A University of North Texas professor of music recently earned the Russian Gagarin Medal of Honor.

Dennis Fisher, who teaches conducting, won the med­al named in honor of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human to travel into space. It is awarded to cosmonauts and a few others who support the Russian Federal Space Pro­gram.

Fisher was presented with the award while acting as principal guest conductor for the Volga Professional Wind Orchestra, a professional wind band in Saratov, Russia. The concert conducted by Fisher was sponsored by the Russian Federal Space Agency as a celebration of space flight, the exploration of space and Gagarin’s 1961 orbit.

“It was very surprising,” said Fisher. “Receiving the medal was very special because of where it came from and what it commemorated. I certainly didn’t expect anything, because that was not the reason we did the concert. It was simply to commemorate [Gagarin’s] historic flight into space.”

Fisher has returned annually since 2001 to guest conduct the Volga Professional Or­ches­tra. It was during Fisher’s 2007 trip to Russia that he suggested holding the next year’s concert as part of the city’s celebration of Gagarin’s orbit.

Fisher and his wife, Janet, were at the celebration as VIP guests of the Russian minister of culture. The couple also took part in the presentation of flowers at the Yuri Gagarin Memorial, located at Gagarin’s 1961 landing site, during the ceremony as a part of the celebration’s official delegation.