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SOPRANO CHRISTINE STEYER wins
THE AMERICAN PRIZE in VOCAL PERFORMANCE

Soprano CHRISTINE STEYER of Oak Park, IL is the solo female winner of The American Prize in Vocal Performance—Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards, 2011 in the professional art song division. Ms. Steyer was selected from applications reviewed this spring from twenty-eight U.S. states. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, national competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the very best performing artists and ensembles in the United States based on recorded performances. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. Complete information on the website: www.theamericanprize.org

Winners of The American Prize receive cash prizes, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition based on submitted recordings. In addition to monetary rewards and written evaluations from judges, winners are profiled on The American Prize website, where links will lead to video and audio excerpts of winning performances.

The American Prize in Vocal Performance—Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards honors the memory of Friedrich Schorr (1888-1943), the greatest Wagnerian baritone of his age, who dominated the international opera stage between the world wars, and his wife, Virginia (1904-1990), who taught studio voice at the Manhattan School of Music and the Hartt School of Music for nearly fifty years.

Chicagoan Christine Steyer received major awards at the Altamura/Caruso International Competition and National Opera Association Competition. Roles include Pamina with Tulsa Opera, Abigail in The Crucible, the Marschallin and Violetta and has performed numerous roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Upcoming engagements include Butterfly, Four Last Songs and Mother in Amahl. She is featured on Caroline Myss' Voices of the Sacred and founded Bellissima Opera Outreach which brought free music to 9,000 schoolchildren in 2010.

THE AMERICAN PRIZE—History & Judges

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 marginalized like never before, The American Prize seeks to fill the gap that leaves excellent artists and ensembles struggling for visibility and viability. The American Prize recognizes and rewards the best America produces, without bias against small city versus large, or unknown artist versus well-known.

David Katz is the chief judge of The American Prize. Professional conductor, award-winning composer, playwright, actor and arts advocate, Katz was the founder and for twelve years chief judge of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Performance Prize in Voice international competition. He is author of MUSE of FIRE, the acclaimed one-man play about the art of conducting. Joining Katz in selecting winners of The American Prize is a panel of judges as varied in background and experience as we hope the winners of The American Prize will be. Made up of distinguished musicians representing virtually every region of the country, the group includes professional vocalists, conductors, composers and pianists, tenured professors and orchestra and choral musicians.

“Most artists will likely never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps ever even be nominated,” Katz said, “but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to the coasts, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of the most famous 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. ”

By shining a light on nationally recognized achievement, winners of The American Prize receive world-class bragging rights to use in promotion right at home. “If The American Prize helps build careers, or contributes to local pride, or assists with increasing the audience for an artist or ensemble, builds the donor base, or stimulates opportunities or recruitment for winning artists and ensembles, then we have fulfilled our mission,” Katz said.

In addition to the Schorr voice awards, in 2011 The American Prize sponsors competitions for conductors, ensembles, pianists and composers.

The American Prize is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit performing arts organization based in Danbury, Connecticut.