Bispham Memorial Medal Award

The Bispham Memorial Medal Award was an award for operas written in English which was presented annually by the American Opera Society of Chicago from 1921 until 1932. The award was named for baritone David Bispham, who was a great proponent of performing opera in English in the United States. It was traditionally awarded to American composers, frequently for an opera on an American subject. It was funded, in part, by composer Eleanor Everest Freer, who was also one of its recipients (for The Legend of the Piper). Other recipients include (alphabetically by author):

• George Antheil (for Helen Retires)
• Ernst Bacon
• Alberto Bimboni (for Winona)
• J. Lewis Browne (for The Corsican Girl (La Corsicana))
• Simon Bucharoff (for Sakahra and The Echo)
• Charles Wakefield Cadman (for Shanewis)
• Charles Frederick Carlson (for Phelias)
• Ernest Trow Carter (for The White Bird)
• Frederick Shepherd Converse (for The Pipe of Desire)
• Walter Damrosch (for Cyrano)
• Francesco Bartolomeo de Leone (for Alglala)
• Henry Purmort Eames (for Priscilla)
• Pietro Floridia (for Paoletta)
• Hamilton Forrest (for Yzdra)
• Aldo Franchetti (for Namiko-San)
• Eleanor Everest Freer (for Legend of the Piper)
• George Gershwin (for Porgy and Bess)
• Louis Gruenberg (for The Emperor Jones)
• Henry Hadley (for Azora)
• Howard Hanson (for Merry Mount)
• W. Franke Harling (for A Light from St. Agnes)
• S. W. Harwill (for Bella Donna)
• Victor Herbert (for Natoma and Madeleine)
• John Adam Hugo (for The Temple Dancer)
• Frederick Jacobi (for The Prodigal Son)
• Wesley LaViolette (for Falstaff)
• William Lester (for Manabozo)
• Clarence Loomis (for Yolanda of Cyprus)
• Otto Luening (for Evangeline)
• Ralph Lyford (for Castle Agrazant)
• Quinto Maganini (for The Argonauts)
• William J. McCoy (for Egypt)
• Mary Carr Moore (for Narcissa, or The Cost of Empire)
• Marx E. Oberndorfer (for Roseanna)
• Bernard Rogers (for The Marriage of Aude)
• Karl Schmidt (for Lady of the Lake)
• John Laurence Seymour (for In the Pasha's Garden)
• Charles Sanford Skilton (for Kalopin)
• Theodore Stearns (for The Snowbird)
• Humphrey J. Stewart (for The Hound of Heaven)
• Deems Taylor (for The King's Henchman)
• Jane Van Etten (for Guido Ferranti)
• Isaac Van Grove (for The Music Robber)
• Clarence Cameron White (for Ouanga!)

References

• David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
• List of winners, cited on Opera-L