Tuesday, October 14, 2014

2014 WINNER & RUNNERS-UP: community division

Maestro Vytautas Marijosius
The American Prize is pleased to announce the winners and runners-up for The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2014. Awards will be made in two divisions this year: collegiate and community. Here are results in the community division.

Please make us aware of any misprints by emailing: theamericanprize@gmail.com 

For nearly thirty five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, Vytautas Marijosius programmed concerts that were alive in every sense—not programming for novelty’s sake, nor neglecting the great masters of the past—but always bringing to the awareness of his students and his audiences great composers of the current time and potential masters of the future. I believe he would be pleased in different ways with each of this year's honorees." —DK

For more about Maestro Marijosius, please visit the companion blog here.

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award
—Community Division 

The American Prize Winner:
Andrew Koehler, music director  
Kalamazoo Philharmonia
Kalamazoo  MI

Andrew Koehler
Andrew Koehler is currently the music director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, which he leads as part of his position as an associate professor of music at Kalamazoo College. In recent seasons, he has appeared as a guest with the West Michigan Symphony; the Lyatoshynsky Chamber Orchestra in Kyiv, Ukraine; and the Festival South Chamber Orchestra in Mississippi, among others. Recently, he took part in the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conductor’s Competition in Katowice, Poland, where he won First Distinction and the Youth Jury Prize. Andrew is a graduate of Yale College, where he completed a B.A. in Music and German Studies (graduating with honors and distinction in both majors).  He holds a certificate in conducting from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where he studied for two years as a Fulbright scholar, as well as a Masters degree from Northwestern University.


2nd Place:
Robert W. Boardman, music director
South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra
South Bend  IN
Robert W. Boardman
Robert W. Boardman, a native of Ithaca, New York, is currently Music Director and Conductor of the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras, and Artistic Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's webcast, "Life from Orchestra Hall." He has assisted Marin Alsop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and served as Associate Conductor for CAMI's worldwide tour of Howard Shore's "The Lord of the Rings Symphony."

Boardman received the DMA in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan in 2010 where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler. He has participated in dozens of workshops nationwide and been a participant in masterclasses with conductors Larry Rachleff, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Mazur, Gustav Meier, JoAnn Falletta, and many other fine pedagogues.


3rd Place (there was a tie):
Donald Appert, music director
Oregon Sinfonietta
Portland  OR
Donald Appert
Donald Appert has been Music Director/Conductor of the Oregon Sinfonietta since 2000. He has guest conducted orchestras in Europe, Central America, Japan and Australia. Currently he is a Professor of Music and Head of the Music Department at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. In addition he is the Music Director/Conductor of the Clark College Orchestra and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Jewish Community Orchestra in Portland, Oregon.  He received The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Vytautas Marijosius  Memorial Award in 2011 for his work with the Oregon Sinfonietta and an Honorable Mention in 2012. He has received the  ASCAPLUS Award numerous times. Videos of his conducting and his original compositions may be seen and heard via the Internet on his web site at www.maestroappert.com.  

3rd Place (there was a tie):
Nan Harrison Washburn, music director
Michigan Philharmonic
Plymouth  MI
Nan Harrison Washburn
Nan Washburn, winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Conducting, professional division, in 2013, and recipient of 18 ASCAP awards, is in her 15th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Michigan Philharmonic. She has guest conducted the symphonies of Richmond, Sacramento, Wyoming, Eugene, Berkeley, Marin, Cheyenne, Dubuque, Stockton, Napa and the University of Michigan Philharmonia. Prior positions include Music Director of West Hollywood Orchestra, Orchestra Sonoma, Camellia Symphony, SF State University Orchestra and Channel Islands Symphony and the American Jazz Theater. Washburn studied at Music Academy of the West, U.C. Santa Barbara, New England Conservatory, Aspen Music Festival and the Conductors Institute. She has received the New York Women Composers’ Distinguished Service Award, Sonoma County Independent Indy Award, Girl Scout Role Model Award, KQED, San Francisco’s Outstanding Local Hero Award, City of West Hollywood Women in Leadership Award and recognized as an Sigma Alpha Iota National Arts Associate.

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Congratulations!

2014 WINNER & RUNNER-UP: collegiate division

Maestro Vytautas Marijosius
The American Prize is pleased to announce the winners and runners-up for The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2014. Awards will be made in two divisions this year: collegiate and community. Here are results in the collegiate division.

Please make us aware of any misprints by emailing: theamericanprize@gmail.com 

For nearly thirty five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, Vytautas Marijosius programmed concerts that were alive in every sense—not programming for novelty’s sake, nor neglecting the great masters of the past—but always bringing to the awareness of his students and his audiences great composers of the current time and potential masters of the future. I believe he would be pleased in different ways with each of this year's honorees." —DK

For more about Maestro Marijosius, please visit the companion blog here.

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award
—Collegiate Division 

The American Prize Winner:
Chris Younghoon Kim, music director
Cornell Orchestras
Ithaca, NY

Chris Younghoon Kim
Passionate about working with young musicians and music education, Chris  Younghooon Kim is the Director of Orchestras at Cornell University and is an active adjudicator, guest clinician, and masterclass teacher. The  League of American Orchestras and ASCAP have awarded the first place award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music to the Cornell Orchestras among all collegiate orchestras in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. With the Cornell Orchestras he has led international tours and joint collaborations with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico. Before coming to Cornell, Chris was active in the new music scene in Boston conducting the Firebird Ensemble and the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra. Since 1997 he has been the Artistic Director of the new music ensemble Brave New Works in Ann Arbor, Michigan, one of America’s most innovative and progressive ensembles. He has appeared with orchestras in the United States and abroad, including ensembles such as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Delta Festival Ballet, Symphoria, based in Syracuse, NY, Divertimento Ensemble of Milan, Italy. He has also appeared in music festivals such as, Kinhaven Music Center, Skaneateles Music Festival, International Bartok Festival in Szaombarthely, Hungary, among others. He is an active promoter of music of our time, and has collaborated with dozens of composers, and commissioned and premiered numerous new works. He was recently chosen to be one of three young conductors to appear at the Ensemble Moderne Academy in Innsbruck, Austria being mentored by members of Ensemble Moderne at the 2012 Klangspuren new music festival. He has also been chosen as the first wave of conductors to take part in the College Orchestra Directors Association’s Ibermusicas initiative in 2014, and will guest conduct Orquesta Sinfónica del Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina.

2nd Place:
Tian Hui Ng, music director
Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra   
South Hadley  MA 

Tian Hui Ng
Ng Tian Hui is the Director of Orchestral Activities and Lecturer in Music at Mount Holyoke College, where he conducts the Orchestra, and teaches courses in conducting, musicianship and performance practice. An enthusiastic advocate of new music, he has commissioned and conducted premieres of music by Colin Britt, Curt Cacioppo, Zhangyi Chen, Reena Esmail, Americ Goh, Robert Honstein, Emily Koh, Joan Tower and Wong Kah Chun. He is particularly proud of the commission “Ariadne’s Lament” by Zhangyi Chen which won the Eric Whitacre Prize given away by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Eric Whitacre Singers.

Known for his inter-disciplinary work, Mr.Ng’s most recent creation was entitled “Midwinter Dreams” in which he served as both director and conductor. The production utilized the complete Incidental Music to a Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn in a reshuffled order, intermixed with a new commission by Robert Honstein. The music created an emotional contour, onto which award winning choreographers Terese Freedman and Dahlia Nayar created dance in combination with performance art and paper sculptures by Rie Hachiyanagi, to explore the dreams of the local community.

Mr Ng received the Bachelor of Music from the University of Birmingham, UK where he studied composition with Vic Hoyland and orchestral conducting with Andrew Constantine. He holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, with Marguerite Brooks, Simon Carrington, Jeffrey Douma and Masaaki Suzuki. He has participated in conducting master classes with Leon Fleisher, Simon Halsey, Paul Hillier, Peter Jaffe, Nicholas McGegan, Gustav Meier, Maurice Peress, Donald Portnoy, Helmuth Rilling, Dale Warland, and Paul Vermel among others.

In 2013-14, Mr. Ng looks forward to a season of music including the premiere of a new opera by Mary D. Watkins titled “Dark River”, a new performance edition of “A Folk Symphony” by Fela Sowande, the father of Nigerian Western Classical Music, paired with new commissions by Hoh Chung Shih and David Sanford, exploring the connections between Music and ethnic diasporas.

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Congratulations!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

2014 FINALISTS for The Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award

Vytautas Marijosius
The American Prize is pleased to announce 2014 FINALISTS in Orchestral Programming, the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award. Congratulations. All finalists receive written evaluations.

David Katz, chief judge of the competitions, writes:  
"Ten semi-finalists have been advanced, each exhibiting exceptional programming skills, courage and creativity, selecting seasons apparently well-tailored to their individual situations. A very stimulating competition."

To know the exact date when WINNERS, runners-up and any citation recipients will be announced next month, please like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter #AmericanPrize, where that information will be published first.

Please make us aware of any misprints in the listings below by emailing: theamericanprize@gmail.com

The American Prize—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming honors the memory of the great Lithuanian conductor, Maestro Vytautas Marijosius, music director of the Lithuanian State Opera, and for nearly thirty-five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music. The Prize recognizes and rewards the best achievement in the unique field of orchestral programming, where the selection of repertoire by knowledgeable, creative and courageous music directors builds orchestras and audiences, educates young people and adults, and enriches the community. 

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award 

Donald L. Appert   Portland, OR
   Oregon Sinfonietta
Robert W. Boardman   South Bend, IN
   South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra
Collin G. Heade   Cannon Beach, OR
   North Oregon Coast Symphony
Tara Villa Keith   Sanford, NC
   Lee County Community Orchestra
Chris Younghoon Kim   Ithaca, NY
   Cornell Orchestras
Andrew Koehler   Kalamazoo, MI
   Kalamazoo Philharmonia
Steven Larsen   Rockford, IL
   Rockford Symphony Orchestra
Jaemi Blair Loeb   Danville, KY
   Centre College Orchestra
Tian Hui Ng   South Hadley, MA
   Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra
Nan Harrison Washburn   Plymouth, MI
   Michigan Philharmonic