Robert Shafer, Artistic Director of The City Choir of Washington, was honored by The Choralis Foundation Board of Directors and Artistic Director Gretchen Kuhrmann as the winner of the 2nd Annual Greater Washington DC Area Choral Excellence Award, given to a person or organization that has made significant lifetime contributions to the art of choral singing in the greater DC metropolitan area. The award was presented at the Choralis Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony in the Clarendon Ballroom on June 1, 2011.
In saluting Shafer, Choralis Artistic Director Gretchen Kuhrmann said, “We are very pleased this year to honor Maestro Shafer for his extraordinary career and for his many contributions to the art of choral singing in DC and beyond. Bob Shafer epitomizes the type of stellar individual that these awards are designed to honor; his more than 35 years at the helm of The Washington Chorus, his leadership of the highly-acclaimed City Choir of Washington, his Grammy-Award winning performances, his own choral compositions, and his dedication to teaching the next generation of choral artists place him at the forefront of our profession.” The awards presentation also featured a video tribute to Shafer that included remarks by Norman Scribner, Artistic Director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and J. Reilly Lewis, Music Director of The Cathedral Choral Society, Shafer’s longtime choral colleagues in the DC area.
In accepting the award, Shafer noted, “This award is perhaps the most meaningful honor I have ever received. The night I won my Grammy award in 2000 out in Los Angeles, I thought that nothing could ever top that. But I think this does. To be honored by the distinguished Choralis Foundation and my very dear friends and colleagues in my own home town will always remain one of the great memories of my life.”
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