CMA Announces More Than $800,000 In Grants for Small Ensembles and Presenters
New York, NY (July 30, 2018)—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the distribution of $800,563 through its four major grant programs: New Jazz Works and Presenter Consortium for Jazz, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; the Classical Commissioning Program, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Residency Partnership Program, funded by Chamber Music America's Residency Endowment Fund.
This funding will provide key support for the creation, performance, and presentation of small ensemble works, as well as support community engagement and audience-building initiatives. The grantees in each program were selected by independent peer panels. A complete list of the 2018 grantees follows:
NEW JAZZ WORKS
Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
A total of $310,000 was awarded to nine jazz ensembles through the New Jazz Works program, which supports the creation of new works by professional U.S.-based jazz artists and helps assure that these compositions will be heard through live performances and recordings.
Ben Kono Group (Nyack, NY)
Composer: Ben Kono | Instrumentation: Saxophone/Woodwinds, Guitar, Piano/Fender Rhodes, Bass, Drums/Percussion, String Quartet
2018 New Jazz Works Grantees
Donald Edwards Quintet (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Donald Edwards | Instrumentation: Drums, Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Piano, Bass
Evan Christopher's Clarinet Road (New Orleans, LA)
Composer: Evan Christopher | Instrumentation: Clarinet, Trumpet, Guitar, Piano/Keyboards, Bass, Drums/Percussion
Imani Uzuri Ensemble (New York, NY)
Composer: Imani Uzuri | Instrumentation: Four Voices/Tambourine, Piano, Acoustic Guitar/Mandolin, Shinobue Flutes/Western Flutes, Violin, Viola, Cello
Liberty Ellman Supercell (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Liberty Ellman | Instrumentation: Guitar, Alto Saxophone, Trumpet, Tuba/Trombone, Bass, Drums
Linda May Han Oh Group (New York, NY)
Composer: Linda May Han Oh | Instrumentation: Bass/Electric Bass, Piano/Keyboards/Electronics, Drums, Tenor Saxophone, Voice
Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble (New York, NY)
Composer: Meg Okura | Instrumentation: Violin/Vocals/Erhu, Flute/Alto Flute/Piccolo, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet/Clarinet, Piano/Electric Piano, Harp, Bass, Drums, Guitar, Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Peter Sprague String Group (Encinitas, CA)
Composer: Peter Sprague | Instrumentation: Guitar, Violin, Cello, Percussion
Samora Pinderhughes Ensemble (New York, NY)
Composer: Samora Pinderhughes | Instrumentation: Piano/Voices, Trumpet, Flute, Tenor Saxophone/Baritone Saxophone, Bass, Drums, Spoken Word
CLASSICAL COMMISSIONING
Funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Eleven grants totaling $198,450 have been awarded through the Classical Commissioning program, which provides support to U.S.-based professional ensembles and presenters for the creation and performance of classical contemporary chamber works.
2018 Classical Commissioning Program Grantees
(Not Pictured: The Western Wind)
Akropolis Reed Quintet (Northville, MI)
Composer: Jeff Scott | Instrumentation: Oboe, B-Flat Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon
Bearthoven (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Katherine Balch | Instrumentation: Piano, Double Bass, Mixed Percussion
JACK Quartet (New York, NY)
Composer: Catherine Lamb | Instrumentation: Two Violins, Viola, Cello
Meraki (Washington D.C.)
Composer: Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate | Instrumentation: Clarinet, Piano
Monday Evening Concerts with Echoi (Los Angeles, CA)
Composer: Trevor Bača | Instrumentation: Voice/Narrator, Flute, Harp, Two Percussion, Viola, Cello, Two Double Basses
Music in the American Wild (Springfield, MO)
Composer: Takuma Itoh | Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, Percussion
New Thread Quartet (Astoria, NY)
Composer: Amy Beth Kirsten | Instrumentation: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone Saxophones
OboeBass! (Apple Valley, MN)
Composer: Valerie Coleman | Instrumentation: Oboe/English Horn/Narrator, Double Bass/Narrator
Sandbox Percussion (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Andy Akiho | Instrumentation: Percussion Quartet
SPLICE Ensemble (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Caroline Louise Miller | Instrumentation: Trumpet, Percussion, Piano, Electronics
The Western Wind (New York, NY)
Composer: Martha Sullivan | Instrumentation: Two Sopranos, Alto, Two Tenors, Bass
Additional program support is provided by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Chamber Music America Commissioning Endowment Fund.
PRESENTER CONSORTIUM FOR JAZZFunded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Presenter Consortium for Jazz supports consortiums of three U.S. presenters to collectively engage up to three professional U.S. jazz ensembles. Project grants totaling $120,788 have been awarded to four consortiums (12 presenting organizations), which will receive an additional $60,000 in general operating support.
This year’s grantees are:
• The Jazz Gallery (New York, NY),
• Redwood Jazz Alliance (Arcata, CA)
• San Francisco Jazz Organization (San Francisco, CA)
Presenting Fabian Almazan’s Rhizome performing his 2014 CMA New Jazz Works Commission Alcanza
• Pappy Martin Legacy - Masten Jazz Festival (Buffalo, NY)
• Magic City Smooth Jazz (Birmingham, AL)
• Community Reflections, Inc. (New Orleans, LA)
Presenting the Carmen Lundy Ensemble and the Theo Croker Quintet
• Stanford Jazz Workshop (Stanford, CA),
• Center for Latino Arts and Culture (New Brunswick, NJ)
• Painted Bride Arts Center (Philadelphia, PA)
Presenting the Yosvany Terry Sextet
• Stanford Live (Stanford, CA)
• Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, AZ)
• John Anson Ford Theatres (Los Angeles, CA)
Presenting the Chano Domínguez Flamenco Sketches Ensemble
RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Funded by the Chamber Music America Residency Endowment Fund
The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building awareness and appreciation for classical, contemporary, jazz, and chamber music through community-based residencies that engage audiences beyond traditional concert settings. A total of $51,325 has been awarded to five presenters and four ensembles.
2018 Residency Partnership Program Grantees
The 2018 grantees are:
- • Ars Nova Workshop (Philadelphia, PA) with Hear in Now
- • Continuum Culture & Arts (Brooklyn, NY) with 1032K
- • Cuatro Puntos (Hartford, CT)
- • Mivos Quartet (Brooklyn, NY)
- • Project: Music Heals Us (New York, NY) with the Solera Quartet*
- • Quad City Arts (Rock Island, IL) with the Marian Anderson String Quartet
- • Seal Bay Festival (Portland, ME) with the Cassatt Quartet
- • The Raritan Players (New Brunswick, NJ)
- • The Uncommon Music Festival (Long Island City, NY)
*The Solera Quartet is the 2018 recipient of the Guarneri String Quartet Residency, funded by the Sewell Family Foundation
For more information about CMA’s grant programs, including past grantees and projects, please visit:
www.chamber-music.org.
Chamber Music America, the national network for ensemble music professionals, was founded in 1977 to develop, support, and strengthen the chamber music field. With a membership of nearly 6,000, including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artist managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. CMA provides its members with grant programs, consulting services, a national conference, professional development seminars, access to instrument and other insurances, and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine; the weekly Accent e-newsletter; and a member-driven website, www.chamber-music.org.
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, and child well-being, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies. To this end, the Foundation supports exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work.
