Jesse Ayers receives Honorable Mention from the American Prize in Composition

Professor of Music Jesse Ayers received an Honorable Mention from The American Prize in Composition, 2017-18, in the professional opera/theater/film/dance division, for his work entitled Beneath Suspicion.  Ayers was selected from applications reviewed this winter from throughout the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. 

Ayers was the winner of the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition in 2011, and was named an "Honored Artist" of the American Prize in 2014. Recent honors include First Prize in the 2016 Opera Kansas Zepick Modern Opera Composition Competition, a 2014 Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence Award, the 2013 Boston Metro Opera Concert Award, the 2011 Dayton Ballet “New Music for New Dance" award, and a 2010 MacDowell Fellowship. Recent commissions include those from the Akron Symphony, Soprani Compagni, the Indiana Bandmasters Association, the Ohio Private Colleges Instrumental Conductors Association, the Wisconsin Lutheran National Honors Band, and Milligan College. His music has been performed in more than 100 U.S. cities and eight foreign countries.  Visit his website at: jesseayers.com

Runners-up of The American Prize receive certificates, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition based on recorded performances. In addition to written evaluations from judges, winners are profiled on The American Prize websites, where links will lead to video and audio excerpts of artist performances.

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.

The American Prize is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit performing arts organization based in Danbury, Connecticut.