"Uniquely American:" it's the theme of this year's concert gala at the University of Utah School of Music — which will honor Robert Cundick and the late Gladys Gladstone Rosenberg, two unique members of the Salt Lake community.

The celebration begins with dinner and concludes with a concert, which can be attended separately. The event is something that began with the dedication of the new Gardner Hall in 2000, according to the School of Music's Roger Miller, U.

The idea, Miller explained, is to showcase what the various departments do, and what the facilities help the School of Music accomplish. While the dinner and concert act as a fund-raiser, Miller said the larger purpose is to help supporters feel they are a part of something important and ongoing. And Cundick and Rosenberg will be inducted into the Music Hall of Fame.

"We decided at the very beginning that we wanted to inaugurate a hall of fame," Miller said, "and that was driven by the fact that there were some very, very fine people who had gone unrecognized." He explained that each year a committee selects one person from within the School of Music and one from the community, people who have made significant contributions.

Cundick was chosen as this year's representative from the community, Miller said. "For nearly half of our state's 100-year history, the name of Robert Cundick has been associated with the artistic life of Utah. Performer, composer, teacher, advocate, organizer, visionary — a more apt representative of our state and its historic commitment to music is hard to imagine."

A graduate of the University of Utah and student of Leroy Robertson, Cundick has been closely associated with the school of music through the years, most recently helping to establish a community organ-training program at the U. "This is a program to expand the reach of the school of music into the community, knowing that we have so many churches, both Mormon and non-Mormon, and these churches rely largely on amateur organists," said Miller. A course of instruction is offered for six organists at a time — most of whom have come from the community at large.

In addition, Miller said that Cundick has been the moving force in getting an undergraduate organ major established at the University of Utah — although he added that the process has not yet been completed.

Miller also lauded Cundick's numerous contributions to the community, such as his 26 years as organist for the LDS Tabernacle (before his retirement), his role in completing or obtaining the organs for the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall on Temple Square, and the establishment of the concert series at both Temple Square and the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center.