Finalists: American Music (soloists/composers)—The Ernst Bacon Memorial Award, 2021

Ernst Bacon

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, David Volosin Katz, founder and chief judge, is pleased to announce FINALISTS for the ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, 2021, in the solo & composer division. Congratulations! (A separate announcement was made in the ensemble division late last week.)

Among the many contests of The American Prize, the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music is unique. It recognizes and rewards the best performances of American music by ensembles and individual artists worldwide, based on submitted recordings. Applications are accepted from professional, college/university, community and high school age solo artists, chamber ensembles or conducted ensembles, competing in separate divisions, and from composers with excellent recordings of their works. Beginning in 2017-18, categories were expanded to encompass performances of American music in practically any instrumentation or genre, with very few repertoire restrictions.

Focused exclusively on works by American composers from any period and in any style, the contest not only judges performances, but in the case of new or unfamiliar works, the music itself. 

Ernst Bacon (1898—1990) was one of that pioneering generation of composers who, along with Thomson, Copland, Harris, and others, found a voice for American music. Winner of a Pulitzer Scholarship (for his Symphony in D minor) and no fewer than three Guggenheim Fellowships, Ernst Bacon set out to create compositions that expressed the vitality and affirmative spirit of our country. It is fitting, and with honor, that The American Prize creates an annual award in the memory of Ernst Bacon, recognizing the finest performances of American orchestral music worldwide. To learn more about the music & legacy of Ernst Bacon, please visit the website of the Ernst Bacon Society.

As the contests unfold, runners-up and winners will be selected from this list. To know the exact date when results will be announced, please like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter #AmericanPrize, where that information will be published first.

All contestants are reminded they are responsible for the viability of their online links to audition materials. Those links must remain active until the end of the contest year. Questions, or to make us aware of any misprints in the listings below, please email: theamericanprize@gmail.com 

We invite finalists to make the most of their selection by announcing it on social media, and including a link to this announcement on their website or blog. A sample announcement may be found at the end of the post.


NATIONAL FINALISTS: The American Prize ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, PROFESSIONAL soloists or composers, 2021

Gabriel Beavers, amplified bassoon

Miami FL

Swagger (Charles Mason)

Jeffrey Bowen, composer   

Maja Cerar    

Seattle WA

What Will Sound (was already sound)  

BJ Brooks, composer  

West Texas A&M University Symphonic Band    

Canyon   TX 

Symphony No. 3 

Kris Carlisle, piano   

Rome GA

The Silence Between   

Steven M. Darling, tuba

Martin TN

Concerto for Tuba Op. 96 (James Barnes)

Shawn W. Davern, composer

James Madison University Wind Symphony 

Harrisonburg  VA 

An Elegant Sufficiency

Emerson Eads, composer    

Concordia Choir and Ritornello Orchestra of the 

University of Notre Dame 

South Bend IN 

Mass for the Oppressed 

Daniel B. Elder, composer   

The Thirteen  

Washington DC 

Absaolm    

Eren Gumrukcuoglu, composer 

JACK Quartet, Conrad Tao, Zulfugar Baghirov, Thom Monks

New York NY 

Pareidolia  

Katie Johnson, horn

Knoxville TN

Songs of the Wolf  (Andrea Clearfield) 

Jeffrey Kautz, timpani  

Mannes Orchestra   

New York NY 

Raise the Roof (Michael Daugherty)  

Kyle Kindred, composer

Humble TX

Symphony No. 1: The Remnant

Douglas Knehans, composer

Cincinnati OH

Backwards from Winter

Susan Merdinger, piano

Highland Park IL

The Union and Grande Tarantella (Gottschalk)

Emi Nishida, composer

Boston MA

Han-gover Square 

Richard Prior, composer   

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra  

Atlanta  GA 

…of shadow and light…

Leandra Ramm, mezzo-soprano   

Pittsburg. CA

Short songs to sing aloud (Grey Grant)

Ben Raznick, piano

Denver CO

The Entertainer, Solace, Maple Leaf Rag (Jopin); Prelude I, II (Cadenza), III (Gershwin)

Denice Rippentrop, composer   

First Reading Project   

Scottsdale AZ

God Jehovah

Carlyle Sharpe, composer 

Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra 

Springfield   MO 

Of These Years I Sing

Amy Stephens, pianist & composer    

San Francisco CA

Becoming: suite for solo piano in seven movements     

Patricia Wallinga, composer    

San Francisco CA

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Drew Whiting, saxophone

Oshkosh WI

Random Access; Saudade Study    

Ann Marie Wilcox-Daehn, mezzo-soprano & Elizabeth Avery, piano

Springfield MO

Five Songs (Ruth Crawford Seeger)   

Heidi Louise Williams, piano    

Tallahassee FL

Sonata for Piano; Piano Sonata No. 1 (Floyd/Walker)

Adriana Zabala, mezzo-soprano 

Orange CT

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony  (Stephen Mark Kohn) 

NATIONAL FINALISTS: The American Prize ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY soloists or composers, 2021

Cole Bartels, trombone

Verona WI

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free (Mark)

Yu-Ting Cheng, clarinet   

Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra    

Stony Brook   NY 

Clarinet Concerto (Corigliano)

Mark Franklin, piano    

Tallahassee. FL

Piano Fantasy (Danielpour)   

Julian Fueyo, composer   

Cleveland Institute of Music's Student Orchestra 

Cleveland OH

The Eleventh Heaven   

Martin Hebel, composer   

New Haven CT

CCM Chamber Players  

Dulce et Decorum Est

Theodore Jackson, percussion

Riverview FL

Merlin II; OPEN/shut; Tymptych III  (Thomas/Anderson/Gay)

Darrell J. Jordan, baritone 

Seattle WA

Celebrating Queer American Composers

Jorge Machain, composer 

UNLV Wind Orchestra

Las Vegas NV 

The Espresso Express  

Craig Peaslee, composer

Ootsurg WI

Second City Strut  

NATIONAL FINALISTS: The American Prize ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, HIGH SCHOOL soloists or composers, 2021

Elisa K. Johnson, composer

Seattle WA

Less Alone  

Nicole Liang, composer  

Clarksville MD

Childhood Innocence   

Amelia Severns, soprano

Venetia PA

Not A Day Goes By (Sondheim)

Christina  Xiao, composer  

Lexington MA

Rain; Ambler; Baby River; Approaching The End; Skitter

*** 

We invite finalists to make the most of their selection by announcing it on their facebook page, tweeting the news, and including a link to this announcement on their website or blog. 

Here is a sample announcement:

"Great News! I've just been selected as a finalist in the (blank) division of The American Prize ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, 2021. Here's the link: (copy link here). The American Prize will be announcing results in my division soon. You can learn more about this prestigious national competition here: www.theamericanprize.org or follow the news on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-American-Prize-celebrating-American-excellence-in-the-arts/214320622728 or Twitter: https://twitter.com/americanprize "

Please feel free to modify or expand this announcement to suit your needs.

Congratulations to all finalists.