Grand Rapids Reporter

The Grand Rapids Symphony recently revealed the winner of the Linn Maxwell Keller Distinguished Bach Musician Award.

Addy Sterrett, a Michigan native and Yale University graduate, is the second individual to receive the award, according to a news release from the symphony. 

“I am so honored to be named this year’s Linn Maxwell Keller Distinguished Bach Musician awardee,” Sterrett said in early May. “It was an absolute privilege to share the stage with the other four stellar singers and I’m still in shock to be this year’s winner! It was especially sweet for me to return to my home state and have so many family members and friends in the audience. Thank you to everyone involved in making the week as special as it was, and especially to Nick Palmer, who accompanied all of us singers with such ease and beauty. I’m already dreaming about my return to sing with the symphony in a future season!”

The judges spoke about the difficult task of choosing the winner. 

“It was an incredibly challenging task to pick a winner for the 2022 Keller Award," professional soloist and judge Sonya Headlam said in the news release. "All of the finalists were fantastic and performed at such a high level of expertise and artistry. Addy Sterrett stood out with a riveting performance of ‘Aus Liebe’ from Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion,’ which she sang with gorgeous tone, sophisticated nuance, and sincere expression that brought to life the emotional vitality of the text and music.”

Sterrett was selected from a group of five finalists who competed in April, according to the news release. The competition was one of the events at the annual Grand Rapids Bach Festival. The festival was founded in 2016 by mezzo-soprano Linn Maxwell. Each soloist selected two different Bach arias to sing before a panel of judges.

Maxwell’s husband, Fred Keller, also spoke with pride about the winner. Keller is a former Grand Rapids Symphony board chairman and a major supporter of the Bach Festival.

“It is always a joy for me to experience the Grand Rapids Bach Festival,” Keller said in the news release. “Our family created the vocal competition award in her honor to bring in some of the greatest young talent from around the world to the thriving arts scene of Grand Rapids. Linn’s dream was to encourage rising artists to participate in the timeless and prolific Bach repertoire. We believe that by creating this award to recognize their talent, the award could in turn help to accelerate their careers, much as winning an award assisted Linn’s career. This year’s award winner, soprano Addy Sterrett, continues to demonstrate the high quality of this competition and is a real tribute to the ideals that Linn strived all her life to achieve.”