(AAPNW-TN) – Two special awards to be presented at the 2010 Nashville Symphony Ball, taking place Saturday, December 11, at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel. 
Marty Stuart will receive the prestigious Harmony Award for 2010, and Mayor Karl Dean will be presented with the special Gold Baton Award.
The Harmony Award is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated continued interest and support of music in Nashville, including must have contributed significantly to the development and appreciation of Nashville’s musical culture.
Ever since his youth, when he got his start singing gospel, Marty Stuart has exhibited a showman’s zest for every conceivable flavor of country music. A four-time GRAMMY® winner, platinum-selling recording artist, Grand Ole Opry star, country music preservationist and songwriter, Stuart possesses a missionary’s zeal for bringing the importance of the music and its themes home to longtime fans and newcomers alike. Also as the leader of the band, the “Fabulous Superlatives,” he has been hailed as one of the most important roots musicians and visionaries in America and has also earned a reputation as a stylist, designer, photographer and all-around Renaissance man.
Presented by the Nashville Symphony to acknowledge visionary leadership, Karl Dean, who is the sixth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, was chosen for the Gold Baton Award. His priorities as mayor are education, public safety and economic development. During his three years in office, Dean has acted as a strong advocate for improving Nashville’s public schools. In the area of public safety, he has worked to see more police officers protecting Nashville’s streets. And as part of his economic development efforts, Dean has been a strong advocate for the development of a new downtown convention center to help grow Nashville’s tourism industry. One of the most impressive and visionary of his initiatives, however, has been his creation and leadership of the Nashville Music Council, a group of music industry leaders dedicated to cultivating and advancing the ever-expanding music community to further establish Nashville’s position as the global music capital.