January 22, 2021

At a Glance: Pension Reform

January 16, 2020

NEA's First Round of FY20 Grants Support Orchestral Concerts and Community Programming

Sixty orchestras will present live music, instrumental music instruction for young students, commissions, festivals, and engagement programs to their communities with support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in its first round of major grant funding in the 2020 fiscal year.

March 11, 2020

COVID-19, Concert Cancellations, and Congressional Action

Community by community, the impact of COVID-19 is variable and rapidly changing. As Congress and the Administration consider new forms of federal economic assistance that may be targeted or widespread, orchestras can join others in the arts and nonprofit sectors that are speaking up to ensure that relief will meet all community needs.

March 14, 2020

Paid Leave Provisions Included in Bipartisan Federal COVID-19 Relief Package

Orchestras have joined the broader arts and nonprofit sectors in speaking up out of concern for their workforce in the wake of COVID-19 closures and concert cancellations.

December 19, 2007

Cultural Exchange Funds Available

The Educational and Cultural Exchange programs of the U.S. State Department received a $59 million increase for FY08. While it is not clear how much of this funding might be dedicated to the grant program that supports international cultural exchanges, orchestras should take note of a current grant opportunity.

March 13, 2009

Congress Approves FY09 Increase for Educational Cultural Exchange Programs

The Educational and Cultural Exchange programs of the U.S. State Department received $538 million for FY09. While it is not clear how much of this funding might be dedicated to the grant program that supports international cultural exchanges, this represents an overall increase for the program.

July 31, 2013

Silk Road Grant Seeking RFPs for South Central Asia

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has just announced a new Request for Proposals (RFP) with a very quickly-approaching deadline of August 16th. Proposals should highlight the relationship between any combination of two or more of the following nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan.

January 4, 2016

Cultural Diplomacy Opportunity: Musicians May Apply Now

Orchestra musicians interested in participating in international cultural diplomacy should take note of two application deadlines at the U.S. Department of State. The 2016-2017 season of American Music Abroad is currently accepting applications until January 24, 2016.

July 8, 2016

Federal funding: your summer homework with elected officials

Given that this is an election year, the House and Senate are taking a long summer recess, which makes the prospects uncertain for the federal budget to be completed. Bills that are of importance to the orchestra community are on the move, and here is the latest on where things stand for...

November 17, 2020

Take Action: Cultural Exchange

Policymakers agree that cultural exchange is critical to our security and diplomacy efforts around the world. To that end, orchestras urge Congress to increase funding for the Cultural Programs Division of the State Department’s Office of Citizen Exchanges.