The Choral Excellence Award (originally named the J & B Music Choral Excellence Award) was established by J & B Music Sales in 1990. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding achievement by a graduating high school senior who plans to major in choral music education. The original award was $500 and was doubled to $1000 in 2005. In the fall of 2006 the new owners of J & B Music, Gary and Myra Morris, renamed the award to honor Bart and Pat Messina (former owners of J & B Music) for their longtime support of choral music in Arkansas. In the fall of 2018 Layton Reeves, new owner of J & B Music, established a second award in the same amount, in honor of Gary & Myra Morris. The award is primarily funded by J & B Music Sales in Russellville, AR.