New York, NY, November 16, 2007: Frances Richard, ASCAP Vice President and Director of Concert Music and Linn Maxwell, President of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation (LLF) announced today the winners of the second
ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition. The competition, named for legendary soprano Lotte Lehmann, was established to encourage and recognize gifted young composers who write for voice.
Commenting on the competition, Frances Richard said: "Encouraging gifted young composers to set inspiring texts for voice is in the great tradition of ASCAP, and central to the mission of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation. The winning composers were selected via a rigorous juried national competition open to composers under the age of thirty . We thank our valiant judges, and congratulate the winners."
Linn Maxwell, mezzo-soprano and President of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, said, "Lotte Lehmann, the legendary opera singer, has left us her legacy of a passionate love for the art song and her gift for imparting this love to audiences and students alike. The Lotte Lehmann Foundation is proud to inspire a new generation of song composers with the biennial ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition. We congratulate our 2007 winners."
The First Prize ($3,500) has been awarded to
Zachary Wadsworth, age 24, of Richmond, VA. Wadsworth will receive a commission to write a song cycle for voice and piano to be published by E.C. Schirmer. The commissioned song cycle will be performed in three major American cities.
Second Prize ($1,000)
was awarded to
Allen McCullough, age 29, of Lansdowne, PA and Third Prize ($750) was awarded to
Ryan Gee, age 29, of Austin, TX. Both Second and Third Prize winners receive commissions to compose an art song for voice and piano.
The Damien Top Prize ($500) was awarded to
Isaac Schankler, age 28, of Los Angeles, CA. The Damien Top Prize is a commission to set a poem by Andrée Brunin to be premiered at the 2008 Albert Roussel International Festival in France.
The competition judges were composers
Susan Botti, William Rhoads, Su Lian Tan, and pianist/conductor,
Scott Dunn.
Click here for bios and photos of the winning composers and competition judges.
World famous soprano Lotte Lehmann (1888-1976) was one of the great musical artists of the 20th Century. Lehmann's glorious, expressive voice and interpretive talent enthralled audiences with repertory ranging from opera to Lieder (classical German song). Lehmann fled her native Germany for the U.S. in 1938, and became an American citizen. After her singing career ended she continued to write books, give master-classes and helped found the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA. Her influence in the world of opera, art song and education was enormous.
About The Lotte Lehmann Foundation
Founded in 1998, The Lotte Lehmann Foundation is devoted to the preservation of the magnificent Lehmann artistic and teaching legacy, and to her commitment to educating the public to appreciate art song. Art song, (also called classical song, solo song, Lieder or mélodie) is music written for classically trained voice and piano, set to pre-existing poetry.
www.lottelehmann.org
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 300,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with over 90 music rights organizations such that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
