Mark Ross Clark, head of the Division of Music at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, spent this past summer adjudicating the finals of a chamber opera composition, on a panel with John Corigliano, a Pulitzer Award winning composer responsible for the "The Red Violin" movie soundtrack.

Clark, Corigliano, and fellow adjudicator George Twombly named composer Sheila Silver as the recipient of the sixth Raymond and Beverly Sackler Music Composition Prize. The competition, organized by the University of Connecticut¹s School of Fine Arts, supports and promotes composers and the performance of their new musical works. The international award offers substantial recognition, including public performances, recordings, and a prize of $20,000 (USD). This year's prize was in the area of chamber opera.

Each year, entrants are asked to compose a piece for a specific area of the musical arts.