FY16 Art Works (Part 1)

Grants to Orchestras

Application Deadline of February 19, 2015
Award Announced December 8, 2015

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Albany Symphony (NY), $15,000
To support the American Music Festival. Under the direction of Music Director David Alan Miller, the festival will take place at the Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center in Troy, New York. The theme of the festival is environmental conservation. Works to be featured may include “Silent Spring” by Steven Stucky, inspired by the writings of conservationist Rachel Carson; “Beyond the Pipeline” by Jessie Montgomery; and “Phantom Limbs” by Loren Loiacono. The festival will feature works by composers in residence including Aaron Jay Kernis, Montgomery, Stucky, and composers of the Sleeping Giant Collective (Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Ted Hearne, Robert Honstein, and Andrew Norman). Also planned are the premieres of newly commissioned works by Clarice Assad, Conor Brown, and Reena Esmail. Other activities will include a young composer reading session, a solo piano recital, and songwriting projects.

American Composers Orchestra, $25,000
To support the Emerging Composers Project. Activities will include Orchestra Underground concerts at Carnegie Hall featuring premieres and newly commissioned works. Also planned are the Underwood New Music Readings serving emerging composers and the EarShot New Music Readings for composers in collaboration with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Naples Philharmonic also will host the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute for jazz composers on writing for orchestra.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, $35,000
To support a commissioning and performance project by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. American composer Mark Grey will create a new orchestral composition inspired by the writings of English novelist Mary Shelley, tentatively titled “Frankenstein Symphony.” The orchestra, with Music Director Robert Spano, will give the 35-minute work its premiere performance during the 71st season, which also will celebrate the 100th anniversary of conductor Robert Shaw’s birthday and his legacy with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Project activities will include pre-concert talks with Ken Meltzer, the orchestra’s Insider and Program Annotator. Performances will be presented at Symphony Hall in Atlanta and broadcast through WABE-FM, the local public radio station.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, $75,000
To support concerts and events in celebration of the 100th anniversary season. Plans include premieres of new works including Percussion Concerto No. 2 by composer James MacMillan with Colin Currie as soloist; and “The City” (Symphony No. 5) by Kevin Puts featuring film by videographer James Bartolomeo. Puts’ work will be performed in Maryland venues and at Carnegie Hall in New York, New York. Also planned are commissions by composers including TJ Cole, Kristen Kuster, Lori Laitman, Libby Larsen, James Lee III, Jonathan Leshnoff, Christopher Rouse, Caroline Shaw, Christopher Theofanidis, Joan Tower, and by composer-in-residence Anna Clyne. Guest artists will include pianists Leon Fleisher and Andre Watts, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and violinist Joshua Bell. Collaborations planned will include productions of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” with Center Stage Theater and the Morgan State University Choir, Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” with Baltimore School for the Arts, and a musical adaptation of NPR’s Kitchen Sisters, “Hidden World of Girls” by Laura Karpman and other female composers.

Boston Baroque, $15,000
To support a new production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote” (The Magic Flute). The semi-staged production will be performed with period instruments and will utilize technology and video projections. The creative team may comprise stage director Mark Streshinsky as well as videographer and interactive projection designer Jeremy Knight. The production may feature tenor Nicholas Phan, soprano Leah Partridge, bass Gustav Andreassen, and soprano Mary Wilson. As many as two performances at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall will take place in the spring of 2016. A recording session at Mechanics Hall will follow. Additional audiences may be reached through broadcasts.

Boston Symphony Orchestra, $75,000
To support concerts and outreach activities exploring repertoire inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the author’s death, Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the orchestra in performances of both well-known and rarely-heard works by Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Strauss, and Weber and of newer compositions by Hans Werner Henze, Hans Abrahamsen, and George Tsontakis. Also planned is the Insights Series of chamber music performances, moderated panel discussions with the artists and composers, screenings of films of Shakespeare’s work with original scores by composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich and William Walton, and online educational offerings.  

Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, $52,000
To support the Intensive Community Program (ICP), a string instrument training program serving inner-city youth. The program offers elementary school children with no previous musical training weekly music lessons, ensemble classes, instrument rentals, and performance opportunities as well as participation in Summer Music Workshop and master classes. The purpose of the program is to provide musical training to students who may not otherwise have access, enabling them after a few years of intensive study to pass the audition into the youth symphony’s entry-level orchestra. Historically, 98 percent of ICP students successfully audition into the highly competitive BYSO orchestras. Once admitted into a BYSO orchestra, ICP students receive support in the form of tuition subsidy, weekly lessons, use of an instrument, and ongoing mentorship until they graduate high school.

Boulder Philharmonic, $15,000 (An Imagine Your Parks project)
To support the commissioning and premiere of a new work with related educational activities, an “Imagine Your Parks” project. Composer Stephen Lias will create an orchestral work to accompany projected images that will showcase Rocky Mountain National Park. Concerts will take place in Boulder, Colorado, as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as part of the SHIFT Festival of American Orchestras. Ancillary events in both Colorado and D.C. will include interpretive musical hikes and public talks featuring the composer that examine the national parks legacy through a musical lens.

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, $12,500
To support the West Side Connection. In partnership with Buffalo Public Schools, the neighborhood community engagement program and concert will focus on the international community on Buffalo’s West Side. Activities may include interactive guest artist site visits, preparatory lesson plans in schools, and a concert of culturally relevant repertoire for students in West Side schools, and adults participating in the International Institute of Buffalo and Journey’s End Refugee Services. The performance will be recorded and made available online.

Chicago Philharmonic, $10,000
To support the commission and premiere of a new work for percussion quartet and orchestra. Composer Augusta Read Thomas will create the new work with Third Coast Percussion as featured ensemble. Artistic Director Scott Speck will conduct the premiere. Educational activities will include open rehearsals for area school children and senior citizens.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, $75,000
To support a festival commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare with related educational activities. Curated and conducted by Music Director Riccardo Muti, concerts will feature the orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and guest artists. Repertoire may include musical versions of “Romeo and Juliet” by both Berlioz and Tchaikovsky, “The Tempest” by Tchaikovsky, and a concert performance of “Falstaff” by Verdi. Performances will be supplemented by activities including programs for young audiences, in-school curriculum, and pre-concert lectures.

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, $40,000
To support commissions and premieres of new works including related educational activities. The premiere of “Symphonic Triptych,” one of the last compositions by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller will take place. Schuller, who died in June 2015, was principal horn player for the orchestra (1943-45), National Council on the Arts member (1974-80), and NEA Jazz Master in 2008. Two concertos for orchestra, works that feature virtuosic treatment of individual instruments, will be commissioned and premiered by composers Thierry Escaich and Zhou Tian. Educational activities may include pre-concert lectures, residency activities for schools and community groups, and panel discussions.

Civic Orchestra of Chicago, $50,000
To support training and stipends for pre-professional musicians of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Culminating in full orchestra concerts, musical training for emerging musicians will include rehearsals, performances, and community engagement activities under the direction of conductor Cliff Colnot, guest conductors, and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Musicians will perform free concerts at Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center as well as in predominantly low-income Chicago neighborhoods. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the symphony’s creative consultant, will guide the development of the Citizen Musician activities, which encourages and trains musicians in community engagement opportunities.

The Cleveland Orchestra. $40,000
To support the Cleveland Orchestra’s performances of Bela Bartok’s opera “Bluebeard’s Castle,” reimagined as an opera/ballet. The Joffrey Ballet will collaborate to create newly commissioned choreography, which will be added to the orchestral interlude opening the fourth scene and to further the expression of the silent wives in the last scene. The creative team may include director and choreographer Yuri Possokhov, conductor Franz Welser-Most, costume designer Mark Zappone, and set, projections, and lighting designer Alexander Nichols. The artistic team may include bass Mikhail Petrenko and soprano Katarina Dalayman. Audiences will be reached through as many as four performances at Severance Hall in the spring of 2016, a radio broadcast, and through related education workshops to engage college students in the creation, staging, and production of this opera/ballet.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support premiere performances of new orchestral works with related educational activities. The world premieres of works by two American composers, Jeremy Gill and Christopher Rouse, will take place at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The works are Gill’s “Serenada Concertante” for oboe and orchestra, written for Principal Oboe Erin Hannigan, and Rouse’s Symphony No. 5, a co-commission with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra. Both works will be conducted by Music Director Jaap van Zweden. Educational activities will include the participation by the composers in workshops, master classes, and school programs.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra, $50,000
To support performances of the works of composer Mohammed Fairouz with related educational activities. The featured work will be the premiere of Fairouz’s Cello Concerto with Maya Beiser as soloist performed in the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in Detroit and in venues in the surrounding suburbs. Educational outreach activities will include pre-concert lectures by the composer, a live webcast of the premiere, school visits and performances by the composer and soloist, and discussions with the composer and soloist with local cultural groups.

Eugene Symphony, $15,000
To support Ode to the Future, a series of new composition, performance, and mentorship opportunities for Oregon composers. In celebration of the symphony’s 50th anniversary, the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Oregon composer Robert Kyr featuring Eugene-based pianist Alexandre Dossin will take place at the Hult Center. Also planned will be an integrated composition project led by Kyr for high school and graduate students which will culminate in the creation of an orchestral theme and variations based on “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The premiere of the jointly composed work will take place on a regular subscription program and for students at a youth concert.

Handel and Haydn Society, $40,000
To support performances of Handel’s oratorio “Saul” with related educational activities. The performance using period instruments will be the Society’s first complete performance of the work. “Saul” premiered in London in 1739 and was Handel’s first collaboration with librettist Charles Jennens, with whom he would later collaborate to create “Messiah.” Educational and outreach activities will include interactive programs at regional public schools by a professional vocal quartet, high school chorus collaborations with Society singers and instrumentalists, and pre-concert lectures.

Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), $50,000
To support the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles at Heart of Los Angeles (YOLA at HOLA). An after-school, El Sistema-inspired music program, HOLA will provide free ensemble-based music instruction to students in central Los Angeles. The YOLA at HOLA program is a partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is directly inspired by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel’s formative experience with El Sistema, Venezuela’s youth orchestra movement. Elementary and middle school-aged students from underserved communities will take musicianship classes as well as sing and rehearse in instrumental ensembles after school. Instruments will be provided free-of-charge. Participating students will have the opportunity to perform in the community and the program will support students with daily academic tutoring.

Houston Symphony, $20,000
To support concerts of the music of Beethoven along with contemporary works and related educational activities. The programs are the second installment of a three-year exploration of the works of Beethoven under the leadership of Music Director Andres Orozco-Estrada. In addition to several of the symphonies by Beethoven, the concert programs will feature Bernstein’s “Chicester Psalms” as well as works by Pierre Jalbert and composer-in-residence Gabriela Lena Frank. Educational activities will include programs for students, onstage dialogues about the music with the conductor and a composer or other musical collaborator, and post-concert discussions.

Kansas City Symphony, $15,000
To support premieres of new orchestral works written about and to loved ones with related educational activities. The new works include a violin concerto by composer David Ludwig written for violinist Bella Hristova in celebration of their marriage and composer Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3, which uses text from letters from World War I soldiers sent to loved ones. Baritone Stephen Powell is the scheduled soloist. Educational and community engagement activities may include discussions with composers and featured artists.

The Knights, $25,000
To support a commissioning and performance project of new works for chamber orchestra and chorus by The Knights at the New York Philharmonic Biennial. The Knights will perform the world premiere of works by composers Lisa Bielawa, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Colin Jacobsen, co-commissioned by and performed with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The program will include recent works by New-York based composers Nico Muhly (“Impossible Things” written for tenor, violin, and string orchestra) and Timo Andres (“Comfort Food”). The concert will be presented in the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, $25,000
To support an artist residency by cellist Joshua Roman. The residency will encompass orchestral and solo performances, community engagement, and media initiatives. Plans include featuring Roman in Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto on the mainstage and in free children’s concerts, pre-concert discussions with the soloist, solo recitals on the Baroque Conversations series and in-store at Amoeba Music, elementary and high school classroom visits, radio broadcasts, and an installment of Roman’s “Everyday Bach” video series shot in an iconic local setting.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, $90,000
To support in/SIGHT, a series of multimedia, collaborative productions and related educational activities. Collaborations will take place between the Los Angeles Philharmonic and media artists including the Quay Brothers, Bill Viola, Alberto Arvelo, and Ars Electronica Futurelab. The series will feature Ravel’s “Mother Goose” with an accompanying installation by Ars Electronica Futurelab; the world premiere of composer Louis Andriessen’s “Theatre of the World” with film, animation, and sets created by the Quay Brothers; a program of work by Arvo Part featuring video artist Bill Viola’s “Inverted Birth;” and Haydn’s “The Creation” with projections and original filmic material by director Alberto Arvelo. Related educational activities will include pre-performance discussions and a subsequent podcast.

Louisville Orchestra, $10,000
To support guest artist fees for the Festival of American Music. Created, curated, and conducted by Music Director Teddy Abrams, the Festival will feature the orchestra with a variety of guest artists from across the country and encompass a variety of musical genres such as jazz, contemporary popular music, and local music of the Kentuckiana region.

Minnesota Orchestra, $40,000
To support a professional development project for composers by the Minnesota Orchestra. The Composer Institute will be directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and will be co-presented with the American Composers Forum. As many as seven emerging composers, selected competitively from a pool of more than 150 applicants, will participate in the intensive residency program, which will enable them to hear their work performed by a full orchestra. The resulting compositions will be performed in concert by the orchestra and conducted by Music Director Osmo Vanska.

National Repertory Orchestra, $10,000
To support a professional development project for emerging orchestral musicians. Under the direction of Music Director Carl Topilow and guest conductors such as JoAnn Falletta, Clair St. James, and Mei-Ann Chen, the Training Tomorrow’s Classical Music Leaders project will include master classes, a summer seminar program, and performances. The orchestra of young musicians (selected through audition) will perform orchestral and chamber music concerts and participate in community outreach activities at the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center and other venues in towns such as Dillon, Frisco, Silverthorne, and Vail, Colorado.

National Symphony Orchestra, $30,000
To support The National Symphony Orchestra’s Sound Health initiative. The free, year-round program strives to create a healthier, more enriching environment in leading health care institutions by providing live classical music performances for their patients, family members, medical staff and visitors. The orchestra will partner with as many as nine preeminent medical facilities in the greater Washington, D.C. area, such as the National Institutes of Health, Children’s National Medical Center, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Programming will be tailored to fit the needs of each partner and will include chamber music performances, instrument “Petting Zoos,” and an annual full-orchestra concert.

New Haven Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support a commissioning and performance project of a new work by composer Hannah Lash. The orchestral work, titled “Codex in Crypt,” by New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s composer-in-residence Lash, will explore the Voynich Manuscript dating back to the 15th or 16th century. Housed at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the manuscript is one of the most searched-for items in the collections. The orchestra will perform the four-movement work during several concerts. Project activities will include a young composers program for high school students.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, $10,000
To support a winter festival exploring music inspired by William Shakespeare’s plays. The orchestra will collaborate with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Montclair State University Chorale, and Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus and will perform works by composers such as Hector Berlioz and Felix Mendelssohn. Festival concerts, as well as related educational and community engagement activities, will take place in Newark, Morristown, New Brunswick, and Princeton, New Jersey.

New World Symphony, $60,000
To support the Musician Professional Development Program. Under the artistic direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, the program will utilize performances, coaching, and community outreach activities to prepare young artists for successful musicianship in the orchestral field. More than 100 conductors, composers, soloists, and orchestral/chamber musicians will train and mentor more than 80 young musicians on aspects of musical technique, audience engagement, communication skills, orchestral auditioning, stage presence, and health issues unique to musicians.

New York Youth Symphony, $20,000
To support the Youth Symphony Composition Program. Student composers will compose original music while participating in a series of interactive seminars, workshops, and guest lectures on music composition from renowned composers such as Samuel Adler, Augusta Read Thomas, and Christopher Rouse. This tuition-free program consists of seminar-style sessions exploring the musical thought of a wide variety of composers, with a focus on instrumentation and orchestration. Examples are drawn from classical repertoire and a range of musical traditions from throughout the world. Professional and student musicians read and perform works by the student composers throughout the season.

Oakland Symphony, $10,000
To support the creation and premiere of a new work by composer Van-Anh Vanessa Vo performed by Oakland Symphony with related educational activities. The work, titled “Notes from Vietnam” will be scored for orchestra and dan tranh, a traditional Vietnamese zither. The premiere will feature the composer as soloist. Community events may include workshops on Vietnamese culture and traditional music instruments as well as performances by the composer’s dan tranh zither students.

Orchestra of St. Luke’s, $15,000
To support Orchestra of St. Luke’s Subway Series of free, family-friendly chamber music performances. The orchestra will present ensembles of its musicians in hour-long performances throughout New York City, featuring repertoire of chamber music from the Renaissance period to the present. Performances, accompanied by a narrator, will take place in nontraditional and emerging art spaces, including locations in mass transit hubs, in all five boroughs of New York City.  

Pacific Symphony, $40,000
To support the annual American Composers Festival, celebrating the works of the late composer Stephen Paulus (1949-2014). The festival, titled Organ Splendor, will be conducted by Music Director Carl St. Clair and will feature organ compositions by Paulus, such as “Pilgrim’s Hymn” and Organ Concerto No. 4. The program will include additional repertoire for the organ, such as “Lux Aeterna” by Morten Lauridsen and a world premiere of a new work by Wayne Oquin. Performances by the orchestra and guest organists Paul Jacobs and Christoph Bull, will be held at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall featuring the 4,300-pipe C.B. Fisk organ.

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, $10,000
To support period-instrument performances of an All Mozart concert program. Under the direction of Music Director Nicholas McGegan, the project will feature guest artist keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout, who will perform on the pianoforte. Programming will include such works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as Concerto for Fortepiano no. 23 in A major, Symphony No. 27 in G major, and Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major. The project will celebrate Nicholas McGegan’s 30th anniversary as music director of the orchestra.

Philharmonic Society (of Orange County), $10,000
To support the presentation of performances celebrating the work of American composers. Titled American Icons: John Adams, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, the project will celebrate the three composers’ significant birthdays: Philip Glass’s 80th and the 70th for both John Adams and Steve Reich. Programming will feature performances by artists such as Glass, pianist Maki Namekawa, the Bang On A Can All-Stars, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, as well as teaching artist John Zeretzke, who may lead public workshops exploring the connections between the works by Reich and non-Western music. Concerts and events will be held at venues such as the Irvine Barclay Theatre, the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, and Logan Creative.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, $35,000
To support Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s commissioning and performance project celebrating contemporary composers who are also performers. Titled Return of the Composer Performer, the project will feature performances of a new work by composer/percussionist Stewart Copeland (former drummer of The Police), as well as a transcription of Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini” by composer/organist Cameron Carpenter. The composers will be the featured soloists with the orchestra, conducted by Music Director Manfred Honeck and guest conductor Marcel Lehninger, at Heinz Hall, and will participate in community engagement activities as part of the residency with the orchestra.
 
Princeton Symphony Orchestra, $10,000
To support a performance and community engagement project celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra, under the artistic direction of Rossen Milanov, will perform the Portraits of Women concert program featuring a new work by Princeton-based composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. The composer, whose first orchestra teacher and conductor was Portia Sonnenfeld, Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s founding artistic director, will create a work that explores the creativity of women and will be a meditation on home, family, heritage, and identity. The project will include a concert for area school children, poetry readings, chamber music concerts, lectures, , and workshops designed to introduce the music and inspirations behind Snider’s composition, as well as radio broadcasts of the archival recording by the New Jersey public radio station WWFM 89.1.

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, $40,000
To support a performance project of contemporary musical works. Titled Edgy Collaborators Lead SPCO into the Future, the project will feature performances of chamber works by composers such as Nico Muhly, Sir Michael Tippett, Peteris Vasks, and Erkki-sven Tuur. The concert program will feature guest artists, such as Finnish violinist and concertmaster Pekka Kuusisto, Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and the ensemble quartet-lab, and will be presented in the new and more intimate 1,100-seat concert hall at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Community engagement activities will include a free club2030 event with members of the quartet-lab, as well as pre-concert lectures.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, $45,000  (An Imagine Your Parks project)
To support Messiaenic Landscapes, an “Imagine Your Parks” project. French composer Olivier Messiaen’s “Des canyons aux etoiles… (From the canyons to the stars…)” will be paired with visual imagery by photographer Deborah O’Grady. Programming will explore the relationship between art and nature, incorporating images of the National Parks that inspired the composer: Cedar Breaks, Zion, and Bryce Canyon, among others. The O’Grady work, the result of a co-commission with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Regents of the University of California-Berkeley’s Cal Performances, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Washington Performing Arts, will provide a visual enhancement to the music. Messiaen was commissioned by Alice Tully in 1971 to create the musical work to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States of America. Concerts, under the direction of Music Director David Robertson, will be presented in St. Louis and as part of the orchestra’s California tour.

San Francisco Symphony, $75,000
To support a commissioning, performance, and composer residency project. Under the direction of Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas, the Mason Bates: Composer in 360 project will feature the world premiere performance of a new work by Bates titled “Auditorium” with guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado (named Musical America’s 2014 Conductor of the Year). The composer will begin his two-week residency by curating musical evenings in SoundBox, the orchestra’s new performance space located backstage at Davies Symphony Hall. Activities will include community engagements, such as pre-concert lectures and conversations.

San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, $35,000
To support the Artistic Development Program of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Designed to complement the youth orchestra’s core program of weekly rehearsals and concert performances, the free program will provide middle to high school students with coaching, mentorship, and specialized training in chamber music. Students will receive free tickets to San Francisco Symphony performances and participate in master classes with guest artists. In addition to rehearsals with San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Music Director Donato Cabrera, participants will rehearse with San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas.

Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra, $10,000
To support a performance project celebrating the legacy of American contralto Marian Anderson. The orchestra’s annual Martin Luther King Day Concert, which honors the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and features the music of African-American artists, will be a salute to Anderson’s historic 1939 concert performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The orchestra will be joined by guest artist soprano Caroline McKenzie and will be directed by Music Director Guido Lamell. The concert program will include works such as Samuel Francis Smith’s “America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee),” Gaetano Donizetti’s aria “O Mio Fernando,” Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and the spirituals “Gospel Train,” “Trampin’,” and “My Soul is Anchored in the Lord.”

Seattle Symphony, $40,000
To support a performance project featuring new orchestral works and a composition workshop for young composers. Titled New Music Works, the project will comprise distinct concert programs, including innovative and varied contemporary repertoire, designed to attract Seattle’s diverse communities through the creation, performance, and appreciation of symphonic music. Guest artists participating in the project may include composers Huck Hodge, John Adams, William Brittelle, Anna Clyne, and Michael Gordon. Performances and related activities will be held at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, $12,500
To support a performance project exploring America’s Indianist movement of the early 1900s. The orchestra’s Dvorak and America project will be a fusion of the orchestra’s existing Lakota Music Project and the Dvorak and America program created by musicologist Joseph Horowitz. Programming will provide a context surrounding Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” through performances of musical works, conducted by Music Director David Gier, including Brent Michael Davids’ “Black Hills Olowan,” which will be performed with featured guest artists – the Creekside Singers. Concerts and related activities will be presented in Sioux Falls and Sisseton, South Dakota.

Tanglewood Music Center, $50,000
To support the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood Music Center. The festival will feature chamber music and orchestral performances by resident musicians and guest artists. Works by a wide array of contemporary composers will be highlighted including the U.S. premiere of composer George Benjamin’s “Dream of the Song” for orchestra, women’s chorus, and countertenor soloist. Established composers will be engaged to curate the chamber music programs.

Tucson Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support the Young Composers Project (YCP). Elementary through high school students will learn to compose original works for orchestra, culminating in public reading sessions of their work by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and TSO String Quartet. Sessions will include basic theory, ear training, and score reading as students learn about clefs, keys, modes, notation, chords, rhythm, form, ranges, and transposition. Each session also will include a listening component with score study focused on orchestral repertoire. Students will attend monthly rehearsals and meet guest artists and composers whose work is being performed by the TSO. Students will observe the conductor and the orchestra at work and learn how orchestral pieces come together in live performance. At the end of the project, professional ensembles will provide public readings of the student work, providing real-time interactions between students, the orchestra, and the conductor.

Tulsa Symphony, $10,000
To support a commissioning and performance project. Under the direction of Artistic Director Daniel Hege, the orchestra will perform a new work by Chickasaw Nation composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. The work, tentatively titled “Muskogee Song Cycle,” will be written for children’s choir and orchestra. Performances will feature a children’s choir from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, singing hymns in the original Creek language. Community engagement activities may include workshops with the Emmy Award-winning composer in area schools and tribal locations, an interview with the composer in pre-concert conversations, as well as radio broadcasts of the performance on KWTU-FM, Classical 88.7 in Tulsa, a National Public Radio affiliate.

Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, $15,000
To support a commissioning and performance project celebrating the 50th anniversary season of the orchestra. The project will feature the premiere performance of a new orchestral work by composer Christopher Theofinidis, conducted by Music Director Gerardo Edelstein. The composer will participate in community engagement activities, such as a Meet the Maestro event with Edelstein and an open dress rehearsal. Project activities will include a free pre-concert lecture and an educational program with a live orchestral performance for area school students.

RELATED ART WORKS, PART ONE GRANTS

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, $40,000
To support the presentation of orchestral concerts by the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Featured as part of the Masterworks Classical Music Series, the guest artists are pianists Jeremy Denk and JeanYves Thibaudet, violinist James Ehnes, conductors Peter Oundjian, Stephane Deneuve, and Giancarlo Guerrero, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Programming will include the premiere performance of a new work by Israeli-American composer Avner Dorman, and will be augmented by pre-concert lectures, a young musicians workshop and a composer’s forum for local college students with Dorman, and community engagement activities.

Alarm Will Sound, $12,500 (An Imagine Your Parks project)
To support a performance of “Ten Thousand Birds” by composer John Luther Adams, an “Imagine Your Parks” project. The 2014 work, based on birdsong, is scored for chamber orchestra and comprises a collection of smaller pieces that can be combined, simultaneously and sequentially, in varied ways to suit a particular location. The chamber orchestra’s interpretation, designed by Music Director Alan Pierson, will follow the cycle of a day, starting with birdsongs heard in the morning, then afternoon, evening, night, and returning to morning. There also will be a spatial aspect to the performance by having the musicians move around the venue as they play, which will encourage the audience to experience the music from various perspectives. The outdoor performance will take place in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, part of the National Park Service.

Aspen Music Festival and School, $45,000
To support a commissioning and performance project by the Aspen Music Festival and School. Titled Composing Our Future, the project will feature the commissioning and performance of a new work by American composer Sean O’Loughlin for several ensembles of young musicians (such as Beginning Strings, Maroon Bel Canto Chorus, and Lead Guitar), as well as a larger group that combines those ensembles which will perform the work at the Aspen segment of the National Take A Stand Festival-a collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and El Sistema USA. Programming will include the performance of “Inuksuit,” an outdoor site-specific work scored for 99 percussionists by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer John Luther Adams, in collaboration with Bravo! Vail. In addition, the Festival and School will present the American revival of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s opera, “L’Amour de loin (Love from Afar),” a work that utilizes spatial compositional techniques. The composer will mentor the composition and performing students culminating in the semi-staged performance of her opera.

Association of California Symphony Orchestras, $15,000
To support professional leadership development and technical assistance programs for California orchestras. Plans include technical assistance consultations at the annual statewide conference. Additionally, project activities will comprise workshops for artistic and administrative staff, trustees, and volunteers from more than 150 orchestras.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society, $10,000
To support a choral music concert with related educational activities. In collaboration with the Reading Symphony (Pennsylvania), the program will feature “Dark Bells” by composer Jonathan Leshnoff, a cantata inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and scored for viola solo, chorus, and orchestra. Also on the program will be Mendelssohn’s “Die Erste Walpurgisnacht.” After the concert, the principal artists will engage the audience in a panel discussion.

Bard Music Festival, $15,000
To support the Bard Music Festival and related educational activities. Led by the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Artistic Director Leon Botstein, the festival will take place at the Richard B. Fisher Center and will explore the world and music of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) by presenting a range of musical forms including chamber, choral, and orchestral concerts. A semi-staged performance of Busoni’s “Turandot” and of the final act of Puccini’s opera of the same name, with the ending by Luciano Berio, is planned. Other composers that will be featured during the festival include Luigi Dallapiccola, Gofreddo Petrassi, Italo Montemezzi, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and Ottorino Respighi. Educational activities will include panel discussions and a companion volume of essays.

Bellingham Festival of Music, $10,000
To support the Bellingham Festival of Music, a summer festival featuring orchestral and chamber music concerts throughout the community. Plans include orchestra performances conducted by Artistic Director Michael Palmer at the Performing Arts Center of Western Washington University, and chamber music performances at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal and the Whatcom Museum of History and Art. The festival also will offer educational activities such as master classes, open rehearsals, and pre-concert lectures.

Boston University, $40,000
To support high school students’ participation in the Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Orchestra and Young Artists Wind Ensemble. The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is an intensive, multi-week residential summer music program in Lenox, Massachusetts, for gifted high school musicians. Participation in these two ensembles provides students with opportunities for individual practice, chamber music experiences, large ensemble rehearsal and performance, private lessons, and master class participation. Faculty includes distinguished university professors, as well as accomplished professional solo, chamber, and symphony musicians. The Orchestra and the Wind Ensemble perform full concerts in Seiji Ozawa Hall on the main Tanglewood grounds.

Bravo! Vail, $15,000
To support Bravo! Vail, an annual music festival. The summer festival will feature orchestral concerts by the Dallas Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as chamber music performances and open rehearsals. Educational and community engagement events may include Little Listeners @ the Library, instrument petting zoos, and Music on the Move, featuring ensembles performing in various public spaces. Additional related project activities may include pre-concert lectures led by musicologists and free concerts throughout the Vail Valley.

Cabrillo Music Festival, $25,000
To support the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Under the direction of Music Director Marin Alsop, the festival orchestra will perform music by living composers. Festival concerts will be held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Other activities will include chamber music concerts, composers-in-residence, and a workshop for conductors and composers. Past composers-in-residence have included Mason Bates, Hannah Lash, and Missy Mazzoli, among many others. Featured programming will include the commissioning and world premiere of a new work by composer Anna Clyne and a collaboration with The Choral Project, a San Jose-based chorus, on its 20th anniversary. Educational and community activities will include open rehearsals, panel discussions, and a street fair.

Cal Performances, $35,000 (An Imagine Your Parks project)
To support the Cal Performances’ St. Louis Symphony residency and a collaboration with the Trust for Public Land, an “Imagine Your Parks” project. Cal Performances will present the St. Louis Symphony with Music Director David Robertson in a multi-day residency on the Berkeley, California campus, which will be anchored by a performance of French composer Olivier Messiaen’s “Des canyons aux etoiles… (From the canyons to the stars…),” a work commissioned by Alice Tully in 1971 for the bicentennial celebration of the United States of America. The performance will be accompanied by a visual installation by landscape photographer Deborah O’Grady designed to capture the grandeur of Utah’s desert landscapes. A co-commission with Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Washington Performing Arts, the performance will celebrate the centenary of the National Park Service. Using Cal Performances’ model of artistic literacy, staff will engage local middle- and high school students in a creative process inspired by Messiaen’s work and the landscape photography of Ms. O’Grady. The Trust will document and disseminate the process and the work online.

Caramoor, $15,000
To support the Caramoor Summer Music Festival. Plans include chamber and symphonic performances of classical, opera, jazz, family music, and American roots music. Featured artists may include pianist Jonathan Biss, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and conductor Pablo HerasCasado. Educational activities will include the Bel Canto Young Artists mentoring program for singers that consists of rehearsals, understudying principal operatic roles, and solo recitals.

Carnegie Hall, $90,000
To support a commissioning project as part of the 125th anniversary celebration. During the course of five years, Carnegie Hall will commission and premiere a total of 125 new works. The current request is for as many as 16 new commissions that will premiere in 2016. Composers to be commissioned include Matthew Aucoin, Gabriel Kahane, Aaron Jay Kernis, Steven Mackey, Olga Neuwirth, Kevin Puts, Steve Reich, and Mehmet Ali Sanlikol. The new works, scored for chamber ensemble or orchestra, will be premiered by Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Jasper String Quartet, and So Percussion among others. Orchestras involved in the premieres may include Atlanta Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Vienna Philharmonic. Also planned is a family concert of works for children featuring premieres by Robert X. Rodriguez and Caroline Shaw.

Chez Bushwick (aka Jonah Bokaer), $10,000
To support the creation and presentation of a new work by choreographer and Artistic Director Jonah Bokaer. Rules of the Game will be created in collaboration with visual artist Daniel Arsham and composer Pharrell Williams. The artists will draw their inspiration from the works of dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936). The work will premiere at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas, with live music by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. While in Dallas, Bokaer, Arsham, Williams, and the dancers will conduct free classes and workshops at Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing Arts. The New York premiere will take place at the BAM Next Wave Festival, and will include in-school, after-school, and field trip programs that engage students of various grade levels. The final presentation will take place at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In Illinois, the collaborators will engage the dance department and the residents of the nearby rural communities.

Chorus America, $90,000
To support services and technical assistance to the choral field. Activities will include an annual conference, the online Chorus Management Institute, publications, and leadership development forums for chorus managers and leaders in the field. The Intrinsic Impact Audience Project, a research initiative with the consulting firm WolfBrown, will continue to gather data on the impact choral music concerts have on audiences. Findings are scheduled to be announced at the annual conference. In partnership with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, a conductor training symposium will take place in celebration of the centenary of conductor Robert Shaw.

Community Music Center, $10,000
To support the Young Musicians Program (YMP). This free program for diverse middle and high school students from underserved communities focuses on a variety of musical styles including Latin, Jazz, popular, and classical. The Mission District YMP is a bilingual program primarily for Latino youth and focuses on repertoire and skills fundamental to Latin traditional and popular music. YMP works with students nominated by their public school music teachers to study chamber music, jazz, and string orchestra. The project also provides group classes in chamber music, jazz and string orchestra, and theory and music history to advanced students. Each component provides multiple community-based performance opportunities for youth.

Community Music School, $15,000
To support the Community Music School of Webster University’s Preparatory Program (PREP), an instrumental music program for students residing in the greater St. Louis area. Designed to augment individual music study, PREP offers high caliber instruction from professional musicians, music theory classes, summer camps, master classes, music festival and competition participation, and performance opportunities. Participants are expected to complete a community service project, and to date, 100 percent of PREP graduates have continued their studies at the nation’s most prestigious universities and conservatories.

Conductors Guild, $10,000
To support Conductor Training Workshops. Plans include workshops at the University of North Texas in Denton and at the Richmond Symphony. The faculty of conductors may include Erin Freeman, David Itkin, Stephen Smith, and Victor Tampolsky. Each workshop will have a different focus, which may include training on conducting concertos and soloists, wind ensemble repertoire, rehearsal techniques, and building educational programs.

The Gilmore, $20,000
To support the Gilmore Keyboard Festival. Events planned include concerts, master classes, lectures, and public educational programs. Artists to be presented may include the current Gilmore Artist Rafal Blechacz (2014) and the two previous awardees, Ingrid Fliter (2006) and Kirill Gerstein (2010). The Gilmore Artist Award is conferred every four years through a non-competitive nomination process. Guest artists may include pianists Yefim Bronfman, Jeremy Denk, Till Fellner, Richard Goode, Jeffrey Kahane, and Lori Sims; vocalists Susan Graham and Sara Shafer; and jazz artists Sullivan Fortner, Jeremy Siskind, and Taylor Eigsti.

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, $10,000
To support the Future Stages Festival. The festival will include performances by youth-oriented arts organizations, as well as performances by resident companies, including the Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera, and Kansas City Symphony. Interactive arts activities will be offered throughout the venue.

League of American Orchestras, $90,000
To support the League of American Orchestras’ strategic services designed to strengthen orchestras through learning, leadership development, research, and communications within the field. The League will host a national conference focusing on best practices. Training and development opportunities will be provided to expand leadership skills. The Emerging Leaders Program will help strengthen the skills of competitively selected emerging leaders through a structured curriculum, mentoring, and directed on-the-job training. The Knowledge Center will conduct, analyze, and disseminate a wide range of surveys. The Hub, a special section of the League’s website, comprises online information aggregating the latest thinking, news, reviews, and personnel shifts in the orchestra world in one location.

Midwest Young Artists, $15,000
To support the Chamber Music Program. Through weekly small group ensemble rehearsals led by professional chamber music coaches, middle and high school students will learn to master their instruments, hone listening skills, and develop communication among members of their chamber ensembles. The small size of a chamber ensemble enables the coach and students to delve deeply into expressiveness and improvisation as well as artistic and interpersonal communication. To supplement the weekly coaching and various performance opportunities, regularly scheduled master classes are offered by performer educators from universities such as DePaul, Northwestern, Roosevelt, and University of Illinois, and by professional musicians from organizations such as Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Lyric Opera.

Music Academy of the West, $20,000
To support a professional development project. Through a partnership with the New York Philharmonic and its Music Director Alan Gilbert, young instrumentalists will participate in training, mentorship, side-by-side orchestral readings with members of the Philharmonic, as well as outdoor community concerts conducted by Gilbert during the summer residency by the New York-based artists. Additionally, approximately ten academy students will be selected to participate in the new Global Academy in New York, where they will continue to study and perform with members of the Philharmonic.

Music Worcester, $10,000
To support a multidisciplinary presenting program. Music Worcester will present international music and dance companies in a series of performances and community engagement activities. Artists will include the Band of the Royal Marines (United Kingdom), Mnozil Brass (Austria), Moscow Festival Ballet, Jerusalem Symphony, and Polish Philharmonic.

New Music USA, $55,000
To support new music through online resources at NewMusicBox.org and newmusicusa.org. The project will include professional development, technical assistance, and editorial coverage of composers and artist residencies nationwide. New Music USA, a merger of two longstanding organizations of services to the field of new music (American Music Center and Meet The Composer), is committed to increasing opportunities for composers, performers, and audiences by fostering vibrant American contemporary music.

The New School, $20,000
To support the New School Concerts’ New York String Seminar Program for emerging young musicians. Violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo will direct the program. The extensive training experience will be offered with full scholarships to high school and college string players, selected through national live auditions. The program will culminate in concerts at Carnegie Hall.

Noel Pointer Foundation, $15,000
To support Saturday Strings, an instrumental music program for New York City youth. Students learn through small group and individual instruction on Saturdays at the Youth Arts Academy of Restoration Plaza in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Students play violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar or piano in private and group lessons and participate in ensembles designed for every level, beginner to advanced. The program highlights music by African-American composers such as Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, and Noel Pointer. The program includes workshops for parents of participating students to illuminate best practices for instrument care and at-home rehearsal, and opportunities for students to perform in the community.

Perlman Music Program, $50,000
To support the Summer Music School, a residential summer music program held on Shelter Island, New York. Under the guidance of Toby and Itzhak Perlman, the Summer Music School’s faculty will include professional string musicians from around the country, providing mentorship and coaching in instrumental music to students. Students will have daily private lessons, time for individual practice, ensemble rehearsals, and performances. Participation in chorus rehearsals on a daily basis develops many essential skills that will strengthen instrumental students’ overall musicianship, including sight-singing and ear training. Teenage participants will study violin, viola, cello, and bass, and perform in multiple free concerts that are open to the public.

Project STEP, $65,000
To support an intensive string music training program for talented minority youth. Primarily serving elementary through high school Black and Latino students, this program will provide intermediate and advanced instrumental music instruction to students who are underrepresented in the field of classical music. In addition to weekly classes and study, students will join chamber music ensembles and orchestras, perform regularly in recital and community outreach concerts, and attend master classes and professional concerts. Family involvement is essential to the program. Through monthly meetings of the Parent Council, which comprises all Project STEP parents, families play a key role in the individual students’ music development.

Stern Grove Festival, $45,000
To support the Stern Grove Festival. The festival will feature free outdoor performances by artists including the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet, as well as world music, pop, and jazz artists. Engagement activities will include hands-on workshops and camps for youth, as well as pre-show arts activities and discussions.

Third Street Music School Settlement, $30,000
To support the expansion of chamber music and other music ensemble programs. Students participate weekly in chamber music, orchestra, band, rock, jazz, or chorus ensembles, as well as music theory classes and individual and group instruction. Instruction is provided by skilled music educators. Chamber music and ensembles perform work of renowned classical and contemporary composers, original works by Third Street faculty and guest artists, including world premieres, and new compositions by Third Street students. The program is offered for free or at a low cost to students ages six and up in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods in New York City, including federally designated poverty areas.

Washington Performing Arts Society, $35,000 (An Imagine Your Parks project)
To support Sight & Sound: Re-envisioning “Des canyons aux etoiles… (From the canyons to the stars…),” an “Imagine Your Parks” project. Accompanied by visual imagery by photographer Deborah O’Grady, performances of the 12-movement orchestral work by French composer Olivier Messiaen will feature the United States Air Force Band. A tribute to the centenary of the National Park Service, O’Grady’s images (a co-commission with Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cal Performances of the Regents of the University of California-Berkeley, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra) will depict Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and invoke the desert landscapes that inspired Messiaen. Performances, as well as related educational and community engagement activities, will be held in Washington, D.C.