THE ARIEL BYBEE ENDOWMENT 

AWARD WINNERS

The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts was established in 2021 to honor the legacy of distinguished mezzo-soprano Ariel Bybee (American, 1943-2018). Each year, the Endowment grants a prize/commission for the creation of new art or original scholarship by Latter-day Saints as a result of a call for submissions. The disciplines represented by the Endowment correspond to her career highlights and passions in one of these nine, rotating categories: opera, dance, scholarship, art songs, youth education, hymns, visual arts, collaborative arts, and choral music.

Annual Awards

and the Endowment

Click on each image to learn more about the project

2022: Art Songs

S. Andrew Lloyd won the inaugural commission of an art song cycle to be sung by international opera soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen. The premiere took place at Carnegie Hall, April 9, 2024.

2023: Visual Art

Gonzalo Javier Silva and Susana Isabel Silva won the second year's prize and will create a visual art work that in some way is inspired by music. Their work will be presented in the New York gallery Sargent's Daughters at a date to be determined.

2024: Music Education

Mia Black, winner of the third year's prize, is currently developing a curriculum for elementary-aged students through an original book, titled “American Folk Music,” which linked folk music to waves of immigrants. It will be published by the Center.

2025: to be announced

A call for submissions and the announcement of the prize's artistic discipline will be shared in November 2024. Be sure to subscribe to the Center's news (at the bottom of this page) to keep informed.

THE LEGACY OF

A talented mezzo-soprano, Ariel Bybee (1943-2018) lead a distinguished career as a singer and performed in hundreds of operatic performances. Her passion for music in all its forms lead her to unique engagement in various intersectional disciplines.

Each year, The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts announces a call for submissions open to LDS artists and scholars in one of nine, rotating categories inspired by Ariel Bybee’s prolific career: opera, dance, scholarship, art songs, youth education, hymns, visual arts, collaborative arts, and choral music.

Neylan McBaine announces the establishment of the Endowment in honor of her mother, Ariel Bybee.

The Endowment exists

in perpetuity.

Annual prizes are funded by Endowment investment proceeds. We gratefully acknowledge donors to the Endowment, and we invite you to join them.

Click here to view the Endowment Giving Guide.

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Donors to the Endowment: