
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts
"WHAT's on TAP"
E-newsletter for contestants, laureates, judges & friends of
The American Prize (TAP)
The National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts
David Volosin Katz, founder and chief judge, editor
May 2026
* Many 2026 NATIONAL FINALISTS announced
* IMPORTANT UPDATE about 2027 Contests
* MTT remembered
* Links to recent winners & current judges
copyright 2026—HCMT The American Prize
2026 NATIONAL FINALISTS
in many categories
Below, please find links to lists of many
2026 FINALISTS
as published on our blog.
We expect FINALISTS in all remaining categories to be announced in the coming weeks, followed by winners, as results are known.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Follow the schedule of future announcements on FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/The-American-Prize-celebrating-American-excellence-in-the-arts-214320622728/
or on X (TWITTER) https://twitter.com/americanprize?lang=en,
and on our BLOG: http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com
VOICE
2026 National Finalists
(The Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards)
Art Song
Opera
PIANO
2026 National Finalists
Solo Piano
Piano Concerto (Lorin Hollander Award)
INSTRUMENTAL SOLOISTS
2026 Professional and College/University National Finalists
(High school finalists to be announced separately.)
CHAMBER ENSEMBLES
2026 National Finalists
COMPOSITION
2026 National Finalists (announced thus far)
Music for Band
Choral music (major works)—to be announced 5/29
Music for Opera/Theater/Film/Dance—Putsché Award
Pops/Light Music
Vocal Chamber Music—Ives Award
CONDUCTING
2026 National Finalists (announced thus far)
Orchestral Programming (Marijosius Award)
Musical Theater
Opera
Chorus (Dale Warland Award)
CONDUCTED ENSEMBLES (announced thus far)
Musical Theater
Bands
Additional composer and conductor finalists,
remaining ensembles and stage directors,
and American Music Performance finalists (Bacon Award)
will be announced in June.
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HOW to UPDATE YOUR AUDITION RECORDINGS
To update your audition materials, please share the information by writing
"NEW LINK" in the subject line of an email to us: theamericanprize@gmail.com
Remember—contestants are responsible for the viability of links they send.
Please be sure yours continue to work correctly.
Links must remain active until the end of the contest year in all categories.
**
ABOUT 2025 CERTIFICATE PACKAGES
All 2025 winner certificates and many runner-up packages have been sent. The office will complete those shortly and then turn to finalists and semi-finalists. Please be patient as each certificate is prepared individually,
and with care.
IF YOUR ADDRESS HAS CHANGED
recently, please send us the updated information by putting
"NEW ADDRESS" in the subject line of an email to theamericanprize@gmail.com
We need updated information to send certificate packages.
*
theamericanprize.org
NEW CALENDAR
NEW SCHEDULE
Announcing The American Prize, 2027
Our 17th Season
Dear Friends,
The American Prize has a new calendar and a new schedule.
For the 2027 season of The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts (TAP), we are adjusting the contest calendar to make it more efficient and less confusing.
Since COVID (and in some ways because of COVID), the schedule for the contests of The American Prize became extended over an entire academic year—that is: from one calendar year into the next. The office was announcing finalists for the current season while accepting applications for the next season, and sending certificates for the previous season. Whew! Although we’ve been able to keep most everything straight (well, most of time!) it has caused some confusion among our contestants and added considerably to our workload.
Time for a change.
ANNOUNCING!
The 2027 season of The American Prize will be accomplished within a single calendar year (hurray!)
Applications will be accepted from January 2027 through April 2027. Finalists will be announced in the summer 2027 and winners in the fall and early winter 2027, after which certificate packages will be sent. Applications for the following season will then be open again in
January 2028.
A schedule simpler, faster, more efficient…
...but aren’t we skipping a season? No!
Under the old schedule, we would be accepting applications now for 2026-27, with finalists and winners being announced in 2027. All we’ve done is shorten the application window, moving the entire process into the new calendar year…and don’t worry—performances and new works from the current academic year (2025-26) of course will be eligible in 2027.
There will be some other changes, too, which we will update on the website in the coming months, but for the moment, we have heard from so many performing artists and composers eager to apply now for next season that we needed to announce the change right away!
Questions? Theamericanprize@gmail.com
…and thank you so much!
—David Katz, founder and chief judge
The American Prize—since 2010
Remembering MTT(Michael Tilson Thomas)
The great American conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, has died, aged 81. A protege of the legendary Leonard Bernstein, Tilson Thomas was music director of the San Francisco Symphony for twenty-five years, and once conducted in Danbury, Connecticut, home of The American Prize.
On July 4, 1974, Tilson Thomas shared the podium with Bernstein at the Danbury Fair Grounds, conducting the American Symphony and local choirs in celebration of the centennial of Danbury’s favorite son, the quintessential American composer, Charles Ives (now namesake of The American Prize Charles Ives Award in Composition).
I sang in that chorus, with many of my fellow classmates, and can still feel the energy of the performance and the enthusiasm of the huge crowd. (see photo)
Fifty years later, The American Prize, which I founded in 2010 and serve as Chief Judge, honored Tilson Thomas for his piano music, in a premiere recording by pianist John Wilson.
Ives’ own words to one of the choral works we performed at the centennial concert are still particularly appropriate today, as we celebrate our country's 250th. They leaped into my memory when I heard the news of MTT’s passing:
“…then the people, not just politicians, will rule their own lands and lives, then you’ll hear the whole universe shouting the battle cry of Freedom…”
(Richard Nixon was in the midst of the Watergate scandal at the time and would resign as president the next month. The chorus, at MTT's urging, literally spat out the words "not just politicians" and the crowed roared back its approval. Quite a day—and for me an enduring musical memory.)
God’s speed, MTT, and thanks.
—David (Volosin) Katz
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The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the musical and theater arts. The American Prize is nonprofit, unique in scope and structure, and is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, composers, conductors, ensembles and directors in the United States, based on submitted recordings. There is no live competition. There are no age limits. Founded in 2010 and now celebrating its sixteenth year, The American Prize has awarded more than $180,000 in prizes in all categories since its creation. Thousands of artists representing all fifty states have derived benefit from their participation in the contests of The American Prize. David Volosin Katz is founder and chief judge of The American Prize. The American Prize is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a 501(c)3 registered nonprofit organization based in Danbury, CT.
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