Jamie Reimer, the Richard H. Larson Distinguished Professor of Music (Voice) in the Glenn Korff School of Music, won the Gold Prize in the 2024 Virtuoso Awards for Professional Classical Voice.
Reimer was one of six who received Gold Prizes in the category in the Virtuoso International Music Awards (https://virtuosoawards.org.uk), which support musical creativity and motivate talented artists. The online music competition offers the opportunity to show musicians’ talent and interpretive skills worldwide.
Reimer submitted her recording of Shawn Okpebholo’s song cycle that he composed for her, “Words Like Freedom,” which Reimer and pianist Stacie Haneline first performed in California in October 2022 at the African American Art Song Alliance conference. The commission was supported by a Hixson-Lied Research and Creative Activity grant.
“’Words Like Freedom’ is the first of the three pieces I am commissioning as part of the Langston Hughes Project, my effort to complete the musical settings of Hughes’ poems from the collection ‘Fields of Wonder’ that Robert Owens didn’t set before his death in 2017,” Reimer said. “I am commissioning rising Black American composers for this project. To have my performance of the first work of this project recognized with an international prize is not only an honor, but a long-overdue recognition of the musical importance of Black American composers.”
Reimer also acknowledged her collaborative pianist.
“Because this piece is so complex for both voice and piano, this performance would not have been possible without the tremendous skill and artistry of my collaborator, Stacie Haneline,” Reimer said.