GRAMMY-winners
Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton!
Sarah Brailey and Dashon Burton, along with the Experiential Orchestra, won the Best Classical Solo Vocal Album award at Sunday's GRAMMY celebrations!

Sarah is a freelance soprano, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin, the artistic director of the Handel Aria Competition, and co-founder of the monthly concert series Just Bach. She joined Portland Bach Experience for both the 2018 and 2019 June festivals.

Dashon is a freelance baritone and a member of Roomful of Teeth. He is an alum of Oratorio Chorale, joining us for Mozart's Requiem in 2014 and Mendelssohn's Elijah in 2016.
At left: Dashon (middle) before a 2016 OC concert; at right: Sarah performing at the Portland Museum of Art in 2018
We knew Dashon and Sarah were stars, but their work on Dame Ethel Smyth's The Prison is truly exceptional. Congratulations to you both!
"Pretty much every musician I know is struggling right now, including me. We’re all wondering if our last concert or recording was our swan song. So if this was it for me, I want to remember it, because my colleagues and I worked hard and I’m damn proud."
Sarah accepted the award on behalf of The Prison during the livestream ceremony on Sunday afternoon. She shared these reflections about her experience.
"I’m in a virtual press room listening to Ice-T and Bobby Rush shoot the breeze as I write a grant in the background. I was chatting with Maria Schneider and Gayle Corea who started telling us about a concert Chick did with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Bobby McFerrin back in the late 90s. My family had season tickets to the SPCO...I’m pretty sure I was at that concert! It's just all so surreal."
Support World Class Music in Maine
At left: Sarah (far left) before a 2018 PBE concert; at right: Dashon (far right) before OC's 2016 performance of Elijah
Your donation helps us bring world-class artists like Sarah and Dashon to Maine to strengthen our communities by providing high-caliber musical experiences for everyone.
If you are able, you can make a donation by:

  • Visiting www.classicaluprising.org/support to give online
  • Sending a check payable to Classical Uprising to PO Box 7259, Portland ME 04112  
  • Scheduling a distribution from your IRA
  • Seeing if your company has a matching gift program
Classical Uprising is gratefully supported by:
Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts