The Classical Recording Foundation (CRF) is pleased to announce the 2011 winners of its tenth annual Classical Recording Foundation Awards. Four prizes will be presented at the Foundation's Annual Awards Concert and Benefit at 8:00 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. The event, for which the public may purchase tickets, will feature CRF Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio performing trios by Schubert; the CRF Young Artist of the Year soprano Susanna Phillips performing selections from her solo debut album, Paysages; MAYA (Sato Moughalian, flute; John Haddfield, percussion; and Bridget Kibbey, harp) performing selections from The Book of Goddesses by CRF Composer of the Year Robert Paterson; and the piano duo Quattro Mani (Alice Rybak and Susan Grace) performing music by CRF Composer of the Year Arlene Sierra. The proceeds from the 2011 Classical Recording Foundation Award Ceremony and Benefit will go toward the 2012 Awards.
CRF's Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists of the Year, The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, are being honored for their new recording of the complete Schubert trios. Since making their debut at the White House for President Carter's Inauguration in January 1977, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson have set the standard for performance of the piano trio literature. As one of the only chamber ensembles with all of its original members, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio balances the careers of three internationally-acclaimed soloists while making annual appearances at many of the world's major concert halls, commissioning spectacular new works, and maintaining an active recording agenda.
CRF's Young Artist of the Year, soprano Susanna Phillips, is being honored for her solo debut album Paysages, with music by Debussy, Messiaen, and Fauré, released on Bridge Records in October. The Alabama native has attracted special recognition for a voice of striking beauty and sophistication. Recipient of the Metropolitan Opera's 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award, she recently sang in the opening concert and Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of the Mostly Mozart Festival under the baton of Louis Langree. She will begin the 2011-12 season as the title character in Lucia di Lammermoor in a new production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, directed by Catherine Malfitano. She will make her European debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, followed by Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Opera National de Bordeaux. Other operatic highlights include Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor with Minnesota Opera. Concert engagements this season include debuts with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the St. Louis Symphony, and a concert performance of Mozart's Idomeneo at the Ravinia Music Festival where she will sing the role of Ilia.
This year there are two winners of the CRF Composer of the Year Award - Robert Paterson and Arlene Sierra. Paterson will be honored for his album The Book of Goddesses, which will be released on December 6, 2011. The Book of Goddesses is inspired by a lavishly illustrated book of the same name by Kris Waldherr, which describes hundreds of female deities from a wide variety of cultures. Paterson chose nine goddesses to illustrate musically, drawing materials and styles from around the world. Paterson is currently Music Alive composer-in-residence with the Vermont Youth Orchestra, sponsored by Meet The Composer and the League of American Orchestras. Other honors include the Copland Award, awards from ASCAP, Meet The Composer, American Music Center and the American Composers Forum, and fellowships to Yaddo, MacDowell Colony and Aspen. His music has been described as having a "harmonic language comfortable with evoking glimpses of tonality. . . as part of an overall palette that encompasses modality, octatonicism, and post-tonal vignettes" (New Music Box). Orchestras and choirs that have performed his music include the Vermont Symphony, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Chamber Choir of Europe, Volti, Minnesota Orchestra and American Composers Orchestra. Paterson appears on recordings for Mode, Centaur, Capstone, and Riax and American Modern Recordings.
