The American Prize in Vocal Performance & Chicago Opera Award

THE AMERICAN PRIZE announces
FRIEDRICH & VIRGINIA SCHORR MEMORIAL AWARD
in Vocal Performance, and CHICAGO OPERA AWARD:
Postmark DEADLINE January 23, 2012

Cash prizes, professional adjudication, certificates, and regional, national and international recognition will be awarded to winners of The American Prize FRIEDRICH & VIRGINIA SCHORR MEMORIAL AWARD in Vocal Performance and CHICAGO OPERA AWARD, a series of new, non-profit performing arts competitions now accepting applications in the form of recorded performances. Full information and application forms are available on the website: www.theamericanprize.org, where previous winners are profiled.

The Schorr Award honors the memory Friedrich Schorr, the greatest Wagnerian baritone of his age, who sang at the Metropolitan Opera for nineteen seasons, and his wife, Virginia Schorr, who taught studio voice at the Hartt and Manhattan Schools of Music for nearly fifty years.

Classical vocalists at the professional, college/university, community and secondary school levels are eligible to apply by submitting their recordings. There are separate divisions for opera/operetta and for art song, with few repertoire restrictions and no age limits. An additional performance prize, called the Chicago Opera Award, for opera vocalists at the college/university or professional levels living withing driving distance of Chicago, is also offered. The postmark deadline for the first round of The American Prize Schorr Memorial Awards is Monday, January 23, 2012. Chicago Opera Award winners will be announced in March 2012, The American Prize winners in May.

Founded in 2009, The American Prize grew from the belief that a great deal of excellent music being made in this country goes unrecognized and unheralded, not only in our major cities, but all across the country: in schools and churches, in colleges and universities, and by community and professional musicians. With the performing arts in America now virtually ignored by the national news media, The American Prize seeks to fill the gap that leaves many excellent artists and ensembles struggling for visibility and viability. The American Prize recognizes and reward the best America produces, without bias against small city versus large, or unknown artist versus well-known.