The Meridian Symphony Orchestra and Nancy Ponder Brand were among the regional award recipients recognized by the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education on Friday.

The Meridian Symphony Orchestra was presented the Distinguished Community Arts Agency Award, which was accepted by Dr. Claire Fox Hillard, who has served as conductor of the orchestra since 1991.

Hillard thanked MSO board members, supporters and musicians who had attended the ceremony and luncheon held at the MSU Riley Center.

The Meridian Symphony Orchestra is in its 47th year and is the second longest operating orchestra in the state. As part of the annual concert season the orchestra performs a special concert for the 1,300 fourth grade students and their teachers in Lauderdale County. Weeks before the performance instructional booklets are sent to area schools with information and activities for the students related to each performance.

Nancy Ponder Brand of Newton was presented the Lifetime Achievement in Arts Education Award.

Brand began her teaching career in the home economics department at Newton High School. She supervised extra-curricular activities, tutored special students and directed high school choral groups and stage productions.

She was a charter member of the Newton Arts Council and she organized a local theatre group.

During the ceremony Friday a former student of Brand’s, Newton Mayor Michael Pickens, declared the day “Nancy Brand Day” in Newton.

The keynote speaker for the event was Sam Haskell, a native of Amory, philanthropist and former worldwide head of television for the William Morris Agency.

Haskell graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1977 and began his career with the William Morris Agency in Los Angeles — as a clerk in the mailroom. From there he moved through the organization and in 1999 was named Worldwide Head of Television.

The biannual Stars Over Mississippi benefit concerts held in Amory, which he produces, have raised more than $4 million to date.

He serves on the boards of The Haskell Scholarship Foundation, The Gertrude Ford Center for The Performing Arts, and The Eudora Welty Foundation. In 2005 Haskell organized and produced, “Mississippi Rising,” a three-hour live telecast for MSNBC hosted by Morgan Freeman, that raised more than $15 million to benefit survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

The entire ballroom of the MSU Riley Center was decorated with Meridian Public School District and Lauderdale County School District art from each school.

Other recipients of the 2007 MAAE Arts Education Awards are:

• Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator Award (Music) went to Amy Mallette, B.L. Bell Elementary School, Boyle

• Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator Award (Theatre) went to Libby Cagle Pollard, Henderson Intermediate School, Starkville

• Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator Award (Visual Art) went to Randy H. Jolly, Warren Central High School, Vicksburg

• Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator Award (Arts Integration) went to Donna Porter, Picayune High School, Picayune

• Exemplary Arts Service Award went to Sharon H. Long, Tupelo

• Higher Education Award went to Dr. Robert J. Damm, Mississippi State University, Starkville

• Outstanding Administrator of the Year went to Dr. Roma W. Morris, Pearl Lower Elementary School, Pearl