Americas Vocal Ensemble Nelly Vuksic, Music Director AMERICAS VOCAL ENSEMBLE ANNOUNCES 1999 COMPOSITION COMPETITION WINNERS Forest Hills, NY - The Americas Vocal Ensemble, Nelly Vuksic, Music Director, has announced the winners of its 1999 Composition Competition. They are as follows: First Prize - Damon Lee - La Exclamacion Second Prize - Jonathan David - From Tiny Acorns Third Prize - Owen Goldsmith - The Tender Affliction Honorable mention was also given to compositions by Wayland Rogers, Lawrence Moss, Perry Townsend, Bill Ryan, Ken Langer, Paul Ayres, Paul Davies, William Harbinson, and Paul Siskind. The First Prize winner and other awarded compositions will be programmed for the Americas Vocal Ensemble's 1999-2000 season of concerts at Manhattan's Americas Society and throughout the New York area. Entries were received from across the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and South America. Music Director Nelly Vuksic commented on the special difficulty of judging a contest with so many outstanding entries. She described many of the works as "very beautiful, or original, or very witty." and noted that a number of entries deserved special mention. The Americas Vocal Ensemble, founded by its Director Nelly Perez Trevisan de Vuksic in 1982, performs rarely heard music from the rich heritage of North and South America and the Caribbean (from the Colonial period to the present). The Ensemble, which made its debut at the Americas Society in 1982, has performed at important venues throughout the northeastern United States and South America, including the Inter-American Music Festival the Organization of American States in Washington DC, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, El Museo del Barrio, Boston's Gardner Museum and Boston College and on tour in Venezuela. As Artists-In-Residence at The Americas Society, they have presented many unique and innovative programs and have performed numerous premieres of contemporary works. Recently, they performed an all-Guastavino program for The American Composers Orchestra as part of the Sonidos de las Americas Festival. The Americas Vocal Ensemble has been heard on National Public Radio, WQXR, WBAI, WGBH, ABC-TV and the Voice of America. Their recordings include Canticas y Madrigales - the complete choral works of Colombian composer Luis Antonio Escobar for CBS, choral works by Joelle Wallach for Opus 1 and A Hispanic Christmas Celebration. For more information about the Americas Vocal Ensemble, please contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166, or at [log in to unmask] Visit the AVE on the web at www.jamesarts.com - click on the Artists link. Jeffrey James <[log in to unmask]>