Symphony Orchestra wins The American Prize in Orchestral Performance, 2024

Minnesota Youth Symphonies, Mark Mandarano, music director, is the winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance, 2024 in the youth division. The ensemble was selected from applications reviewed recently from all across the United States.

“To those who have heard the MYS Symphony Orchestra perform, it comes as no surprise that they have been recognized with this award,” said Mark Mandarano, MYS Artistic Director and Symphony Conductor. “My congratulations to all of the students and families, and many thanks to the judges at The American Prize for this acknowledgment of the extraordinary achievements of these fine young musicians.”

This prestigious award highlights the MYS Symphony Orchestra’s commitment to musical excellence and its role in fostering the next generation of musicians through orchestral training and ambitious performances. Under the guidance of Mark Mandarano, Artistic Director since 2022, the Symphony Orchestra—the top ensemble—delves into collegiate-level repertoire, providing students with unparalleled opportunities for artistic and technical growth.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. Now in its fourteenth year, The American Prize was founded in 2010 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. Thousands of artists from all fifty states have derived benefit from their participation in the contests of The American Prize, representing literally hundreds of communities and arts organizations across the nation.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts grew from the belief that a great deal of excellent music being made in this country goes unrecognized and unheralded, not only in our major cities, but all across the country: in schools and churches, in colleges and universities, and by community and professional musicians. With the performing arts in America marginalized like never before, The American Prize seeks to fill the gap that leaves excellent artists and ensembles struggling for visibility and viability. The American Prize recognizes and rewards the best America produces, without bias against small city versus large, or unknown artist versus well-known.

David Katz is the chief judge of The American Prize. “Many artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps even be nominated,” Katz said, “but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to a city on each coast, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of a few schools. It is on view all over the United States, if you take the time to look for it. The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence.”

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