ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition Winners Annouced

The winners of the third ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition have been announced. The competition, named for legendary soprano Lotte Lehmann, was established to encourage and recognize gifted young composers who write for voice.

First Prize ($3,500): Zhou Tian, age 27, of Los Angeles, CA. Zhou will receive a commission to write a song cycle for voice and piano to be published by E.C. Schirmer. The commissioned song cycle will be performed in three major American cities.

Second Prize ($1,000): Eric Guinivan, age 25, of Los Angeles, CA.

Third Prize ($500): Juhi Bansal, age 25, of Pasadena, CA.

Both second and third prize winners receive commissions to compose an art song for voice and piano.

The Damien Top Prize ($500): Joni Greene, age 28, of Bloomington, IN. The Damien Top Prize is a commission to set a poem by Andrée Brunin to be premiered at the 2010 Albert Roussel International Festival in France.

The following composers received honorable mention: Aaron Alon, age 28, of Pearland, TX; Kris Becker, age 27, of Houston, TX; and Melissa Dunphy, age 29, of Philadelphia, PA.

The competition judges were composers Stephen Dembski, Daron Hagen, John Musto, and Larry Alan Smith. Full bios of the award-wining composers are available here. (—Condensed from the press release)