We are pleased to present the Complete SPAH Awards packet for download here: Awards Nomination packet 2026.

NOTE: Only SPAH members in good standing may make nominations for SPAH awards. However, nominees do not need to
be members of SPAH. Each year, recipients will be selected by the SPAH Awards Committee solely from nominations
made that year by members like you. Please send in a nomination of your favorite candidate
in each category so that the Committee may consider them for a SPAH Award.

 

Here are a few photographs of previous SPAH Award winners for you to enjoy.

Stevie Wonder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please use the Nomination packet download linked above, or read on

SPAH Annual Awards

Nomination Packet for 2026

Includes:

SPAH Awards Criteria & Procedures

Nomination forms for:

Stan Harper Award of Special Merit

Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award

Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award

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SPAH awards criteria & procedures

These are the procedures, subject to modification, for selecting candidates and presenting SPAH Awards. The President has adopted the following:

Criteria for eligibility

General conditions for eligibility

• Candidates should have been alive sometime during the twelve months prior to the SPAH convention at which the
  award is made.
• Candidates must already have benefited the harmonica community in a meaningful and significant way that can be
  clearly described.
• Candidates should have been alive sometime during the twelve months prior to the SPAH convention at which the award is made.
• Candidates must already have benefited the harmonica community in a meaningful and significant way that can be clearly described.

Ineligible persons

• Previous recipients of a specific award are not eligible to receive that award a second time. Any individual may receive any
  specific award only once.
• Any person active in the selection or evaluation of candidates for the year in which an award is made is
  ineligible to receive that award. If a compelling reason exists to nominate a person who would normally
  participate in the selection of award recipients, that person must either refuse the nomination or recuse
  themselves from participation in said process for the year in which they are nominated.

Eligibility for specific awards

Criteria for eligibility to receive awards should remain broad and flexible enough both to accommodate a sufficiently
broad range of candidates and to encompass the variety of harmonica activities worthy of receiving these honors.

Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award

• Candidates should be individuals (not organizations) who are harmonica players
• Candidates’ proficiency should be a source of pride for the community – the award should be for excellence in
  actually playing the instrument.
• Award should be for distinction demonstrated or attained recently, preferably during a twelve-month period prior
  to the deadline for nominations.
• Only one person may receive the Bernie Bray Award in any year.

 

Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award

• Candidates should have a record of achievements over a long period of time that may reasonably be considered to
  be the virtual equivalent of a lifetime.
• Candidates that have established themselves as outstanding harmonica players are preferred.
• Candidates should be active in promoting the preservation and advancement of the harmonica and the positive and
  meaningful interaction of harmonica players and devotees.
• Candidates should demonstrate generosity in sharing their talents and knowledge, and in remaining accessible to
  members of the harmonica community.
• Only one person may receive the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award in any one year unless there is a
  compelling reason to do otherwise.

 

Stan Harper Award of Special Merit (formerly the SPAH Award of Special Merit)

• Candidates must have benefited the harmonica community in a manner that is deserving of singular honor.
• Candidates may be individuals who do not play the harmonica.
• Candidates may be organizations.

 

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Candidate nomination procedures

Eligibility to nominate candidates

Anyone who is a SPAH member in good standing may nominate a candidate for any or all of the annual SPAH awards.
(Note: Nominees do not need to be SPAH members.)

Method of nomination

SPAH members may address nominations in writing to the current president of SPAH or to the president’s announced
designee at an address to be published by SPAH at least annually. All nominations must: state the name of the nominee,
the name of award for which the nominee is being nominated, and state clearly the reasons that the nominee is deserving
of the award. Nominations must be received by June 30.

Publication of required information by SPAH

SPAH shall communicate and make available to SPAH members at least annually the criteria for all SPAH annual awards; any
submission requirements; any required forms; and a deadline for each year’s awards, to be announced sufficiently in
advance of the deadline to allow SPAH members time prior to the deadline to consider and submit nominations, and to
allow the board time to evaluate candidates, make decisions, and acquire the award objects (plaques, certificates,
etc.).

Decision procedures

• Neither the evaluation of nominees nor the choice of awardees may be made by a single individual.
• All evaluations shall be made by the SPAH board or by a committee of at least two persons appointed either by
  vote of the board or by the president.
• All nominations shall be reviewed for accuracy in claims of merit and appropriateness and for prior receipt by
  the nominee of the award for which the nomination is made.
• Award recipients shall be chosen by the full board, except in such unforeseen circumstances that might render
  such a decision impossible. Should the full board be unavailable to make a decision or alter a prior decision
  within seven days prior to presentation, a vote taken among available board members may stand in place of a vote
  by the full board.

Award procedures

Place and time of award

All awards are presented at the SPAH convention unless a good reason exists to do otherwise (such as an awardee being
unable to appear at the SPAH convention at which the award would be presented).

The board may wish to consider announcing nominations for SPAH awards prior to the SPAH convention.

Manner of award presentation

Awards are delivered to the recipient either by the president or by the president’s designee. If the recipient is unable
to be present for the award ceremony, a representative may be designated by the recipient, by the recipient’s family, or
by the SPAH board.

Character of the award

Each award consists of:

• An award object, such as a certificate, plaque, or trophy, bearing the SPAH name and logo, the name of the
  award, the year, and the name of the award recipient
• The ceremonial presentation of the award object
• Prominent mention in SPAH media, including Harmonica Happenings and the SPAH website

Record keeping

A record of past nominees and recipients shall be retained for future reference.

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   Stan Harper Award of Special Merit

In 2002 this award was established so that SPAH might honor deserving individuals and organizations that have benefited
the harmonica in ways not reflected in the criteria for other SPAH awards. At its inception the award was called the
Citizen Award. In 2010 it was renamed to better reflect the distinction intended in bestowing the award. In 2015 it was
again renamed in honor of eminent harmonica player Stan Harper.

Stan Harper (1921–2016) began playing harmonica as a child after finding a diatonic harmonica in the street. He soon
persuaded his parents to spend what was then the princely sum of $2.50 for a 10-hole chromatic and started figuring out
the names of the notes. He started winning talent contests and met and played with several others who later became
harmonica legends, including Alan Pogson, Eddy Manson, and George Fields.

During World War II he entertained the troops together with comedian Carl Reiner and Eddie Shu, a harmonica player
better known for his tenor sax work with such luminaries as George Shearing and Buddy Rich. Stan’s later show business
activities included working with such names as Pablo Casals, reflecting his increasingly classical inclination that
included presenting several concerts of baroque music at Carnegie Hall.

In later years, Stan was a fixture at SPAH conventions, a pipe-smoking curmudgeon who could tell amazing anecdotes from
his life when the mood struck. Age never diminished his astonishing talent or performing abilities, and until 2014 he
gave peerless cameo performances as a regular feature of the Saturday night show.

In 2015, partly as a result of Stan’s friendship with Carl Reiner, a film crew making a documentary about prominent
performers over 90 came to film a segment on Stan his New Jersey home.

• Candidates for the Stan Harper award must have benefited the harmonica community in a manner that is deserving
  of singular honor.
• Candidates may be individuals who do not play the harmonica.
• Candidates may be organizations.

Past Recipients

2002	Frank Halovanic	2015	Charles Spranklin
2004	Joe Fey	2016	Paul Davies
2005	Jack Hopkins	2017	Phil Sardo, Tony Sardo, Jerl Welch
2006	Joe and Fey Martin	2018	Frank Davis, Manfred Wewers
2007	Bob Herndon	2019	David Barrett
2008	Rudy and Doris Michelin	2020	George Miklas, Steve Watne
2009	Phil Duncan	2021	Phil Franklin, Vern Smith
2010	Dick Lawrence, Michael Anderson, Terry Lewis	2022	Bill Dulin, Michael Rubin
2011	Michael Polesky	2023	Ernie Roberts
2012	Roger Bale	2024	Mike Runyan
2013	Martin Haeffner	2025	Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Greg Heumann
2014	Mike Caldwell, Harp-l, and SlideMeister	2026	??

 

Stan Harper Award of Special Merit 2026 Nomination Form

This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring issue of Harmonica
Happenings and reprinted here.

All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30th of the Award year. No submissions received
after that time will be considered.

Information about you (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:
SPAH Member #		Signature:

Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:

 

• Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
• For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or
  attest to the achievement described.

 

There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30 of the Award year

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  Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award

Writer, arranger, performer, studio musician, humorist, teacher and showman, Pete Pedersen was all these things and
more. Teenage leader of the famed Borrah Minevitch’s Harmonica Rascals and member of the Don Henry Trio, he arranged
their hit version of the Sabre Dance, as well as the majority of arrangements for Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, among them,
the Alan Pogson-inspired Peg O’ My Heart. As half of the Harmonic-Aires with Fuzzy Feldman, he appeared on the famed Ed
Sullivan Show numerous times, while performing regularly at the legendary 500 Club, home of the “rat pack”. When Feldman
retired, Pedersen went solo, joining Jerry and Al on an extensive Asian tour before taking a day job as Music Director
for one of the largest broadcast production houses in the country.

Over the years he would write hundreds of jingles, IDs, and commercial music for companies like Pontiac, Kellogg’s, and
Holiday Inn. During a ten-year stint in Canada, he wrote and arranged over a dozen albums, and appeared on a host of
others for some of music’s biggest stars. But it wasn’t until he returned to ‘the states’ that he finally produced two
of his own: the jazz–oriented Groovin’ High, and Some of These Days and Some of Those Days, an album
that included his two harmonica concertos, test pieces for the 1991 World Harmonica Championship and 1999 World
Harmonica Festival.

Featured in Gasoline Alley, Jim Scancarelli’s internationally syndicated comic strip, and posthumously awarded a brass
note on Beale Street’s Walk of Fame, Pete Pedersen was a life-long supporter of SPAH, producing two SPAH-sponsored
festivals in the 1990’s. Called upon to judge and headline countless international events, he was one of the harmonica’s
biggest cheerleaders, sharing his knowledge of and love for the harmonica at the club and national level, on TV and on
tour. Renowned for his wit, wisdom, supreme musicianship, along with his accessibility to all, this consummate musician
was the first to receive the lifetime achievement award that bears his name.

Criteria for the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award

• Candidates should have a record of achievements over a long period of time that may reasonably be considered to
  be the virtual equivalent of a lifetime.
• Candidates that have established themselves as outstanding harmonica players are preferred.
• Candidates should be active in promoting the preservation and advancement of the harmonica and the positive and
  meaningful interaction of harmonica players and devotees.
• Candidates should demonstrate generosity in sharing their talents and knowledge, and in remaining accessible to
  members of the harmonica community.
• Only one person may receive the Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award in any one year unless there is a
  compelling reason to do otherwise.

Past Recipients

2001	Pete Pedersen	2014	Peter Madcat Ruth
2002	Alan “Blackie” Schackner	2015	Maurice “Mo” Vint
2003	Sandy German	2016	Winslow Yerxa
2004	Tony and Dominic Sgro	2017	Michael Burton
2005	Buzz Krantz, Charlie McCoy	2018	Kirk “Jellyroll” Johnson
2006	Bob McFarlane, Ray Tankersly, Stan Harper	2019	Steve Baker, Will Scarlett
2007	Jerry Adler, Danny Wilson	2020	Jerry Devillier
2008	Charlie Musselwhite, Anneliese “Sissi” Jones	2021	PT Gazell
2009	Manji Suzuki	2022	Phil Wiggins
2010	Dick Gardner	2023	Jerry Fierro
2011	Al Smith	2024	Chris Bauer
2012	James Cotton	2025	Dave Moore
2013	Tom Stryker	2026	???

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Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 Nomination Form

This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring issue of Harmonica
Happenings and reprinted here.

All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30th of the Award year. No submissions received after that time
will be considered.

Please include all the information requested on this page. However, there is no need to use this form.

Information about you (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:
SPAH Member #		Signature:

Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:

 

• Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
• Remember that the Pete Pedersen award is for achievement over a lifetime.
• For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or
  attest to the achievement described.

 

There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30 of the Award year

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   Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award

The Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award was instituted in 1981 to honor the memory of Bernie Bray, a widely
admired harmonica soloist and instrument builder who died that year.

Bernie Bray was a family man, a lover of life and living. He was a featured soloist with the Royal Canadian Air Force
Concert Band, for which he did all his arranging and orchestration. This was a 60-piece band located in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.

He was forever experimenting for improvement on current harmonica models, but he also built many instruments of his own
design. He also designed and built many of his own tools for harmonica repair.

His instruments, all handmade, were the envy of all pros that came to play them and marveled at them. One of his
instruments, a bass 64 chromatic, was used by Pete Pedersen in his recording of the George Gershwin composition “An
American in Paris” on the Hohner sampler album Heavy Duty Harpin’ (released in 1984.)

Those of us who were indeed fortunate to know Bernie have very warm and fond memories to sustain us. The passing of
Bernie Bray has left an immeasurable void in the music world.

– Danny Wilson

Past Recipients

1981	Bernie Bray	1996	Stagg McMann	2011	Brendan Power
1982	Richard Smith	1997	Peter Madcat Ruth	2012	Phil Caltabellotta
1983	Pete Pedersen	1998	Lou Delin	2013	Jean “Toots” Thielemans
1984	Gordon Mitchell	1999	Alan “Blackie” Schackner	2014	Buddy Greene
1985	Judy Simpson	2000	Jack Ely	2015	Robert Bonfiglio
1986	Danny Wilson	2001	Joe Filisko	2016	Stevie Wonder
1987	Alex Fogel	2002	Marv Monroe	2017	Jason Ricci
1988	Norm Dobson	2003	Buddy Wakefield	2018	Hermine Deurloo
1989	Jim Prushankin	2004	Bud Boblink	2019	Dennis Gruenling
1990	Richard Harris	2005	Douglas Tate	2020	Antonio Serrano
1991	Don Les	2006	Frank Warner	2021	William Galison
1992	Al Fiore	2007	Herb Eck	2022	Charlie Musselwhite
1993	Cham-Ber Huang	2008	Gene Hansen	2023	Filip Jers
1994	Al Smith	2009	Rob Paparozzi	2024	Mark Hummel
1995	Jerry Murad	2010	Howard Levy	2025	Rick Estrin

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Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award 2026 Nomination Form

This nomination is subject to the SPAH Awards Criteria and Procedures as published in the Spring issue of Harmonica
Happenings and reprinted here.

All SPAH award nominations must be received by SPAH no later than June 30 of the Award year. No submissions received after that time
will be considered.

Please include all the information requested on this page. However, there is no need to use this form.

Information about you (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:
SPAH Member #		Signature:

Information about the person you’re nominating (please type or print):

Name:
Mailing Address:
City/State/ZIP:
Telephone:		Email:

 

• Please state why you feel the nominee is deserving of the award.
• Remember that the Bernie Bray award is for achievement during the past twelve months.
• For any specific achievement, please include the names and contact information of individuals who can verify or
  attest to the achievement described.

 

There’s no need to use this form. Nominations typed into the body of an email are strongly preferred. If you can, email your nomination text to spahawards@gmail.com. Written nominations may be mailed to: Winslow Yerxa PO Box 590717 San Francisco CA 94159-0717 Deadline: June 30 of the Award year