The American Prize is honored to announce winners, runners-up, citation recipients and honorable mentions of the ERNST BACON MEMORIAL AWARD for the PERFORMANCE of AMERICAN MUSIC, 2017-18, in solo artist divisions.
Congratulations to accordionist and composer William Popp from Denver, CO. who was awarded 3rd Place, music by Kleinsinger, Gart, Antonio.
Excerpts from the American Prize website: William Popp began his studies on the piano at the age of six and on the accordion at the age of 11. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance from the University of Denver where he studied with Robert Davine. He earned his doctoral degree in composition from The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. His composition teachers include David Diamond (New York), Normand Lockwood (Denver), and Helmut Braunlich (Washington, DC).
Many of his chamber ensemble and string orchestra works have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. For twenty years he was an arranger and composer with the United States Air Force Band in Washington, DC. More than 35 of his arrangements have been recorded by the USAF Strings and many more have been heard in numerous White House performances and around the world. As an accordionist he has performed extensively with the USAF Strings throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia; and as a soloist in Beijing, China. He has also performed with Young Audiences, Inc., members of the National Symphony, and members of the Colorado Symphony. William Popp is now working independently as a composer, performer, and teacher in Northern Colorado.
The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit national competitions in the performing arts providing cash awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels. Administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Danbury, Connecticut,
The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually. The competitions of The American Prize are open to all U.S. citizens, whether living in this country or abroad, and to others currently living, working and/or studying in the United States of America, its protectorates and territories.
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 and 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 created an annual award in the memory of Ernst Bacon, recognizing the finest performances of American music worldwide. To learn more about the music & legacy of Ernst Bacon, please visit the website of the Ernst Bacon Society.
For further information: wepjsp@aol.com
