The University of Washington Symphony Orchestra (David Rahbee, director) has been awarded the American Prize in Orchestral Performance, 2021, in the college university division (smaller program).
The orchestra was selected from applications reviewed recently from all across the United States. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, administered by Hat City Music Theater in Danbury, Connecticut, was founded in 2009 by composer/conductor David Katz and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. According to Katz, The American Prize is the nation's most comprehensive series of non-profit competitions in the musical and theater arts, unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.
Winners of The American Prize receive cash prizes, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition based on recorded performances. In addition to its 2021 win, the orchestra has placed in the finals in the category of orchestral performance for each of the last three seasons, and in the category of orchestral programming for the past six seasons.
“Most artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps even be nominated,” Katz says, “but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to a city on each coast, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of a few schools. It is on view all over the United States, if you take the time to look for it. The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence.”
The UW Symphony opened its 2021-22 performance schedule with an all-French program on Nov. 5 in Meany Hall on the UW campus. Faculty violinist Rachel Lee Priday and guest violinist Dr. Quinton Morris of Seattle University joined the orchestra in a program of music by Schumann, Ravel, Boulogne, and Haydn. Details here.