Winners: COMPOSERS (pops/light music division), 2021
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.
QUICKNOTES: Although The American Prize does not usually provide written evaluations to semi-finalists, some semi-finalist composers will receive in their certificate packets short comments, suggestions or overall impressions made during the judging. We hope they will prove valuable. All finalists receive written evaluations from a member of The American Prize judging panel.
Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com
The American Prize in Composition—Pops/Light Music (professional division), 2021
The American Prize winner:
Ben Goldberg
Brooklyn NY
American Frontier
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| Ben Goldberg |
Ben Goldberg is a New York-based composer who has received awards for his concert music, film music, and academic achievements. He has been the Composer-in-Residence for the Garden State Philharmonic and Baltimore chamber orchestra Symphony Number One. Goldberg has won composition competitions held by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Joliet Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and Susanville Symphony. He's enjoyed a special partnership with the Central Ohio Symphony. They have premiered five of his works including Reconnecting scored for Drum Circle and Orchestra. Reconnecting has been featured in Symphony magazine, and at presentations for The League of American Orchestras and Percussive Arts Society national conferences. The piece received an Honorable Mention for the 2016 American Prize in Composition (Orchestra division). He has given presentations of his works at the Juilliard School and UC Davis, and currently teaches composition at Moravian College. www.bengoldbergmusic.com
2nd Place:
Ian Evans Guthrie
Tallahassee FL
Treacherous Tepuy
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| Ian Evans Guthrie |
Ian Evans Guthrie, an emerging composer, performer, researcher, and collaborator, has received the Mile High Freedom Band 2021 Commission, 1st prize for the Noosa-ISAM and Arcady Composition competitions, 2nd prize for the American Prize, a nomination for a 2020 award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and other accolades for his compositions. Many of his works have been performed around the world by fEARnoMUSIC, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Moore Philharmonic Orchestra, VIPA, highSCORE Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, and others. He has served on various committees, including the SCI, where he served as the Region VI Student Representative, Assistant Marketer, and Marketer. His most recent works include Flight for Freedom for band, a fixed media track for dancer Ilana Goldman, tracks for various exhibitions at Venvi Art Gallery (Tallahassee, FL), and the score for the ballet The Queen of Nori. More information at ianguthriecomposer.com.
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Aaron Alter
Carlsbad CA
Lo Lanu Ha-Shem
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| Aaron Alter |
Chicago-born composer Aaron Alter received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, where he studied piano with Frances Larimer and Gui Mombaerts, and composition with Lynden DeYoung and David Noon. He received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt and James K. Randall. Aaron’s new music, first performed in 2015, to which he refers as his “New Beginning,” is an exploration of a new style and energy that defies categorization. His music can be found on recordings on the Sarton, Phasma Music and Sheridan Music Studio labels. Aaron is a regular contributor of compositions to the repertoire of the flutist Iwona Glinka, the pianist and Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger, the pianist Vania Pimentel, The New Mexico Performing Arts Society and Composers Concordance in New York. For more information about Aaron and his music, please visit www.aaronalter.com.
3rd Place (there was a tie):
Michael Deak
Gig Harbor WA
Four Elegiac Songs in the Time of Covid
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| Michael Deak |
Michael was born on October 10th, 1942 in Los Angeles, CA. His father, Imre Eric Deak (1892-1945) was a concert pianist who studied under students of Franz Liszt. He was friends with Zoltan Kodaly and Ernst Dochnanyi, but especially with Belá Bartok. Michael’s father died in 1945—one month after Bartok when Michael was just three years old. It must be in the genes that Michael went into music at all; he didn’t show an interest in music until he was 17—a very late start! Michael, a classical AND jazz composer as well as a jazz pianist, has won four competitions in composition—including the 2013 American Prize. Michael and his wife, Barbara, currently live in Gig Harbor Washington.
Finalist Honorable Mention:
Wallace De Pue Sr.
Bowling Green OH
Old Time Religion
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| Wallace De Pue Sr. |
Wallace De Pue Sr. earned a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Dr. H. Owen Reed was my major professor. In 1966, I joined the faculty at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. I retired in 1998. Three of my operas were produced: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Something Special and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In 2007, the Board of Directors of the Hamilton/Fairfield Symphony Orchestra. recommended me for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. In April 2008, I won a commission from the Michigan Music Teachers Association. In 2014, I won part of the Green Dot International competition. In 2015, The Boston Metro Opera awarded me the Gold Medal in its global opera contest (625 submissions from six continents). In 2017, I was inducted into the Johnny Appleseed “Hall of Fame” for Something Special, my opera, in barbershop harmony.
The American Prize in Composition—Pops/Light Music (student division), 2021
John Baxter
Miami FL
Through it All
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| John Baxter |
A young composer whose compositional work has been described as “a great spiritual experience,” John Baxter seeks to explore the tense and mercurial chasm between musician and listener. After his time as an undergrad at Yale University, John pursued a Masters degree in Theory and Composition at NYU. He is currently a DMA candidate in composition at the Frost School of Music, studying composition with Dr. Lansing McLoskey and conducting with Maestro Gerard Schwarz. He stays an active member of the new music community, exploring the pathos of the late romantic period through the paradigm of new techniques and complexity. Current projects include collaborations with the Richmond Pops Band, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and Duoctane. In addition to concert composition, John is also an active composer for media, having scored more than 50 projects with directors around the world. His website is Johnbaxtermusic.com
2nd Place:
Wai Leung William So
Kennedy Town, Hong Kong
This Way, Santa!
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| Wai Leung William So |
Wai Leung William So is a composer from Hong Kong, graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree (Composition Major) at Berklee College of Music in 2019. William is capable of composing music in different styles such as Classical, Contemporary and Film Scoring.
His music was read/performed by Esterhazy Quartet, Jack Quartet and faculty members at Berklee. He was awarded the MTNA Composition Competition Massachusetts (Honorable mention, Young Artist Catergory) in both 2018 and 2019, 1st-Place of 200K SoundCloud Plays Melody Competition in 2017, 3rd place in The American Prize in Composition—Orchestra (student division) 2019-20, and semi-finalist (instrumental chamber music) student division 2019-20. His orchestral piece was selected in Orchestral Masters Vol. 8 of Ablaze Records, recorded by Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020.
On the 1st of March 2019, William had great success with his personal debut concert at Berklee, which showcased his original compositions.
Personal website: https://s081186.wixsite.com/williamso
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheS081186/featured?disable_polymer=1
3rd Place:
Vaibhav Mohanty
Charleston SC
Verve Street
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| Vaibhav Mohanty |
Vaibhav Mohanty (b. 1998) is a composer and arranger from Charleston, South Carolina currently based in Oxford, England, United Kingdom. His compositions span classical, world, and jazz domains and are performed across the United States and internationally. Vaibhav’s music has received multiple national and international awards, including prizes from the National Association for Music Education, the National YoungArts Foundation, The American Prize. His works are published by JPM Music Publications, Lighthouse Music Publications, Radnofsky-Couper Editions, and C.L. Barnhouse Publications. After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University, Vaibhav is pursuing a PhD (DPhil) in Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship. He will join the Harvard Medical School/MIT MD-PhD program in 2021. His academic research has spanned a number fields including medical physics, condensed matter physics, statistical physics in evolutionary biology, and mathematical music theory. Visit www.mohantymusic.com for more information.
Congratulations!
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