FOR RELEASE
8 AM EDT, June 28, 2000

ALICE PARKER RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED COMPOSER AWARD

New York, NY, -- The American Guild of Organists will honor Alice Parker, internationally recognized composer, conductor and educator, with its Distinguished Composer Award at its biennial convention in Seattle from July 2­6, 2000. The award is presented biennially to a composer who is considered among the best composers in America who serve the choral and organ worlds.

The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields, with over 21,000 members. The AGO promotes the organ in its historic and evolving roles, encourages excellence in the performance of organ and choral music, and provides a forum for mutual support, inspiration, education and certification of Guild members. The membership is divided among 343 chapters throughout the United States, Europe, Argentina, Antigua, Australia and Korea. Founded in 1896, the AGO was chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. This is the 45th National Biennial Convention.

"The AGO is proud of its record of recognizing composers of new organ works, and new choral works;" began Philip Hahn, President of the American Guild of Organists, "we have a long history of commissioning composers to create new music. At this convention the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is awarding the AGO a certificate of merit for its efforts in commissioning new works. " added Hahn.

"The Distinguished Composer Award was first presented in 1986 to Virgil Thompson. Other composers who have received this award include Ned Rorem, Daniel Pinkham, Samuel Adler, Dominick Argento, William Albright, Conrad Sousa, Emma Lou Diemer, Dan Locklair and William Bolcom. This year’s award presentation to Alice Parker will be made by Sandra Soderlund, AGO Councilor for Competitions and Conventions.

"It’s a lifetime achievement award of sorts," added Steven Williams, director of this year’s convention. "Alice Parker has taught us to listen, to really listen to music in order to hear what the music is trying to say. She has helped organists learn to play contextually for music of various periods and styles."

Alice Parker will present two workshops, one being her reminiscences of working with Robert Shaw, and the other, demonstrating and playing hymns for leadership of good singing in worship. She will be conducting a new piece commissioned from Ms. Parker by the AGO specifically for the convention which is for chorus alone. It is called "An American Kedusha" and will be premiered on July 4th at the First Presbyterian Church in Seattle. She will also lead 2 "Sings" for the AGO on the evening of July 4th and one for the public at St. Mark’s Cathedral on July 7th. Alice Parker was honored in June by Chorus America which has listed her as "one of the most important and widely recognized composers of choral music of the 20th Century". Later this summer the Hymn Society will honor her at its national convention in Boston. For the Alice Parker recording project, the choral organization Melodious Accord has just been awarded a $25,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Two international engagements this summer included conducting her compositions at the Innsbruck International Choral Festival in Innsbruck, Austria, and being a featured presenter at the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors in Edmonton, Alberta.

The next national convention of the American Guild of Organists will be held in Philadelphia in 2002. For further information visit the AGO web site at www.agohq.org.