The Sphinx Organization has announced that conductor Lina González-Granados, composer Carlos Simon, and oboist Titus Underwood are the three recipients of this year’s Sphinx Medals of Excellence. Each recipient will receive a $50,000 career grant at a private celebration co-hosted by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2021. Lina González-Granados is artistic director of Unitas Ensemble, an ensemble she founded that performs works by Latinx composers and provides free performances for underserved communities. She currently serves as the Solti Conducting Apprentice at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is the conducting fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. Carlos Simon, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, composes for large and small ensembles as well as film scores. Recent commissions have come from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Reno Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra, and Irving Klein String Competition. Titus Underwood is principal oboe of the Nashville Symphony. Prior to the Nashville Symphony, he was acting associate principal oboe of the Utah Symphony. He received a Master of Music from the Juilliard School and earned a Bachelor of Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The Sphinx Organization is a Detroit-based social justice organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.
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