POTSDAM -- SUNY-Potsdam's Crane Opera Ensemble, Carleen Graham, director, is the winner of The American Prize in Opera Performance, 2012 in the college/university division, for their recent production of Menotti's opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors.

The ensemble was selected from applications reviewed earlier this year from across the United States.

]The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.

The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.

Complete information on the website: www.theamericanprize.org.

Among judges' comments concerning the production: A very good Amahl from the Crane Opera Ensemble, highlighted by excellent English diction—unusually fine; some first-rate vocalists, admirable coordination between "pit" and stage, good balances between voices and instruments, and an always lovely stage picture. Fine work from an excellent production team.

For a list of all The American Prize-winning conductors, ensembles and runners-up for 2012, please follow this link: http://www.theamericanprize.org/winners.html