
Winners are encouraged, but not required, to attend the conference and make a few short comments at the awards ceremony.
Submissions should be sent by postal mail service or digitally to:
Don Dagenais
Kansas City Conference Chair
5401 Brookside Blvd, No. 503
Kansas City, MO 64112
To download the AMSOV Standing Ovation Award submission form,