The American Prize Competition honors CCM faculty member Amy Johnson as a Distinguished Vocal Artist
Johnson was recognized by the national competition during its annual Independence Day honors
CCM Associate Professor of Voice Amy Johnson was named a Distinguished Vocal Artist of the American Prize as part of that competition's annual Independence Day Honors program. The award was presented to both Johnson and mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala by the American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts in memory of the great Wagnerian baritone, Friedrich Schorr, and his wife, Virginia.
An internationally-known soprano and vocal pedagogue, Johnson is recognized as one of America's finest singing actresses. She currently serves as co-director of CCM's Undergraduate Opera Workshop.
CCM Associate Professor of Voice (Soprano) Amy Johnson performing the title role in 'Salome.'
“I am honored and humbled to be among the first group to be awarded the Distinguished Artists of the American Prize along with Adriana Zabala,” said Johnson. Distinguished Artist is a new category of recognition by the American Prize, which is limited to a select number of contestants whose career accomplishments evidence “sustained artistic excellence” over an extended period of time. The Distinguished artists of the American Prize are also recognized for their excellence as both artists and pedagogues.
This year’s Independence Day honorees also included eminent American conductor and composer Dale Warland, who received the American Prize National Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2004, CCM became home to the Dale Warland Singers Archive, which is amongst the largest collection of contemporary choral works in the country. Warland received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cincinnati in 2008, and he returned to campus in 2018 for the world premiere of “I Hear America Singing,” which was commissioned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of CCM’s founding.
“I would also like to congratulate Maestro Warland,” said Johnson, “and I would like to thank David Katz, founder and chief judge, along with the panel of esteemed judges who gave of their time and experience to make this possible.”
About Amy Johnson
Soprano Amy Johnson exhibits a unique combination of versatility, stage magnetism and striking physical beauty, able to portray youth yet having ample vocal brilliance and power to soar over the largest orchestra. The aforementioned versatility can be affirmed by a glance at her extraordinarily wide-ranging repertoire – the title role in Salome, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Freia in Das Rheingold, Fiordiligi in Cosí Fan Tutte, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Mimi in La bohème, the title roles in Aïda and Madama Butterfly, Marguerite in Faust, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Desdemona in Otello and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. She has performed these roles throughout the world in such companies as Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, New York City Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Portland Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Toledo Opera, Orlando Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Tampa, Knoxville Opera and Piedmont Opera.
Johnson has earned special praise for her portrayal of the title role in Puccini’s Tosca, which she has performed nearly 100 times with Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera (also broadcast on PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center), Palm Beach Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Spier Festival in South Africa, Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, El Paso Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Greensboro Opera and many other organizations.
She is a graduate of Grinnell College and holds a Masters degree from Manhattan School of Music.
About the American Prize
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of non-profit competitions in the musical and theater arts, unique in scope and structure, designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize has attracted thousands of qualified contestants from all fifty states since its founding, has awarded more than $100,000 in prizes in all categories since 2010, and is presented annually in many areas of the performing arts. Applications for the 2022 contests are being accepted at least through the COVID-extended deadline of September 9, 2021.
About CCM Opera/Voice
Declared a top college vocal program by Backstage Magazine and described as “one of the continent’s major music schools,” by the Toronto Star, CCM’s Departments of Opera and Voice provide one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. CCM offers an international faculty of dedicated educators who are also celebrated professionals in their own right, widely and currently active in their respective fields.
CCM sends its students out into the profession. CCM students and graduates frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and CCM graduates perform on the stages of the world’s greatest opera companies, including Cincinnati Opera, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera (London), La Scala (Italy) and more.
Featured image at top: CCM Associate Professor of Voice Amy Johnson and the emblem for the American Prize.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.