The American Prize is honored to announce the winners, runners-up and citation recipients of
The
American Prize in Vocal Performance (women in art song and oratorio),
2017-18—The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award, in
professional, college/university, community and high school divisions. Congratulations!
In
an exceptionally competitive field of applicants, there were ties for
several runners-up this year and two citation recipients. We
wish all these TAP laureates great success in their future musical
endeavors.
Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competitions may be found elsewhere on this blog
. Please use the chronological tool in the right-hand column to find specific results.
Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com
The American Prize in Vocal Performance—Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
honors the memory of the greatest Wagnerian baritone of his age,
Friedrich Schorr, who commanded the operatic stage between the world
wars, and his wife, Virginia Schorr, who taught studio voice at the
Manhattan School of Music and the Hartt School of Music for nearly fifty
years. The Prize recognizes and rewards the best performances by
classically trained vocalists in America in 2017-18, based on submitted
recordings.
The American Prize in Vocal Performance (women in art song & oratorio), 2017-18
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(professional division)
The American Prize winner:
Kristina Bachrach La Grange IL
 |
| Kristina Bachrach |
Soprano Kristina Bachrach is emerging as a young
artist confident in an extensive range of styles. In recent seasons she
debuted with the New York Choral Society at St. Patrick's Cathedral and
the Cecilia Chorus at Carnegie Hall. A frequent and beloved guest artist
with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, she has performed nearly twenty
concerts with them in music ranging from Schubert to Berg.
In
recent seasons, Ms. Bachrach has fulfilled many prestigious artist
residencies, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Yellow Barn, the
Tanglewood Music Center, the Banff Center, and the Lake George Music
Festival. She enjoys a long-standing relationship with SongFest at
Colburn, and has recorded songs of John Harbison for their premiere
recording.
Kristina has performed leading and
supporting roles with Gotham Chamber Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opera
Naples, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Nashville Opera, and Thompson Street
Opera Company. She is the winner of the Grand Prize from the inaugural
Ziering Conlon Young Artist Competiton.
https://www.kristinabachrach.com/
2nd Place (there was a tie):
Michelle Areyzaga Rolling Meadows IL
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| Michelle Areyzaga |
Soprano MICHELLE AREYZAGA has a particular love for
the art song and chamber music repertoire. Known for her expressive
singing, she has given world premiers of songs by American composers
such as Gwyneth Walker, Lita Grier, Lee Hoiby, William Ferris, Wayland
Rogers and many others. She has sung several seasons with Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, New York Festival of Song, the Avalon
Quartet, and The Chicago Ensemble. She has been honored by the Julian
Autrey Song Foundation and was named Chicago Artist of the Year by
Pioneer Press. She has appeared in leading roles with New York City
Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, among others, and she has appeared with
orchestras across the United States and abroad including Minnesota
Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, the National Symphonies of Uruguay and
Costa Rica, Colorado Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic,
and Philharmonia Orchestra of New York. Please visit
www.michelleareyzaga.com
2nd Place (there was a tie):
Stacey Mastrian Seattle WA
 |
| Stacey Mastrian |
Stacey Mastrian, a "sweet, shimmering soprano"
(Washington Post) with “intensity, focus, and a warm, passionate sound”
(New York Times), is a Fulbright Grantee and Richard F. Gold Career
Grant recipient. She has performed at the Konzerthaus (Berlin),
Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy
Center, Teatro La Fenice, and at Carnegie Hall with the Chamber
Orchestra of New York as winner of The Respighi Prize. She has sung
countless recitals across AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA,
MD, MN, NC, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, VA, VT, WA, Berlin, Latina, Montréal,
Rome, and Venice, and has been heard on Georgian National Radio singing
Shostakovich songs. Ms. Mastrian has been a scholarship recipient to
SongFest and the winner of competitions such as the International Traxel
Society and Vocal Arts DC Discovery Series. She specializes in 20th
century Italian vocal music.
www.staceymastrian.com
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Thea Lobo Medford MA
 |
| Thea Lobo |
Hailed as "excellent", "impeccable", "limpidly
beautiful", and "stunning", Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano Thea Lobo has
recently performed with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Guerilla Opera,
EnsembleNewSRQ, Emmanuel Music, and Sunshine City Opera. Ms. Lobo has
appeared under conductors Gunther Schuller, Joshua Rifkin, Helmut
Rilling, and Andris Nelsons, and has been featured by the Carmel Bach
Festival, Handel + Haydn Society, The Bermuda Festival, Boston Early
Music Festival, and Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart. Her dedication to
new music, art song, and early music has seen her featured on True
Concord's Grammy winning recording of Stephen Paulus's 'Prayers
& Remembrances', invited to the Carmel Bach Festival as an Adams
Fellow, a prizewinner at the Bach Vocal Competition for American
Singers, a grant recipient of the Julian Autrey Song Foundation, a
featured recitalist for the Boston Portuguese Festival, and performing
as a soloist under the direction of composers Steve Reich, Christian
Wolff, Louis Andriessen, and many others.
www.TheaLobo.com
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Elisabeth Marshall Portland ME
 |
| Elisabeth Marshall |
Elisabeth Marshall was hailed by OPERA NEWS for her
recording of James’ Kallembach’s Four Romantic Songs on Brooklyn Art
Song Society’s 2015 album “New Voices”, and is a 2017 recipient of a
Professional Fellowship to SongFest in Los Angeles, collaborating with
Libby Larsen, among others. Solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah,
Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and B minor Mass, Mozart’s Mass in C minor
and Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasia with
ensembles such as the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Portland and Bangor (ME)
Symphony Orchestras, the Oregon Bach Festival, and Rochester Cathedral
(England). Opera roles include Frasquita (Carmen), Queen of the Night
(The Magic Flute), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Elisetta (Il matrimonio
segreto), and Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro). Ensembles include the
Lorelei Ensemble, Handel & Haydn Society, Wexford Festival
Opera, London Philharmonia Chorus, Carmel Bach Festival,
Festivalensemble Stuttgart, with conductors such as Helmuth Rilling,
Masaaki Suzuki, and Leonard Slatkin.
www.elisabethmarshall.com
Finalist: Special Judges' Citation: "Excellence in American Contemporary Vocal Music"
Ann Moss Richmond CA
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| Ann Moss |
Soprano Ann Moss is an acclaimed recording artist and
champion of contemporary vocal music whose voice has been singled out
for “beautifully pure floated high notes” (Opera News), “powerful
expression” and “luminous tone” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Her
albums Love Life (Angels Share Records 2016) and Currents (ASR 2013),
produced and recorded by multi-GRAMMY® award winner Leslie Ann Jones at
Skywalker Sound, feature premiere recordings of works by composers
including Jake Heggie, John Thow and Liam Wade. She can also be heard on
PARMA, Naxos, Albany, Navona and Jaded Ibis Productions labels. As
co-founder and Artistic Director of new-music repertory group CMASH,
Moss has has been personally responsible for the creation of over ninety
works for solo voice. A native of Boston, she has lectured on
composition and interpretation of contemporary song at institutions
including MIT, NYU/Tisch, Longy School of Music, UC Davis, UofH Morse
School and San Francisco Conservatory.
www.annmosssoprano.com
Special Judges' Citation: "Excellence in Scandinavian Art Song"
Anna Hersey Minnetonka MN
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| Anna Hersey |
Hailed by critics as a “force of nature,” soprano
Anna Hersey is a noted expert on Scandinavian vocal literature and
diction. Dr. Hersey was a Fulbright Scholar at the Kungliga
Musikhögskolan in Stockholm, and conducted research at Det Kongelige
Danske Musikkonservatorium, thanks to a post-doctoral fellowship from
the American Scandinavian Foundation. She has presented her research on
Scandinavian song at the National Association of Teachers of Singing,
the University of Copenhagen Center for Internationalisation and
Parallel Language Use, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, and
the Yale Conference on Baltic and Scandinavian Studies. Dr. Hersey’s
articles have been published in the Journal of Singing, VOICEPrints, and
The Opera Journal. Carnegie Hall. Her first book, Scandinavian Art
Song: A Guide to Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Diction and Repertoire
was released by Rowman & Littlefield in September 2016. She is
the newly-appointed Assistant Professor of Voice at The University of
Wisconsin, Oshkosh.
The American Prize in Vocal Performance (women in art song & oratorio), 2017-18
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(college/university division)
The American Prize winner:
Lauren Elizabeth Walker Bloomington IN
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| Lauren Elizabeth Walker |
Lauren Walker is a mezzo-soprano from Bloomington,
IN. She holds a BM in vocal performance from the Indiana University
Jacobs School of Music (2011) and an MM in vocal performance from Ball
State University (2014). Lauren has been a finalist in numerous regional
and national vocal competitions, including NATSAA, the Orpheus Vocal
Competition, and the NY Lyric Opera Competition. She has been a featured
soloist with the IUJSoM University Singers, the Bloomington Bach
Cantata Project, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the Marion
Philharmonic orchestras. Her prominent opera theater roles include Dido
in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Carmen in the Bizet/Brook La Tragédie de
Carmen, and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther. Lauren is currently
pursuing her Doctor of Arts degree in vocal performance with a graduate
assistantship at Ball State University under Dr. Mei Zhong. She also
serves as adjunct voice faculty at Taylor University in Upland, IN.
2nd Place (there was a tie):
Sarah Cooper Lincoln MA
 |
| Sarah Cooper |
Sarah Cooper, soprano, recently earned her master’s
degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at Westminster Choir College.
From Lincoln, Massachusetts, Sarah completed her bachelor's degree in
French at Princeton University, where she began her vocal studies with
Rochelle Ellis and soloed with the Princeton University Glee Club. Now a
student of Sharon Sweet,
[Professor Sweet did not participate in the ranking or evaluation of this contestant.—DK],
Sarah was a first-place winner in the 2016 Coeur d'Alene Symphony
Young Artists Competition and the 2016 Westminster Choir College Voice
Awards Competition. In January 2017, she performed her first mainstage
role as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata with the Westminster CoOPERAtive
program. Sarah also received the 2017 Colleen and Edward Carducci
Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan National Council Auditions in
Columbia, South Carolina. This summer, she will perform the role of
Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen with the Martina Arroyo Prelude to Performance
Program in New York City.
2nd Place (there was a tie):
Hailey McAvoy Natick MA
 |
| Hailey McAvoy |
Mezzo Soprano Hailey McAvoy is currently a senior at
the Eastman School of Music, where she is pursuing a double major in
vocal performance and musical arts. At Eastman, Hailey has performed on
both the opera and concert stage, singing the roles of Zosha (Out of
Darkenss, Heggie), Mrs. Soames (Our Town), The Abbess (Suor Angelica),
Mother Superior (Mese Mariano), and The 6th Spirit (Cendrillon). In
addition to opera, Hailey has appeared as a soloist in Haydn's
Theresienmesse, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Berio's O King, Danyew’s
Alcott Songs, and several premieres in collaboration with Eastman’s
composition department. As a young recitalist, Hailey particularly loves
German and American art song, and is working to champion the music of
little-known American composer Hub Miller, whose songs she is studying
extensively at Eastman. Outside of singing, Hailey loves philosophy,
poetry, and nature walks.
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Clare Demer Tucson AZ
 |
| Clare Demer |
Italian-American Soprano Clare Demer is completing
her undergraduate degree at The University of Arizona, where she has
performed L’Enfant in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges, Monica in
Menotti’s The Medium, and Second Lady in the Magic Flute. She has
received training from the International Vocal Arts Institute in
Montreal, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and was a fellow at the
Toronto Summer Music Festival Art of Song program. Among her awards are
two Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council
Auditions in Arizona, 1st prize in both the undergraduate and graduate
divisions of the Amelia Rieman Opera Competition, and 1st prize in the
Mari Nixon International Voice competition. She has twice won 2nd place
in The American Prize Art Song Competition at the College/University
level. This summer she will compete as a finalist in the James Toland
Vocal Arts Competition.
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Rachel Eve Holmes Athens GA
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| Rachel Eve Holmes |
Rachel Eve Holmes is a young soprano, recently
described as, "expressive and subtle, with a stunning instrument."
Rachel Eve has performed with Opera Lancaster, The Kenwood Symphony
Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Opera Fort Collins, Capitol City
Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Intermezzo Festival, Opera for the
Young, La Musica Lirica, Loveland Opera Theatre, Fort Collins Symphony,
Fresco Opera Theatre, Four Seasons Theatre, Children’s Theater of
Madison, The Ralph Opera Center, The University of Georgia Symphony, and
The New England Conservatory Opera Studio.
Holmes is
the winner of the 2017 Ruth Kern Concerto Competition, the 2016 American
Fine Arts Festival Romantic Music International Competition, the 2016
University of Georgia Concerto Competition, the 2016 Atlanta Music Clubs
Competition, the 2015 American Protégé International Vocal Competition,
the 2015 Roschel Vocal Competition, 2015 Schubert Club Competition, the
2014 Kenwood Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the 2012 WPR
Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition, the 2011 Carnegie Hall Weill Hall
Young Musicians Concert Competition, and the 2009-2012 Schuyler Grant
for Career Bridges, NYC.
The American Prize in Vocal Performance (women in art song & oratorio), 2017-18
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(community division)
The American Prize winner:
Deborah M. Connelly Stratford CT
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| Deborah M. Connelly |
A native of Stratford, Connecticut, Deborah Michele
has pursued her passion for classical singing for 12 years. In 2011,
she won the American Fine Arts Festival’s Golden Voices competition in
the adult, classical category. Since then, she has sung numerous
comedic roles with Trouper’s Light Opera including Giselle in The Red
Mill, Celia in Iolanthe, Mrs. Partlet in The Sorcerer, and Daphne in
Thespis. Over the summer she played Ida in Taconic Opera’s production
of Die Fledermaus, and singer #2 and chorus woman #2/3 in the world
premiere opera In Bocca al Lupo also with Taconic Opera. In addition,
she made her dramatic acting debut as Madame de Volanges in a staged
reading of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Most recently she was a soloist
in a Christmas benefit for Calvary St. George Episcopal church in
Bridgeport, CT. She is humbled and gratified to be a winner of The
American Prize competition.
2nd Place:
Samantha Isabell Gay Oak Park IL
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| Samantha Isabell Gay |
Ms. Gay has been an active musician for nineteen
years. She began with ‘by ear’ piano at age 7; she studied formally
with beloved teacher Virginia K. Folgers between 2001 and 2012. Ms. Gay
joined the St. Edmund School children's choir in 1999, singing and
playing liturgical bells until 2004. In 2006, she began more focused
chamber choir studies at Trinity High School, earning two solos and
a spot with the school's 6-girl ensemble, 'Le Ragazze'. Ms. Gay then
attended Brown University, where she made the University Choir and
sang as an alto until graduation. At Brown, she also studied with choral
director Louis Frederick Jodry V, earning two aria features in her
senior year. Ms. Gay has studied with Christine Steyer since 2013, and
she has returned to St. Edmund’s as a volunteer Cantor. Professionally,
Ms. Gay works as an immigration paralegal, and will attend graduate
school this fall.
3rd Place:
Shana Evans Bassett Atlanta GA
 |
| Shana Evans Bassett |
Atlanta-based Mezzo Soprano Shana Evans Bassett has
recently made a return to vocal performance after several years away
from music. A member and featured soloist with the noted women's a
capella group Noteworthy at the University of Georgia from 1997-1999,
she spent several years working in education and raising a family before
returning to her vocal studies in 2016. Ms. Bassett is a student of
the well-known voice instructor Sharon Forrester-Stephenson and is a
member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Additionally, she is a
section leader and featured soloist at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in
Atlanta and a Staff Cantor at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church. Ms.
Bassett continues to pursue professional and volunteer opportunities as
a vocalist in opera and on the concert stage, and is excited to see
where her budding career in music will lead.
The American Prize in Vocal Performance (women in art song & oratorio), 2017-18
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(high school division)
The American Prize winner:
Amalia Crevani Milford NJ
 |
| Amalia Crevani |
Amalia studies voice at the Juilliard Pre-College
Program with Lorraine Nubar. This year Amalia was the 1st Place Winner
for New York Lyric Opera Theatre National Vocal Competition (performance
Broadway Symphony Space) and received the Paper Mill Playhouse
nomination for “Outstanding Performance as an Actress in a Leading Role”
for 9 to 5: The Musical (Judy Bernly). Earlier, she won 3rd place
winner at the Schmidt Vocal Competition and 1st place in the
International Great Composer Competition for Rossini. Last year Amalia
placed 1st in the 2016 Rondo Vanguard Competition (Performance Carnegie
Hall) and was a Merit Winner for Young Arts. At 15, Amalia won 1st place
for the Hal Leonard National Vocal Competition (Music Theatre) and
received the “Paper Mill Playhouse Outstanding Performance as an Actress
in a Leading Role” (Anything Goes- Reno Sweeney- Honorable Mention).
Amalia has performed with the Hunterdon Symphony, in local operas and
community theatre, and as a National Anthem singer. Her training has
included many summer vocal programs the most recent being the Academie
Internationale d’Ete de Nice, France, where she studied with Lorraine
Nubar and Dalton Baldwin. Amalia also studies piano, composition,
acting, and dance.
2nd Place:
Mary Elizabeth Adler Bellevue WA
 |
| Mary Elizabeth Adler |
Mary Elizabeth Adler, soprano, is a junior in high
school in Bellevue, Washington. She has been studying classical voice
under Nancy Zylstra for over six years. She has won numerous awards in
classical vocal competitions locally, at the state level, and nationally
including: The Schmidt Competition, Hal Leonard, The Performing Arts
Festival of the Eastside, and Musicfest Northwest. In 2016, she won the
"Special Career Encouragement Citation" from The American Prize. She
sings in St. James Cathedral Young Women's Choir also serving as a
Cantor as well as the Seattle Opera's STUDIO Program. She is a cellist,
performing in her high school's top orchestra. She is the Captain of
her Varsity Badminton Team, and President of the Biology Club. She
recently won 1st Place in the Central Sound Regional Science and
Engineering Fair (Animal and Plants category) with her research in,
"Investigating the Relationship Between Local Bird Syrinx Structure and
Their Phylogenetic Status Using Cladogram Analysis." She will be taking
her project to compete at the State Competition.
3rd Place:
Alexandra Taylor Naples FL
 |
| Alexandra Taylor |
Alexandra Taylor, soprano, is from Naples, Florida.
She has taken voice lessons since she was fifteen and has won numerous
local and national competitions. Alexandra has performed with Opera
Naples since she was twelve years old and has sung in the chorus in the
following productions: Carmen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Boheme,
Pirates of Penzance, Il Pagliacci, Rudigore, Patience, Tosca, HMS
Pinafore, The Magic Flute, and Turandot. She has also performed as a
soloist in many of the Opera Naples concerts. She won First Place in the
2016 Tampa Bay NATS competition in the classical high school division.
She was a Naples Music Club scholarship competition winner in 2015 and
2016, a first place winner in the Calusa Musicale Clara Blood Award
Auditions in 2016, and was also a scholarship recipient of the Ruth
DeMaster Scholarship through the Fort Myers Mastersingers. Alexandra was
the first place winner in the American Prize Competition in the 2016
High School Opera/Operetta division. She earned an Encouragement Award
in the 2017 Schmidt Competition and was a semifinalist in the 2017 Hal
Leonard Vocal Competition. She is also a member of the National Honor
Society and her high school’s Key Club and Drama Club. She has passed
the pre-screening rounds of numerous prestigious conservatories. She
was invited to audition at The Juilliard School, Indiana University
Jacobs School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, New England Conservatory,
Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes School of Music.
***
Congratulations!
