Dawn Upshaw has been named one of five honorees to receive the 2012 Opera News Awards, which will be presented at a gala ceremony in New York City on April 21, 2013, to benefit the education programs of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. “Dawn Upshaw represents the highest ideals of pristine musicianship, intellectual curiosity, and artistic integrity," says Opera News. She spoke with CBC Music about the award and more, including her Nonesuch recording of Górecki's Symphony No. 3, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Dawn Upshaw has been named one of five honorees to receive the 2012 Opera News Awards. Upshaw will be presented the award with her fellow honorees—soprano Mirella Freni, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens—at a gala ceremony at The Plaza in New York City on Sunday, April 21, 2013, to benefit the education programs of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Created in 2005, the Opera News Awards recognize five individuals each year for distinguished achievement in the field of opera.
“Dawn Upshaw represents the highest ideals of pristine musicianship, intellectual curiosity, and artistic integrity," says Opera News Senior Editor Louise Guinther. "She brings a blend of all-American earnestness and instinctive passion to everything she does: Dawn Upshaw opens not only the ears of her audiences but their hearts and minds as well.”
Dawn Upshaw performs on nearly 20 Nonesuch recordings including, most recently, Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy's 2011 label debut, Grá agus Bás. On the album, Upshaw performs Dennehy's piece That the Night Come, which NPR describes as "custom-fit settings of Yeats' poetry for soprano Dawn Upshaw and her silvery, glistening voice in bracing, rich, complex and just plain gorgeous displays." Her fellow honoree Eric Owens can be heard on the Nonesuch recordings of John Adams's opera A Flowering Tree and Philip Glass's Symphony No. 5.
Says Opera News Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll: “All five of this year’s honorees are blessed with the artistic integrity and expressive generosity that inspire everyone who cares about the art form."
For more information, go to operanews.com.
Dawn Upshaw spoke about the award and more with CBC Music's Robert Rowat in advance of her upcoming master class for the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute at McGill University in Montreal next Thursday, August 16. In the interview, Upshaw discusses, among other things, her performance of Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 on the bestselling 1992 Nonesuch recording, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Read the interview at music.cbc.ca.
- Log in to post comments
