NTSO Founder, Conductor Wins 2023 American Prize in Conducting

DALLAS - Sept. 27, 2023 - PRLog -- Dr. Kathryn D. "Cathy" Brownlee, founder, artistic director, and conductor of the New Texas Symphony Orchestra - the premier community orchestra of Dallas - was awarded the 2023 American Prize in Conducting — Community Orchestra Division.

Brownlee additionally received Second Place for The American Prize Orchestral Programming.

Brownlee started the NTSO in 2004 with a dream to give amateur and volunteer musicians an opportunity to play in a full orchestra professional-style setting and to share with audiences the excitement and improved quality of life that comes from being a part of music played for the love of it, all at no charge for either the musicians or audience members.

Dr. Brownlee earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University with a focus on community music and lifelong music-making. She is also a Music Professor at Dallas College and holds memberships in the Conductors Guild, Texas Music Educators Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the nearly 80-member New Texas Symphony Orchestra performs a wide-ranging musical repertoire encompassing different styles, genres, and periods, emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of programming. The NTSO's continued commitment to excellence through exceptional musical standards aims to captivate and engage audiences, expanding their musical horizons and leaving a lasting impression. The NTSO's upcoming Platinum concert series includes masterpieces from Haydn, Quinn Mason, John Williams, Garbiella Ortiz, Peggy Stuart Coolidge, and Mussorgsky-Ravel.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. Based on submitted recordings, 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. Now in its thirteenth 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 benefited from their participation in the contests of The American Prize, representing literally hundreds of communities and arts organizations nationwide.

The American Prize—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming honors the memory of the great Lithuanian conductor, Maestro Vytautas Marijosius, music director of the Lithuanian State Opera, and for nearly thirty-five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford. The Prize recognizes and rewards the best achievement in the unique field of orchestral programming, where the repertoire selection by knowledgeable, creative, and courageous music directors builds orchestras and audiences, educates young people and adults, and enriches the community.