Keith Mardak will receive the Abe Olman Publisher Award at this year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards Gala.
Mardak began his career at the Hal Leonard Corporation in 1970, where he is currently the Chairman/CEO. The Hal Leonard Corporation has experienced a dramatic annual expansion since its beginning, especially with the 1985 purchase Mardak headed by an internal management group. The Hal Leonard Corporation currently is the world’s largest music print publisher with a catalog consisting of over 200,000 publications, covering a broad spectrum of printed music.
Mardak has been a past member of several musical organizations including the board of directors of ASCAP, the Music Publishers Association, the American Music Conference, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, as well as Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival. Mardak currently serves on the board for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and with his help; the Hal Leonard Young Musicians Program along with the Mardak Center for Administration and Training were formed. Mardak was also an essential part in the creation of the Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Club, which opened in 2004. The Boys & Girls Clubs today serves more than 33,000 Milwaukee kids a year. In 2005, Mardak received an honorary doctorate from VanderCook College of Music for his groundbreaking philanthropy for music education and inspiration to millions of musicians around the world.