James Dick to be Honored As a Texas Living Legend

The Texas State History Museum Foundation has selected two outstanding Texans – legendary pianist James Dick of Round Top and Dallas philanthropist and business leader Lyda Hill – to receive the History-Making Texan Award at the Foundation’s eighteenth annual Texas Independence Day Dinner to be held on March 2, 2022 at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. The award recognizes living Texas legends whose contributions to the state and the nation have been truly historic and exceptional in scope.

The Texas Independence Day Dinner celebrates the state’s rich cultural heritage and generates support for the Bullock Museum, the nation’s premier institution on Texas history. Nearly 500 business, political and community leaders attend the event each year. Lynn McBee of Dallas will serve as Chair and Jan Felts Bullock of Austin will serve as Honorary Chair of the event. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the many educational programs and special projects of the Bullock Museum.

Honoree James Dick established Round Top Festival Institute in historic Round Top in 1971. Dick, a concert pianist with a distinguished career, was uniquely qualified for the task of creating a 210 acre campus and organization to operate one of the major music festivals in the United States. Dick graduated from the University of Texas with special honors in piano in 1963 and was a student of pianist and pedagogue Dalies Frantz. Subsequently, Dick received two Fulbright Fellowships for study at the Royal Academy of Music in London and private study with Sir Clifford Curzon, a major pianist of the twentieth century. Dick was also a top winner in the Tchaikovsky, Busoni and Leventritt international competitions and since has represented the United States on the juries of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Fort Worth. His concert tours take him throughout the United States and abroad each year. He was named a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1994. In 2003, James Dick was Texas State Musician appointee. He received the 2009 Texas Medal of Arts for his work in the area of Arts Education.

“We look forward to sharing the remarkable stories of these outstanding honorees with our guests,” says Lynn McBee, Dinner Chair and TSHMF Trustee. “James Dick elevates Texas nationally as a leader in the arts through his own talent as a concert pianist and his global impact on the education of young artists. He’s performed in the top concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and has been showered with accolades. His lasting legacy transcends his own talent, through founding the Round Top Festival Institute, which has taught hundreds of talented young musicians and presented world-class classical performances in a stunning setting.”

Previous recipients of the award include: Secretary James A. Baker III; Governor Dolph Briscoe; President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush; President George W. and Mrs. Laura Bush; Charles Butt; Earl Campbell; Van Cliburn; Barbara Smith Conrad; Denton Cooley, M.D.; Walter Cronkite among others.