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Grammy Award Nomination, 2020 – Best opera recording William Boggs, conductor; Alexander Dobson, Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus) Grammy Award Nomination, 2020 – Best Contemporary Classical Composition Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) "I commend Carlisle Floyd’s latest opera to the attention of all lovers of the genre, and for that matter of Shakespeare. We have here an admirable attempt, on the part of a modern composer, to do justice to the dramatic vision of Shakespeare … This is surely one of the best new operas to have been launched in recent years." - The Arts Fuse Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926) is one of the foremost composers and librettists of opera in the world today. Considered the “Father of American Opera,” Floyd’s operas are regularly performed in the US and Europe. He first achieved national prominence with the premiere of Susannah by the New York City Opera in 1956. His second opera, Wuthering Heights, premiered at Santa Fe Opera in 1958, and continues to have life decades later: a critically-acclaimed recording, released in June 2016 on Reference Recordings, was listed in Opera News’ "10 Best Opera recordings of 2016". During his long career, Floyd has composed 13 operas. His most recent, Prince of Players, which premiered in March 2016 at the Houston Grand Opera, is based on the true story of the Restoration-era actor Edward Kynaston (1640–1706). Remarks about Kynaston in the personal diary of Samuel Pepys inspired a play by Jeffrey Hatcher, Compleat Female Stage Beauty (1999), which was later made into a movie, Stage Beauty (2004). The plot centers on the crisis faced by Kynaston when, by royal decree, he is prohibited from plying the craft that made him famous—playing female roles. With this Milwaukee production, the Florentine Opera gives Prince of Players its world-premiere live recording. “And now, having this outstanding performance recorded for the world to hear…my 93 year old heart is filled with joy and oh, so much gratitude!” - Carlisle Floyd