Awards and Commissions
- Foster received two Grammy Awards: the first, for his big band arrangement of the Diane Schuur composition, “Deedles’ Blues, “ (Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, 1987), and the second for his arrangement of guitarist/vocalist George Benson’s composition, “Basie’s Bag” (Best Instrumental Arrangement, Jazz Category, 1988). He also received two Grammy nominations: for his big band arrangement of Charles Trenet’s composition "Beyond the Sea", and for an album with his fellow Basie alumnus Frank Wess entitled Frankly Speaking.
- He has composed and orchestrated material for The Carnegie Hall Jazz Ensemble, The Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra, The Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble, The Jazzmobile Corporation of New York City, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Malaysia Symphony Orchestra, The Metropole Orchestra of Hilversum, Holland, and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In 1983 Dizzy Gillespie personally commissioned Frank Foster to orchestrate one of the jazz icon’s compositions, “Con Alma,” for a scheduled performance and recording with The London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Robert Farnon.
- In 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Central State (formerly Wilberforce) University.
- In 2002, the National Endowment for the Arts presented Dr. Foster with its NEA Jazz Masters Award, the highest honor in jazz.
- Foster was commissioned by The Harpers Ferry Historical Association of West Virginia to compose a jazz suite of ten to fifteen minutes duration in connection with the "Niagara Movement," relating to John Brown’s famous raid on Harpers Ferry. The suite was performed by the Count Basie Orchestra at Harpers Ferry as part of the three-day Niagara Movement celebration in August 2006.
- Jazz at Lincoln Center commissioned Dr. Foster to compose and arrange music for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis, for performances on March 13 through 15, 2008, with "A Man and a Woman" as the theme. Foster wrote the words, music, and orchestrations for "I Love You (Based on Your Availability)" and "Romance Without Substance is a Nuisance", both performed by vocalists Dennis Rowland and Marlena Shaw.
- On March 20, 2009, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jon Faddis, performed a three-part suite by Foster titled "Chi-Town is My Town and My Town’s No Shy Town" at The Harris Theater in Chicago.
- In 2009, Foster selected The Jazz Archive at Duke University to be the home for his numerous compositions, arrangements, and personal papers.
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