CONDUCTOR WINNERS: The Marijosius Award in Orchestral Programming, 2016-17 (updated)

Maestro Vytautas Marijosius

The American Prize is proud to announce the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions of The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2016-17. Awards were made in three divisions this year: college/university orchestras, community orchestras and youth orchestras. All the results are below.

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For nearly thirty five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, Vytautas Marijosius programmed concerts that were alive in every sense—not programming for novelty’s sake, nor neglecting the great masters of the past—but always bringing to the awareness of his students and his audiences great composers of the current time and potential masters of the future. I believe he would be pleased in different ways with each of this year's honorees." —DK

For more about Maestro Marijosius, please visit the companion blog here.

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award
—College/University Orchestra Division 

The American Prize Winner:

James Allen Anderson
    University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra
    Newark DE

James Allen Anderson

Hailed for his inventive programming and compelling interpretations, maestro James Allen Anderson continues to engage audiences with inspirational and entertaining performances worldwide. Trained as both a conductor and pianist, he studied with maestro David Effron at the Eastman School of Music and with maestro Tonu Kalam and pianist Michael Zenge at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Additional studies include two seasons at Le Domain Forget under the tutelage of Pierre Hétu and Otto-Werner Mueller.

Since 2011 maestro Anderson has served as Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Delaware. In previous positions Anderson held the post of Music Director of the Butte Symphony Association, cover conductor with the North Carolina Symphony, Director of Orchestral Activities at both Appalachian State University and the University of Montana. He is in demand as a guest conductor, having worked with ensembles in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

2nd Place:
David Rahbee
    University of Washington Symphony Orchestra
    Seattle WA

David Rahbee

David Alexander Rahbee is currently Senior Artist in Residence at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle, where he is director of orchestral activities and teaches conducting. He also serves of faculty of the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival as Conducting Associate. He is recipient of the American-Austrian Foundation's 2003 Karajan Fellowship for Young Conductors, the 2005 International Richard-Wagner-Verband Stipend, and the Acanthes Centre in Paris in 2007. He has recently worked with the Seattle Symphony, Orchesterakademie der Bochumer Symphoniker, the Seattle Modern Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Loja. He participated in masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Jorma Panula, Zdeněk Mácal, Peter Eötvös, and Zoltán Peskó. His principal conducting teachers were Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo at the Monteux School. He holds degrees from Indiana University, New England Conservatory, and University of Montreal. He also studied at Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna.
 

3rd Place:
Peter Askim
    The Next Festival of Emerging Artists
    The Raleigh Civic Symphony Orchestra
    Raleigh NC

Peter Askim

Active as a conductor, composer and bassist, Peter Askim is the Artistic Director of the Next Festival of Emerging Artists and the conductor of the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. He was formerly Music Director and Composer-in-Residence of the Idyllwild Arts Academy.

A dedicated champion of the music of our time, he has premiered numerous works, including works by composers Richard Danielpour, Nico Muhly, Christopher Theofanidis, Pierre Jalbert, Phil Kline, Rufus Reid, Chen Yi and Aaron Jay Kernis. He has collaborated with such artists as the Miró String Quartet, ETHEL Matt Haimovitz, Vijay Iyer and Sō Percussion.


HONORABLE MENTION:
Johannes Dietrich
    Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra
   Annville PA

Johannes Dietrich

Johannes Dietrich, a native of Bozeman, Montana, joined the faculty of Lebanon Valley College in 1995.  As the Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor in Instrumental Music, he directs the LVC Symphony Orchestra, teaches conducting, string methods, applied violin and viola, and coaches chamber music ensembles.

Dr. Dietrich has conducted festival, district, regional and All State orchestras from New Jersey to Montana. He made his opera-conducting debut with the Berks Opera Workshop, leading their production of Massenet’s Thais. His college orchestra has toured Austria, Italy, Ireland and the Czech Republic, with performances by special invitation at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, and the world-renowned Rudolfinum in Prague. He has served as President of the Pennsylvania/Delaware String Teachers Association, and received that organization’s “Outstanding Orchestra Director of the Year” award, as well as their “Outstanding String Teacher of the Year” award.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Jaemi Loeb
    Centre College Orchestra
    Danville KY

Jaemi Loeb

Jaemi Blair Loeb is the Director of Instrumental Ensembles at Centre College, where she is Music Director of both the Centre College Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. She is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra in Manchester, England and the Director of the International Conductors’ Festival - Danville. Jaemi’s work as a music director is always driven by the goal of building community within the ensemble and the audience. On the podium, she balances her musical vision with a collaborative mode of working to create exciting and emotional performances. To learn more, visit www.jaemiloeb.com.
 

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award
—Community Orchestra Division 

The American Prize Winner:

Anthony Spain
    Northwest Symphony Orchestra
    Seattle WA

Anthony Spain

Anthony Spain has been Music Director of the Northwest Symphony Orchestra (NWSO) since 1987. Dr. Spain has guest conducted orchestras throughout America and in Europe including the Seattle Symphony, and the Bath Philharmonia in Bath, England. He has been a cover conductor with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and recently guest conducted in Hong Kong and Honduras. A noted conductor of works with orchestra and choir, Dr. Spain has conducted several choirs in America and in Europe including the Orfeo International Orchestra with the choir of L’UNESCO (the cultural branch of the United Nations) in Paris, France. Dedicated to education, Dr. Spain is an active clinician and adjudicator. Spain graduated with a Doctorate Degree in Music from the University of Washington and has received numerous awards and honors including a Grammy nomination.

2nd Place:
Pia Liptak & Kathleen Suher
    Cordancia Chamber Orchestra
    Rochester NY

Pia Liptak & Kathleen Suher

CORDANCIA: Vibrant Music for a Vibrant Community
Founded by violinist Pia Liptak and oboist Kathleen Suher
Formed 2009; a not-for-profit since June 2010
www.cordancia.org

Kathleen and Pia serves as co-artistic directors of Cordancia as well as being members of the ensemble, respectively as principal oboist and concert-master. Pia Liptak earned her DMA in violin performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music. She is on the faculty of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and performs as a soloist and chamber musician. She has recorded a number of CDs and been much involved in the contemporary music scene. Kathleen, a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law, is a real estate attorney in Rochester. She studied with Richard Killmer at Eastman and Anita Brandon and is currently performing in a number of musical ensembles, including serving as the principal oboist of the University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra.


3rd Place:
Donald L. Appert
    The Jewish Community Orchestra of Portland
    Portland OR

Donald L. Appert

Donald Appert has been Music Director/Conductor of the Jewish Community Orchestra in Portland, Oregon since 2012. He has guest conducted orchestras in Europe, Central America, Japan and Australia. Currently he is a Professor of Music and Head of the Music Department at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. In addition he is the Music Director/Conductor of the Clark College Orchestra and of the Oregon Sinfonietta.  He received The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in 2011, an Honorable Mention in 2012, 3rd Place in 2014, and 2nd Place in 2015. He was also Honored Artist of the American Prize in 2015. In 2014 he received the Clark County (WA) Arts Commission Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award. He has received the ASCAPLUS Award numerous times. Videos of his conducting and his original compositions may be seen and heard via the Internet on his web site at www.maestrodonappert.com. 

The American Prize in Orchestral Programming
Maestro Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award
—Youth Orchestra Division 

The American Prize Winner:

Orlando Cela
    NC Governor's School Orchestra
    Winston-Salem NC

Orlando Cela

Recently appointed music director of the Arlington Philharmonic (MA), Orlando Cela’s experience includes launching the orchestral department at Ningbo University in China and conducting the inaugural concert of the Ningbo City Symphony Orchestra. In the US, his conducting positions include work with orchestras and choruses at Randolph College (VA), and UMass Dartmouth (MA). Guest conducting credits include the Marquette Symphony Orchestra (MI), the Northern Michigan State University Orchestra (MI), Brandeis New Music Ensemble (MA).  He is currently the music director and conductor of the orchestra of the Governor’s School of North Carolina, with which he has performed world and American premieres by composers like Salvatore Sciarrino, Chen Yi, Hector Parra, Rebecca Saunders, Alwynne Pritchard, and many others.

2nd Place:
Robert Boardman
   South Bend Youth Symphony
   South Bend, IN

Robert Boardman

Robert W. Boardman, a native of Ithaca, New York is currently Music Director and Conductor of the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras, and Artistic Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's webcast, "Life from Orchestra Hall." He has assisted Marin Alsop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and served as Associate Conductor for CAMI's worldwide tour of Howard Shore's "The Lord of the Rings Symphony." Boardman received the DMA of Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan in 2010 where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler. He has participated in dozens of workshops nationwide and been a participant in masterclasses with conductors Larry Rachleff, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Mazur, Gustav Meier, JoAnn Falletta, and many other fine pedagogues. 


Third Place:
Alyze Dreiling
    YPO Soloists Ensemble
    San Diego CA

Alyze Dreiling

Alyze Dreiling, www.alyzedreiling.com  is an award-winning conductor, and accomplished violinist and violist in San Diego. In addition to serving as the YPO Soloists Ensemble Artistic Director and Conductor since 2010, she conducts the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra Symphonic Orchestra and has guest conducted the San Diego Master Chorale and Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra to name a few. She was also the founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Classics for Kids, a fully professional orchestra performing specialty youth concerts in the San Diego area. Ms. Dreiling’s performing violin credits include: soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Philharmonica Hungarica at the Vienna Summer Festival, Florida Chamber Orchestra, concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony and Knoxville Chamber Orchestra. With composer, Myron Fink, she received a recording prize from Contemporary Recording Society for the production and release of a CD featuring Fink’s Violin Sonata #1 and subsequently the Violin Sonata #2


HONORABLE MENTION:
Farkhad Khudyev
    Youth Music Monterey
    Monterey CA

Farkhad Khudyev

Hailed for “ever-sensitive control and extraordinarily imaginative interpretation", Farkhad Khudyev has served as the Music Director of the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, New Haven Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Associate Conductor of the Opera Hidden Valley and the Alternate Conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra. As a Guest Conductor, Mr. Khudyev has worked with the Monterey Symphony, Yale Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, Greenwich Village Orchestra of New York City, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Youth Symphony and the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. Currently, Mr. Khudyev serves as the Music Director of the Youth Music Monterey Orchestras. Farkhad studied at the State Music School of Ashgabat, Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. He is the winner of the Grand Prize/Gold Medal of the 2007 National Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the first American Conductor to receive the "Best Interpretation Prize" at the 2015 International Taipei Conducting Competition.

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Congratulations!