Winners: COMPOSERS (band divisions), 2021

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, David (Volosin) Katz, chief judge, is honored to announce the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions of The American Prize in Composition, 2021, in the band/wind ensemble divisions. Congratulations! 

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.

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



The American Prize in Composition—Band/Wind Ensemble (professional division), 2021

The American Prize winner:

Kyle Kindred 

Humble TX

Symphony No. 1—The Remnant

Kyle Kindred

The melodramatic and occasionally theatrical works of Kyle Kindred (b.1978) have been performed throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and South America. A four-time finalist in the American Prize competition, Kindred is currently composing a musical theatre work with former White House Deputy Press Spokesman, Peter Roussel, based on Roussel’s novel, Ruffled Flourishes. He was commissioned in 2015 to compose a Spanish oratorio for the musicians of the 2015 Encuentro de Jóvenes Músicos Bolivianos and Sam Houston State University. He is a featured composer in the GIA Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series as well as a contributing author for GIA Publications’ Composers on Composing for Band, Volume 4, edited by Mark Camphouse.  His principal teachers were Walter Mays, Dean Roush, Donald Grantham, and 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts. Kindred is currently Professor and Director of Composition Studies at Sam Houston State University.

2nd Place:

Onsby C. Rose

Sioux Center IA

Symphony No. 1 "Heroes" 

Onsby Rose

Dr. Onsby C. Rose is currently the Director of Instrumental Studies and Associate Professor of Music at Dordt University. In this position, he conducts the premiere instrumental ensemble, the Dordt University Wind Symphony, Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and the Dordt Campus-Community Band. He also guides all aspects of the Dordt Instrumental Ensembles and Instrumental Music Education programs. Dr. Rose holds degrees from East Tennessee State University (BME), Appalachian State University (MM) and The Ohio State University (DMA). He also served as a conductor and trombonist in the United States Marine Corps Bands. Dr. Rose has studied conducting with Russel C. Mikkelson, John Ross, and Kevin Richardson with additional conducting symposium studies with Jerry Junkin, Kevin Sedatole, Frank Battisti, Charles Peltz, Eugene Corporon, Donald McKinney, and Steven Peterson. Dr. Rose has studied composition with the late Dr. David Maslanka and currently has 12 published compositions through Murphy Music Press. His music has been performed around the world and in the United States by professional ensembles, college and high school wind bands, and premiere US military bands.

3rd Place (there was a tie):

Roger Cichy 

Scituate RI

Windsicle 

Roger Cichy

Ohio born composer, Roger Cichy, is a world-class composer known for taking intangible experience and emotions, and turning them into memorable musical works. Conductor Dr. Matthew George lauds Cichy’s music as, “…both rich and vast.  His uncanny knack for melody and creative orchestration can be found in all his music…”  Lowell Graham, former Conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band adds, “Roger’s music is accessible, colorful and personal.” Composing music for a wide variety of genres including orchestras, wind bands, small ensembles and music for film, Cichy is widely sought for commissions.  His music has been published for over 30 years and has received numerous awards from ASCAP for serious music. His film score for the PBS documentary, “The American St. Nick,” earned him an Emmy.  Cichy’s works are continually performed throughout the United States and abroad.  www.rogercichy.com

3rd Place (there was a tie);

Andrew David Perkins 

Fenton MI

CLUTCH: Fanfare for Concert Band

Andrew Perkins

Composer, conductor, three-time ASCAP+ Award recipient, and GRAMMY® nominated music educator Andrew David Perkins (b.1978) holds a specialist certificate in Orchestration from the Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University. Finalist for The National Band Association Revelli Award & Merrill Jones Award, and the Ravel International Composition Prize, Perkins' music is regularly performed at national and state contests, conferences, and at the Midwest International Band Clinic. A celebrated guest clinician nationally and abroad, he enjoys working with musicians of all ages, and is the winner of the 2018 National Band Association/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Contest.  Mr. Perkins is a member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and his music is exclusively published through APOLLO STUDIOS Music Publishing. www.andrewdavidperkins.com

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Augusta Cecconi-Bates 

Cape Vincent NY

PASTICCIO 

Augusta Cecconi-Bates

Somehow reaching old age gives one a sense of privilege – the right to speak out. And so I am doing just that – speaking to the wind – telling of my joys and my unfulfilled wishes. I have been a composer for most of my life – from age 6 and still at age 87. It is my profession.  Of course I had to do odd jobs for many years in order to put bread on the table. So, after earning my degrees in music and music history, (1956, 1960), I resorted to teaching music in the public school system.  In my day there were few, if any, jobs for female music historians.   I had no predecessors to open doors.  Along the way I married for love only and not to gain status.  I composed so-called serious music – for many years for the joy of creating music. I struggled to find performers – paid their stipends from my own shallow pockets. In the 1980’s I presented recitals of my music in the prestigious Weill Hall at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. 

On occasion I would get a commission for new music – and often would submit scores to publishers – none of whom actually were interested – Then I ventured into the realm of opera composition in 1967 – composing a children’s opera for performance by kindergarteners in my charge. – great fun – but no stipend. During the next 20 years, I wrote over 300 small compositions for various ensemble combinations. Then in 2001 The Tug Hill Land Trust commissioned “Essences of the North Country” for chamber orchestra. It was successfully programmed by several conductors in U. S. and Canada.  

While in Canada, I worked on several versions of my opera: MOLLY of the MOHAWKS. based on the life of the Mohawk Loyalist, Molly Brant. In 2006, the conductor, Charles Schneider took an interest in the opera and with his direction and editing, we had several successful performances in 2008. However, I had no real "angels" to help. The endeavor nearly ended in bankruptcy for me. Still I persevered – A film-producer from California came on the scene – with actual money: Molly was to be filmed in the Mohawk Territory at St. Regis in 2013-- again with Charles Schneider as director and conductor.  But, no film – too many mistakes in the filming. Thankfully we had enough money to pay all the participants. 

Then in 2014 we presented a concert version of "Molly of the Mohawks" for the Loyalist Association of Canada in Toronto with the original Molly, Rhona Gale. Maestro Schneider at the keyboard and bass Eric Johnson, the original "William" in the opera in 2008 and 2013. Once again,  the music was an artistic success. Since then, I have been composing more scores and have entered a couple of competitions. Recently I won First Prize from Clarinet Society in the U. K.  

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Robert Denham

La Mirada CA

Echoes from Tilden

Robert Denham

Robert Denham writes music that borrows from an eclectic array of sources including jazz, medieval chant, and everything in between.  He has worked with a wide range of ensembles including Pacific Symphony, the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble, and the Cambrian Symphony.  Recordings include “It’s Alive” (six works for low brass featuring bass trombonist Ilan Morgenstern), “New Music for Flute and Piano” (flutist Brian Bensing), and “Sutter Creek: 21 Songs for Baritone and Piano (Tyler Thompson and Emily Helvey). Dr. Denham holds degrees in composition from UCLA and the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, with a BM in trumpet performance from Biola University.  He currently serves as Professor of Theory and Composition at the Biola Conservatory of Music.

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Gregory Fritze

Daytona Beach Shores FL

Phoenix

Gregory Fritze

Gregory Fritze is a prize-winning composer and Fulbright Scholar. His compositions have been performed more than one thousand times in twenty-six countries. He has written over ninety compositions for orchestra, band, chamber ensembles and soloists.  He won over sixty composition awards including First Prize in 2017 WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) Composition Contest, First Prize Winner in Concurso Tenerife, Spain and others. Several professional ensembles have commissioned and played his music including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, The  U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, The Banda Municipal of Madrid, and others. His music is published by several publishers in the US, South America and Europe and recorded on Albany Records, MSR Classics and others. He has been a guest lecturer at many universities and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Japan, South America and Europe. He taught at Berklee College of Music as Professor and Chair of Composition. He has Composition degrees from the Boston Conservatory and Indiana University with Distinction.

Finalist Judges' Citation: “Vital Perspective on Historical Events Through Words and Music” 

Heather Ellis Koehn

Tulsa OK 

36 Blocks 

Heather Koehn

Heather Ellis Koehn (b. 1979) is an Oklahoma-based composer, arranger, and educator. Heather's original compositions have been performed by groups throughout the southern United States, and she was recently named a winner of the 2018 Dallas Winds Fanfare Competition. Heather received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. In addition to writing concert works and marching band arrangements, Heather is a National Board Certified Teacher and directs junior high band at Coweta Public Schools and is the creative director of the award-winning Coweta Tiger Pride Marching Band. Heather's compositions and arrangements provide a "meaningful experience to performer and listener alike", and she believes that music can be a most powerful force for social change.    www.heatherelliskoehn.com

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Josh Rodriguez

Riverside CA

Tikal 

Josh Rodriguez

Known for his energetic rhythms, rich harmonic language, and striking colors, Josh Rodriguez continues to gain recognition as an emerging composer. Born in Argentina and raised in Guatemala and Mexico, Rodriguez's musical imagination has been formed by the colors, cultures, and stories of his childhood. Rodriguez has received several notable commissions in a wide range of musical genres including chamber, orchestral, and choral works, and theater. Rodriguez earned his MM at the Cleveland Institute of Music and upon winning the Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship moved west to study composition at the University of California, Los Angeles. He currently serves at the Collinsworth School of Music at California Baptist University as Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition, and is co-founder of Deus-Ex-Musica.com, an initiative that brings musicians, clergy, and non-musicians together for concerts and conversations about the intersection of faith and new music.

The American Prize in Composition—Band/Wind Ensemble (student division), 2021

The American Prize Winner:

Andrew Faulkenberry

Spotswood  NJ  

Symphony No. 1 

Andrew Faulkenberry

Andrew Faulkenberry (b. 1999) is a New Jersey-based composer of chamber, band and orchestral works.  He is currently pursuing a B.M. in Composition at Rutgers University, studying under Dr. Robert Livingston Aldridge. His Symphony No. 1, praised by William Bolcom for its “mature tone…[and] considerable spiritual depth”, was premiered in May 2019 by Dr. Kraig Williams and the Rutgers Wind Ensemble. A recording was subsequently broadcast on WWFM (The Classical Network). His Elegy for Michael was premiered by Helix! New Music Ensemble at le poisson rouge in New York City in November 2018.  Other collaborators include Jihye Chang Sung, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, itch new music ensemble, and Latitude Duo at Northwestern University. Faulkenberry was selected as a composition fellow at 2019 Brevard Music Center 2019 Festival, where he studied with David Dzubay and Greg Simon. In addition to composing, Faulkenberry has worked with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra orchestral library.

2nd Place: 

Jacob Beranek  

Oconomowoc WI  

Pamatnik: Memorial for Wind Ensemble 

Jacob Beranek

Jacob Beranek (b. 1998) is a Wisconsin-born composer and pianist. He currently serves as the Composer-in-Residence of the Midsummer’s Music Festival, which has commissioned three pieces to date. His work has been performed throughout the country and has garnered international recognition in competitions such as the Fissinger Choral Composition Prize, Beyer Composition Awards, and The Gesualdo Six Composition Competition, in which he received first place for ages 21-and-under worldwide. Beranek is an avid devotee of Czech music, and was honored by the European premiere of his Památník at Prague Castle by the Band of the Castle Guards & Czech Police in 2018. Beranek has served as a Composition Fellow at the Talis Festival & Academy in Switzerland, and has also studied at the Curtis Institute of Music Young Artist Summer Program. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Music at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Learn more at www.beranekmusic.com.

3rd Place (there was a tie):

Louis A. Josephson

West Windsor  NJ  

struts and ruts; Protest Piece

Louis Josephson

Louis A. Josephson (b. 2001) is a published and award-winning ASCAP composer from Central New Jersey. A graduate of the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, he is currently continuing his undergraduate studies in composition at The Juilliard School with Robert Beaser. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include the premiere of “Hyperactivity” performed by the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony and “String Quartet No. 1.” His original musical, “Relapse”, was premiered at the 4th Annual Jersey Fringe Festival. Louis has conducted and had his works performed throughout the United States and Europe. Additionally, he has music directed and played keyboards and percussion for multiple musicals and ensembles. Awards include The Juilliard School Pre-College Composition Competition, Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition, and NAfME Student Composition Competition. He has also received honors for ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Contest, Maurice Ravel International Composition Competition, and The Young Composer’s Challenge. Louis is published by Wingert-Jones Publications.

 www.LouisJosephson.com

3rd Place (there was a tie):

Jorge Machain  

Henderson  NV  

The Espresso Express: A Drum Set Concerto

Jorge Machain

Born in 1993, Jorge Machain is a native of Mexico who currently resides in Las Vegas. Jorge graduated from UNLV with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition and is currently working towards completing his Master of Music in Jazz Composition. He composes for both classic and jazz ensembles. Jorge has been commissioned by notable concert ensembles just such the UNLV Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Thomas G. Leslie, as well as the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble and Choir. In addition, Jorge has written for the downbeat award winning UNLV Jazz Ensemble I which has recorded his pieces on multiple CD’s and has played these works in festivals such as the Monterey Jazz Festival. For more info, check out his website at https://www.jorgemachain.com.

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Daniel J. Armistead

Newark  DE  

Perpetual Ascent

Daniel Armistead

Daniel J. Armistead is a composer, arranger, and saxophonist in the greater Philadelphia area. He has written for countless ensembles ranging from chamber ensembles, choirs, marching bands, symphony orchestras, and wind ensembles. While attending the University of Delaware for his undergraduate degree in Music Composition, he studied with renowned teachers Todd Groves, Jennifer Barker, and James Ancona. His primary influences for his works are derived from neo-romanticism and jazz, exploring numerous statements of minute motifs that develop and fuse throughout a piece. In the summer, Daniel works for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugles Corps touring the country as their associate stage manager and a part of their administrative team. In May 2018, Daniel obtained his music composition degree and took a year off, composing daily and fulfilling commissions. Currently, he is in his 2nd year of his masters of music composition degree at the University of Delaware. Website: https://www.ArmisteadMusic.com 

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Stephen Ryan Jackson  

Medford MA  

asphyxiating sky

Stephen Jackson

The music of Boston-based composer and trumpet player, Stephen Ryan Jackson (b.1992) examines and recreates seemingly indescribable sensations. His music often draws inspiration from careful observation of everyday phenomena; stretching, distorting, and reexamining them in order to create works that avoid the concept of narrative and allow audiences to reevaluate and find beauty in aspect of daily life that they might overlook. Jackson composes in a variety of mediums including works for orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber and vocal music, often interweaving electronic elements with acoustic instruments. In addition to his composing endeavors, Jackson is an accomplished trumpet player specializing in new works for trumpet and electronics. Jackson is currently pursuing a Masters in Music Composition at New England Conservatory studying with Michael Gandolfi, Katarina Miljkovic, Stratis Minakakis and John Mallia. www.stephenryanjackson.com

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Tyler Jones 

Tuscaloosa AL  

Dancing out of the Earth

Tyler Jones

A versatile musician with interests ranging from classical repertoire to world musics, jazz, popular genres, and the avant-garde, Tyler Jones (b. 1993 in Cullman, AL) is a composer working in the American Southeast.  Exploring intriguing rhythmic-metric structures and earthy, evocative colors, Tyler’s work is concerned with community, perspective, and sound behavior within a given space; his music has been reviewed as “intense” and “richly detailed.” Recent work includes a wind ensemble premiere at Carnegie Hall (February 2020) and a collaboration with the violinist Davis Brooks, who recorded Tyler’s five-movement suite Solitude for the album Early Musings: New Music for Violin.

Tyler holds a master’s degree in composition and bachelor’s degree in music theory, both from The University of Alabama. His teachers include Amir Zaheri, Tyler Bradley Walker, and Craig First for composition; Blake Richardson for conducting; and Thomas Robinson for music theory research and methods.  Website:  http://www.tylerjonesmusician.com

Finalist Honorable Mention:

Dustin Schulze  

San Antonio TX  

Shades of Glass

Dustin Schulze

Dustin Schulze is a Texas born composer who does not limit himself to any particular genre. He holds music degrees from the University of North Texas, Stephen F. Austin State University, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in composition at the University of Oklahoma. His works have been performed at the Midwest, PASIC, and TMEA conferences, and are played regularly at concert halls all over the country. Dustin's goal is to create music that is diverse, distinctive, and sonically stimulating. Composer's Website: dustinschulzemusic.com

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Congratulations!

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, David (Volosin) Katz, founder and chief judge, is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the musical and theater arts. The American Prize is nonprofit, unique in scope and structure, and is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, composers, conductors, ensembles and directors in the United States, at professional, college/university, community and school levels, based on submitted recordings. There is no live competition. 

Founded in 2010 and now celebrating its eleventh year, The American Prize has awarded nearly $100,000 in prizes in all categories since its creation. Thousands of artists representing all fifty states have derived benefit from their participation in the contests of  The American Prize. 

The American Prize will accept applications for the 2021-22 contest season through September 14, 2021 or with extension request..  www.theamericanprize.org