PRIZEWORTHY
Winners of the American Prize in Opera, 2011
Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competiations may be found on our blog.
Opera Performance Prize
Conducting Prize
The American Prize in Opera Performance, 2011
The American Prize winner:
Crane Opera Ensemble,
SUNY-Potsdamn, NY
Carleen Graham, director
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortileges
The award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble is a significant source for opera and music theatre in the North Country region of New York State. The ensemble is unique as it integrates the College mission of teaching, scholarship and public service, into its fully staged production each semester. The Crane Opera Ensemble was the winner of the 2003 (Division 3) and co-winner of the 2009 (Division 2) National Opera Association Collegiate Production Competition. We are proud of our opera education outreach program which brings North Country school children to campus to experience opera performances and post-performance activities. To date, over 4,000 children have had the opportunity to experience opera, most for the very first time. The Crane Opera Ensemble regularly collaborates in many ways with the SUNY Potsdam Department of Theatre & Dance. A collaborative musical is produced every three years which has included such productions as Cabaret, Urinetown and On The Town.
Among judges' comments: "...clever, witty, creative, and musically and dramatically effective."
2nd place:
Astoria Music Festival,
Astoria, OR,
Keith Clark, artistic director
Berg: Wozzeck
3rd place:
Lowell House Opera,
Cambridge MA,
Channing Yu, music director; Michael Yashinsky, stage director
Puccini: Tosca
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~lho/Home.html
The American Prize in Conducting (Opera), 2011
The American Prize winner:
Keith Clark, artistic director,
Astoria Music Festival,
Astoria, OR
Founding Music Director, Portland SummerFest Opera and Oregon's Astoria Music Festival (where he recently conducted the Northwest premiere of Wozzeck); Producing Artistic Director of the Globus Theater in Novosibirsk (where he recently conducted the Russian premiere of West Side Story) , Principal Guest Conductor, Siberian State Philharmonic; Founding Conductor Laureate of California's Pacific Symphony: former conductor, Amadeus Opernensemble, Salzburg. Many recordings with the London Philharmonic, Slovak State Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Czechoslovak Radio Symphony, Les Concerts du Monde Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Korean Symphony: Grammy Nomination, CD Hall of Fame, and other awards.
Among judges' comments: "...excellent command of the drama and pacing needed for this opera."
Michael Sakir, music director,