To be awarded Laetare Medal:

After The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded in 1967, Brubeck focused on writing many religious compositions. In an interview last year, Brubeck said his harrowing experiences as a soldier in World War II’s Battle of the Bulge convinced him to also write religious-themed music.

“I saw and experienced so much violence that I thought I could express my outrage best with music,” he said. “It takes a situation like the Bulge to make you really think about what God was trying to tell us.”

Brubeck has said in interviews that he joined the Roman Catholic Church after writing the Mass “To Hope! A Celebration” in 1979. A priest who heard it asked him why he left out “Our Father.” Brubeck said he wasn’t told to include it, so he didn’t add the prayer to the piece.

But he went on vacation with his family and on the second night he dreamed the “Our Father” prayer, and decided to add it to the Mass. After that, he converted to Catholicism.

“I joined the Catholic Church, because I felt, somebody’s trying to tell me something,” he said.