INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum today announced the late Dr. Merton Utgaard, the award-winning musician, teacher, and founder and longtime director of the International Music Camp, is the 47th recipient of the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, the state’s highest honor for its citizens.
Utgaard (pronounced UHT-gard) founded the International Music Camp in 1956 at the International Peace Garden on the US-Canada border near Dunseith in north-central North Dakota. Utgaard has been the camp’s full-time director for 28 years, overseeing significant growth and international recognition for the music program, the International Peace Garden and North Dakota.
“With passion and vision, Dr. Utgaard founded the International Music Camp to provide a unique educational opportunity for young musicians in North Dakota, across the United States and around the world,” the said Burgum. “For over 60 years, performers at the International Music Camp have spent their summers developing their musical talents and making lasting memories. Under the leadership of Dr. Utgaard, the International Music Camp has grown into a nationally and internationally recognized program that supports arts and culture in our communities and shares North Dakota with the world.”
Utgaard died on Dec. 19, 1998, at the age of 84. Burgum presented the Rough Rider Award, a tribute to President Theodore Roosevelt’s father, to Utgaard’s three children before a concert tonight at the International Music Camp in celebration of the weekend. Celebrating 90 years of the Garden of International Peace.
“We are very proud to accept this award on behalf of our father Dr. Merton Utgaard. He will be honored and humbled to be counted among the recipients of the Rough Rider Award,” said Utgaard’s daughter Karen Rolston of Mesa, Ariz. “Our father loved North Dakota. He was born and raised here, and although his teaching career took us to many other states, he returned to North Dakota in the late 1950s and always thought of North Dakota. his house. He loved music, teachers and young people. Because this is where he got his start in music, it was the perfect place for him to start a music camp. He was a man of few words, but one whose voice was heard through his love of music. He has not stopped sharing this love, to the citizens of North Dakota, America, Canada and many places in the world. We thank Governor Burgum and the Rough Rider Committee for this amazing honor and thank you to Peace Garden for the spark you gave Dad, so that he could fulfill his dream.”
Originally from Maddock, N.D., Utgaard was introduced to music at an early age by his father, who played trumpet in local concerts. Utgaard began playing the coronet in sixth grade and continued through high school. After graduating in 1933, he enrolled in Teachers College in Aai o Vanu and received his teaching certificate. In 1940, Utgaard received bachelor’s degrees in music and physics from Valley City State University to further his career. From 1943 to 1945, Utgaard served as a commissioned officer in the Army Air Corps. After his official discharge, he joined the Army Air Corps Reserve, serving for 20 years and retiring with the rank of Major.
Early in his career, Utgaard taught at Aneta Elementary School, organized his first school band, and served as music director for Carrington Public Schools. After his active military service, Utgaard became the marching band director at the University of Minnesota while enrolled as a graduate student and received his master’s degree in music education in 1947. He taught in Rochester, Minnesota, and the University of South Dakota (1949-1953), Ball State University (1953-1957) and Northern Illinois University (1957-1960). Utgaard received his doctorate in music in 1950 from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Utgaard and his wife, Noella, founded the International Music Camp in 1956. The idea for a music camp in North Dakota first came to Utgaard while teaching a summer program at Ball State. After some thought and research, he remembered attending the dedication of the International Peace Garden in 1932 as an Eagle Scout and felt it would be a good place for a summer music camp to bringing together students from the United States and Canada. After personally searching for the camp in schools in North Dakota, with the help of the International Peace Garden and the University of North Dakota, Utgaard launched the first International Music Camp on July 1 , 1956, with 113 students and 19 directors in attendance. The program grew quickly, and in 1960, he was named the camp’s first director – a position he would hold for 28 years.
Utgaard’s vision, perseverance and tireless efforts helped grow the International Music Camp into a world-renowned program with more than 140,000 students and instructors. from 84 countries around the world. Today, in addition to music education, the International Music Camp provides week-long programs in dance, composition writing, painting, drawing, theater and many other artistic activities, and almost 1,000 students this year are served by a staff of more than 150 artist-teachers. mid June to early August.
In addition to his work founding and leading the International Music Camp, Utgaard is a social worker. He has served on numerous local, state, national and international boards and commissions, including the North Dakota Economic Development Commission and the North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs. Among many awards, Utgaard was honored with the North Dakota Outstanding Music Educator Award and is a member of the North Dakota Music Educators Hall of Fame.
The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award recognizes current individuals and North Dakotans who have been impacted by the state in achieving national recognition in their fields of endeavor, and shows appreciation and respect to North Dakota and its citizens. Established in the 1961 Dakota Territory Centennial, the award was first given as an honorary rank of Colonel to the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders. North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger and State Historical Society Director Bill Peterson both agreed with Burgum’s selection of Utgaard for the Rough Rider Award.
Utgaard’s portrait will be unveiled and installed in the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Hall of Fame at the North Dakota Capitol in Bismarck at a later date.
