The American Prize

Not to be confused with The American Prize, a Library of Congress Literacy Award managed by the Center for the Book.

The American Prize is a set of annual nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts which recognizes and rewards commercial and noncommercial recorded performances of classical music in the United States based on submitted applications. There is no live competition.[1] The award is bestowed at professional, college/university, community, and high school levels in a number of areas including composition, piano, voice, chamber music, conducting, and ensemble performance.[2][3] The jury consists of well known performing artists in each area, with the conductor and composer David Katz serving as chief judge.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Artists and ensembles self-nominate through an application process or are nominated by a teacher, parent, board member or colleague.[11] Evaluation is a key component of the competition; applicants who reach finalist status or higher receive a written evaluation from a member of the judging panel. Among judges are composer Judith Lang Zaimont, pianist Jeffrey Biegel, and Metropolitan Opera soprano Sharon Sweet.[12] Winners of each category receive a cash award.

  1. ^ "The American Prize rewards the best-recorded performances by individual artists and ensembles in the U.S." MidlandsBiz, Columbia, SC, October 8, 2014.
  2. ^ Eiseman, Lee. "National Prize Recognizes Local Composer." The Boston Musical Intelligencer, September 24, 2014.
  3. ^ "Michael Angelucci Wins the American Prize in Piano," The Peabody Post, November 16, 2015.
  4. ^ Lewis, John. "Tom Hall & Choral Arts Win American Prize Awards." Baltimore, October 22, 2014.
  5. ^ "UNLV Opera director wins American Prize." Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 21, 2014.
  6. ^ "Tara Curtis places second in The American Prize in Voice." KCMetropolis, Kansas City, KS, September 16, 2014.
  7. ^ "Nashville composer Daniel Elder shines in the American Prize." ArtsNash, Nashville, TN, September 26, 2014.
  8. ^ "Crane director wins 'The American Prize in Opera Performance' for Menotti's opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors." North Country Now, Potsdam, NY, January 2, 2013.
  9. ^ "SSYO Places Third Nationally in the American Prize Competition." Saratoga Today, Saratoga Springs, NY, October 18, 2013.
  10. ^ "Composer Michael Gatonska Awarded The American Prize in Composition." June 11, 2012, www.ascap.com, accessed November 1, 2022
  11. ^ "FAQs". www.theamericanprize.org. Retrieved Sep 11, 2019.
  12. ^ "Judges 2017-18". www.theamericanprize.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.