LISA GRAHAM wins The American Prize in CONDUCTING (community choral division), 2021—The Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting
Lisa was selected from applications reviewed recently from across the United States. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of non-profit competitions in the musical and theater arts, unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.
Link to official announcement: http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2021/08/winners-conductors-choruses-2021-dale.html
The American Prize Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting celebrates the artistry of one of the greatest choral conductors of his generation. Dale Warland has made an indelible impression on contemporary choral music, nationally and internationally. In a quarter-century with The Dale Warland Singers (DWS), he shaped an all-professional a cappella ensemble lauded for its exquisite sound, technical finesse, and stylistic range. From that platform, Warland offered stunning performances of traditional repertory and premiered commissioned works on national and international stages. On July 4, 2021, Dale Warland was the recipient of The American Prize National Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. The American Prize is delighted to share the legacy of this legendary artist through the re-naming of the choral conducting award in his honor. For more about this special award and its designee, please visit Dale Warland Award.
The artist provided this biographical sketch:
Lisa Graham is in her sixteenth season as Music Director of the Metropolitan Chorale. Under her leadership, the Chorale’s membership has grown in size to more than 100 members who hail from communities throughout Greater Boston. She has shaped the Chorale’s programming to include contemporary, American, and lesser-known works, alongside the masterworks of the repertory. She has enhanced the reputation and reach of the Chorale through collaborations with acclaimed vocalists and instrumentalists, as well as established composers of our day. In a review of her appearance conducting with the Boston Pops, Broadway World praised Dr. Graham as “a spellbinding maestro, balletic in her direction … a great connection with her performers on stage.”
In addition to her role as Music Director for the Metropolitan Chorale, she is the Evelyn Barry Director of Choral Programs at Wellesley College, and a founding member and Lifetime Honorary Member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
THE AMERICAN PRIZE—History & Judges
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts grew from the belief that a great deal of excellent music being made in this country goes unrecognized and unheralded, not only in our major cities, but all across the country: in schools and churches, in colleges and universities, and by community and professional musicians.
With the performing arts in America marginalized like never before, The American Prize seeks to fill the gap that leaves excellent artists and ensembles struggling for visibility and viability. The American Prize recognizes and rewards the best America produces, without bias against small city versus large, or unknown artist versus well-known.
David Katz is the chief judge of The American Prize. Professional conductor, award-winning composer, playwright, actor and arts advocate, he is author of MUSE of FIRE, the acclaimed one-man play about the art of conducting. Joining Katz in selecting winners of The American Prize is a panel of judges as varied in background and experience as we hope the winners of The American Prize will be. Made up of distinguished musicians representing virtually every region of the country, the group includes professional vocalists, conductors, composers and pianists, tenured professors, and orchestra, band and choral musicians.
“Most artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps even be nominated,” Katz said, “but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to a city on each coast, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of a few schools. It is on view all over the United States, if you take the time to look for it. The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence.”
By shining a light on nationally recognized achievement, winners of The American Prize receive world-class bragging rights to use in promotion right at home. “If The American Prize helps build careers, or contributes to local pride, or assists with increasing the audience for an artist or ensemble, builds the donor base, or stimulates opportunities or recruitment for winning artists and ensembles, then we have fulfilled our mission,” Katz said.
The American Prize is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit performing arts organization based in Danbury, Connecticut.
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