University News

WIU's Shumate Advances to Final 15 in American Prize Competition

August 11, 2015

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MACOMB, Il – Western Illinois University Assistant Professor of Music Penelope Shumate has advanced to list of 15 finalists for the "women in art song" division of The American Prize competition.

The competition is open to composers, pianists, vocalists, chamber music ensembles, instrumental soloists and actors.

Shumate is competing in the American Prize in Voice/Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award – Professional Art Song Division. The American Prize provides "evaluation, recognition and reward to America's finest performing artists and composers." Performances were judged based on recorded performances that were submitted through an application process.

In her performance career, Shumate has been described as having a "voice with power" and a "welcome fire" on stage. The New York Times praised her recent performance as the Soprano Soloist in "Messiah" for her Avery Fisher Hall debut at Lincoln Center, stating she "sang the soprano solos with appealing bell-like clarity and surpassing sweetness."

For her return to Avery Fisher Hall, she performed as a soloist in "Carmina Burana," a work that also marked her Carnegie Hall debut and return engagements.

Additional Carnegie Hall soloist appearances include performances in "Messiah," "St. Nicolai Mass," "Coronation Mass" and the "Verdi Requiem." Also in New York City, Shumate performed the title role in "Naughty Marietta" in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

This season, she returns to Carnegie Hall as the Soprano Soloist in "Messiah," presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York. She also debuts as soloist with the Heartland Festival Orchestra in "Carmina Burana," with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven's tour-de-force concert aria, "Ah! perfido," and with the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra in their Christmas concert. With the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra, she debuts as the Soprano Soloist in Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9;" this work also marks her upcoming return engagement with Rapides Symphony Orchestra.

She has appeared with opera companies and orchestras across America, including Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Roanoke, Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Lake George Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Annapolis Opera, Baltimore Concert Opera, Opera on the James, Duluth Festival Opera, Jacksonville Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Berkshire Choral Festival, Distinguished Concerts International New York, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, MidAmerica Productions, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra and Kennett Symphony Orchestra.

She has been a vocal award winner with the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Marie E. Crump Vocal Arts Competition, MacAllister Awards, New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera Vocal Competition, Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, Octave Artist Management Excellence in Arts, James Parkinson Opera Competition, Kennett Symphony Orchestra Vocal Competition and the Altamura/Caruso International Vocal Competition.

The American Prize was founded in 2009, and honors are awarded annually in a variety of categories. For more information about the prize, visit theamericanprize.org.




Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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