Image
The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the recipients of its 2012 grants (first round). The following Chorus America member organizations received grants:
[Music Category]
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Baltimore, MD
$10,000
To support The Land of the Free, performances and educational activities in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the events leading to the creation of The Star-Spangled Banner. Plans include a public performance featuring composer Ysaye Barnwell's Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem as well as two Community Sings events and a post-concert talk, both led by the composer.
Bard College (on behalf of Bard Music Festival)
Annandale-Hudson, NY
$20,000
To support the Bard Music Festival. Led by the resident ensemble, American Symphony Orchestra, the festival will explore the world and music of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns by presenting a range of musical forms including orchestral, chamber, and choral concerts with associated educational activities.
Carnegie Hall
New York, NY
$75,000
To support a festival of Latin American music. Composer Osvaldo Golijov will serve as festival artistic director with performances on Carnegie Hall's three stages and throughout New York City by the Simon Bolivar National Orchestra of Venezuela with Gustavo Dudamel conducting, Brazilian musician (and former Minister of Culture) Gilberto Gil, and Afro-Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes among others.
Handel & Haydn Society
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support performances of J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion and related educational activities.
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Los Angeles, CA
$40,000
To support Andes to the Sea, a concert program of choral music featuring the premiere of a commissioned work by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and related educational activities. The program will include the new work performed with Latin American folk jazz ensemble Huayucaltia, along with works by Venezuelan composers Maria Guinand, Alberto Grau, and Oscar Galian.
Pacific Chorale
Santa Ana, CA
$42,500
To support the commissioning, premiere performance, and recording of a new choral and orchestral work by Frank Ticheli. Featuring the 140-voice Pacific Chorale and the 66-member Pacific Symphony, the world premiere will take place in the spring of 2013 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the resulting recording will be released worldwide by the record label Delos through Naxos of America, Inc.
Rose Ensemble
Saint Paul, MN
$10,000
To support a performance project of 16th and 17th-century works for wind band and voices in collaboration with Piffaro, the Philadelphia-based Renaissance wind ensemble. Programming will be based on manuscripts from Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Christian Theological Seminary (Consortium) and Hesston College have also each received NEA grants to support residencies by the Rose Ensemble.
VocalEssence
Minneapolis, MN
$40,000
To support Witness: In the Spirit of Being, an annual celebration of contributions by African Americans, featuring American jazz trumpeter and composer Hannibal Lokumbe. The week-long festival, following two months of outreach presentations by Lokumbe and members of the chorus, will include a public concert held in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, highlighting the composer's new work, In the Spirit of Being.
We're also pleased to announce that Chorus America received a $90,000 grant to support its core services, and the American Composers Forum has received $30,000 to support Choral Connections, a national conference for choral composers and conductors held in tandem with Chorus America’s Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN, June 13-16, 2012.
---
[Arts Education Category]
Boston Children's Chorus
Boston, MA
$18,000
To support the Seeds to Song Project. Young singers are trained year-round in choral music and perform in Concert Choir, Premier Choir, Young Men's Ensemble and the Choral Union, designed for singers with no previous music theory training.
Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus (aka Anima-Young Singers of Greater Chicago)
Glen Ellyn, IL
$35,000
To support Anima's Ensemble Program and Honors Chorus Workshop. Year-round choral ensembles at various skill levels will serve as a basis for sequential music education for students.
San Francisco Girls Chorus
San Francisco, CA
$22,000
To support the Music Education and Performance Program. The program will provide nine months of instruction in choral singing and opportunities for concert performance, using a five-level graduated curriculum and repertoire that spans six centuries and includes 14 languages.
University of Oregon (on behalf of Oregon Bach Festival)
Eugene, OR
$15,000
To support the Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy program. A 12-day summer program of the Oregon Bach Festival, students have the opportunity to study vocal technique with artists such as Helmuth Rilling. Also, teachers and teaching artists attend professional development.
Young People's Chorus of New York City
New York, NY
$30,000
To support the Partner Schools Program. At-risk students from up to 15 New York City public schools will participate in after-school, choral music education activities, including weekly rehearsals, music theory and harmonic analysis classes, and performance experiences.
View the complete list of 2012 NEA Grant Recipients (first round).