Spalding To Receive 2021 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts

Esperanza Spalding (Photo credit: Carmen Daneshmandi)

Four-time Grammy winner and jazz bassist, singer, songwriter and composer Esperanza Spalding has been selected to receive the Richard Brettell Award in the Arts in 2021 at the University of Texas at Dallas.

The Brettell Award was founded in 2016 with a gift from Margaret McDermott and recognizes the work of individuals in the visual arts, music, literature, performance or architecture / design. The award is endowed with US $ 150,000 and offers the campus community the opportunity to meet and talk to the musician during a three-day residency in the spring. As part of her visit to Dallas, Spalding will perform at a special concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra next March.

Dubbed “The Jazz Genius of the 21st Century” by National Public Radio, Spalding has won four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist in 2011, and Mumford & Sons. Spalding’s latest album “Songwrights Apothecary Lab” was recently nominated for the Grammy 2022 for best jazz vocals album.

Spalding toured and performed with jazz and pop legends and played three times for former President Barack Obama. In 2009, at his request, she performed at his Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and a concert.

Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication, said the selection committee, made up of cultural leaders from UT Dallas and the community, including the CEOs of the Dallas Symphony and Dallas Opera – was impressed how much Spalding, who is 37 years old, achieved so early in her career.

“Esperanza already has a reputation as a jazz visionary,” said Roemer, who also directs the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies and is Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor of Holocaust Studies. “She’s so creative, she pushes boundaries and takes risks.”

Spalding is Professor of Music Practice at Harvard University, where she heads the Sonic Healing Lab. Her laboratory brings together musicians and medical researchers to share positive health outcomes and provides a structure for the development of community-oriented performance methods.

Spalding has released eight studio albums since 2006. She and her mentor, composer Wayne Shorter, recently completed a multi-year project to write the new opera “Iphigenia,” which premiered in Boston this month. DC and California.

“Esperanza Spalding was an inspiring choice for the Brettell Award,” said Dr. Inga Musselman, Probstess of UT Dallas, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership. “She is recognized worldwide as a jazz visionary and brings diversity, imagination and excellence into the music world. Our students will be happy to meet them next spring. “

The Brettell Award 2021 is the first since the death of its namesake in July 2020. The founding director of the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at UT Dallas, Brettell, played a key role in the selection of the 2017 and 2019 winners.

“With his extensive involvement in the global art scene, Rick knew who influences the world – who touches life and makes a difference,” said Musselman. “I think he would be happy about this year’s election.”

The biennial award was first given to the famous landscape architect Peter Walker, who designed the university’s Campus Landscape Enhancement Project. In 2019, the Mexican diplomat Jorge Alberto Lozoya was selected for his work in international cooperation and cultural affairs.

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Spalding To Receive 2021 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts