The Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art was established in 1978 to honor an individual with a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral art.
Michael Korn, one of the founders of Chorus America and its first President (1977 to 1985), received this special namesake citation in 1986. Mr. Korn was artistic director and conductor of The Philadelphia Singers, which he founded in 1972; and also the associate conductor and chorus master of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. In 1991, in response to Mr. Korn's untimely death at the age of 44, this citation was renamed The Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art.
Selection of the award is made by members of the Chorus America board of directors.
The winner of this award must be a Chorus America member of national stature and must work with a chorus that is fully professionalized (pay all singers, 100% of the time).
The deadline to submit nominations via the Chorus America Application Portal (CAAP) is Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 11:59PM ET.
Nominations are solicited from the membership of Chorus America. They must be no longer than five pages and include the following:
- a brief biographical sketch
- a statement about the nominee’s qualifications to receive this award
Applications will only be accepted through CAAP.
| 2023 | Robert Geary |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Grant Gershon |
| 2021 | Harry Christophers |
| 2020 | Kent Tritle |
| 2019 | Brad Wells |
| 2018 | Ragnar Bohlin |
| 2017 | Donald Nally |
| 2016 | Robert De Cormier |
| 2015 | Craig Hella Johnson |
| 2014 | Jon Washburn |
| 2013 | Christopher Bell |
| 2012 | Duain Wolfe |
| 2011 | Robert Porco |
| 2010 | Robert L. Simpson |
| 2009 | Alan Harler |
| 2008 | John Alexander |
| 2007 | Joseph Jennings |
| 2006 | American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) |
| 2005 | Libby Larsen |
| 2004 | Mary Lyons Earl Rivers |
| 2003 | Philip Brunelle |
| 2002 | Mary Deissler |
| 2001 | Marshall A. Rutter |
| 2000 | Paul Salamunovich |
| 1999 | Albert McNeil |
| 1998 | Vance George |
| 1997 | Richard Westenburg |
| 1996 | Louis Botto |
| 1995 | Dale Warland |
| 1994 | Alice Parker |
| 1993 | Dominick Argento |
| 1992 | Paul Hill |
| 1991 | Margaret Hawkins & R. Murray Schafer |
| 1990 | Ned Rorem |
| 1989 | Alfred Mann |
| 1988 | Doralene Davis |
| 1987 | Janice Kestler & Robert Page |
| 1986 | Michael Korn |
| 1985 | Lukas Foss & Walter Gould |
| 1984 | Todd Duncan & Gregg Smith |
| 1983 | Robert Shaw |
| 1982 | Jester Hairston |
| 1981 | Roger Wagner |
| 1980 | Margaret Hillis & Hugh Ross |
| 1979 | Fred Waring |
| 1978 | Thomas Pyle |
Questions? Contact Karyn Castro at 202.331.7577 x246 or [email protected]