George S. Howard
American conductor and music educator (1903-1995)
Colonel George Sallade Howard (February 24, 1902 – September 18, 1995) was commander and conductor of The United States Air Force Band between 1947 and 1963.
Life and career
A native of Reamstown, Pennsylvania, Howard became a student of Patrick Conway at the Conway Military Band School located on the campus of Ithaca College (where he became a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia) and played clarinet in Conway's professional band. In 1925 he became the band director of Ohio Wesleyan University (where he became a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity), and he earned Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from that institution in 1929. He later earned degrees from New York University (MA, 1936); Chicago Musical College (BA, 1934; MM, 1935; DM, 1939); and Ithaca College (HD, 1984).
Howard taught at Mansfield University and later at Penn State University. In 1942, Howard was commissioned into the Army Specialist Corps, and in 1947 Howard's reputation as a conductor led to his commission as leader of the newly formed Air Force Band. He directed the USAF Band and Orchestra until his retirement with the rank of colonel in 1963. During his tenure he established several performing groups, including Airmen of Note, Singing Sergeants, Strolling Strings, and Women in the Air Force Band. He also founded the USAF Bandsman School.
Howard was elected President of the American Bandmasters Association in 1956, and became an Honorary Life Member in 1984.
“George S. Howard” enters the record as american conductor and music educator (1903-1995). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what George, Howard and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5544163. VIAF identifies the subject as 55811813. The Library of Congress control number is n92084912. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1902, 1995, 1947 and 1963.
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This entry incorporates text from “George S. Howard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.