The Summerville Orchestra, Wojciech Milewski, music director, in Summerville SC, is the

winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance, community division, 2023. The

Summerville Orchestra was selected from applications reviewed recently from all across the

United States.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most

comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. 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, based on submitted recordings. 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 derived benefit from their participation in the contests of The

American Prize, representing literally hundreds of communities and arts organizations across the

nation. Information about the 2024 season of contests is available on the website:

(http://theamericanprize.org)

Link to the official announcement: http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2023/11/national-winners-

orchestras-2023.html

The artists provided this biographical sketch:

Serving the Lowcountry of South Carolina, the Summerville Orchestra is the epitome of

community serving community. Originally founded in 2003 by a small group of musicians who

wanted to play for the pure joy of it, the Summerville Orchestra has transformed into one of the

largest community orchestras in the nation, programming full-scale professional repertoire while

also being a “rogue traditionalist” by adding newer works, different works, and creating both a

classical and non-classical music experience at each concert. Directed by Wojciech Milewski, the orchestra has blossomed into transforming the community it serves by adding five large concert

performances, more than ten chamber performances, a ten-part adult educational series titled

“Music Chats with Wojciech,” a podcast, live-streaming opportunities, and beginning in 2022 a

new youth orchestra. For more information about the orchestra, check out

SummervilleOrchestra.org.