2000 Grantees

Academy of Vocal Arts
Philadelphia premiere of a new American opera

Grant amount: $105,000
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Academy of Vocal Arts produced a concert of major vocal and chamber ensemble works of the twentieth century for its 2000-2001 season. In the 2001-2002 season, Academy of Vocal Arts offered the world premiere of a new American opera, The Scarlet Letter by Margaret Garwood.

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Jazz and classical masters from around the world

Grant amount: $80,000
Grant period: 2000-2001

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Annenberg Center expanded its classical and jazz series by incorporating more performances, residency activities, and an audience development element geared toward young people. Artists presented on this series included Charlie Hunter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Wayne Shorter with Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Chucho Valdes, the Mingus Big Band, Philharmonia of the Nations with Pinchas Zukerman, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Orchestra of Scotland, and Chorovaya Akademia.

Mendelssohn Club
Penderecki's Passion According to St. Luke and other large-scale choral works

Grant amount: $57,500
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Mendelssohn Club presented two major, rarely performed 20th century musical works. In October of 2000 they performed Belshazzar's Feast by Sir William Walton, accompanied by For St. Cecilia by Gerald Finzi and Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams. In their 2001-2002 season, they presented Krzysztof Penderecki's Passion According St. Luke.

Network for New Music
Commissions by established regional and national composers

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, Network for New Music commissioned and performed works by Eric Moe, Jan Krzywicki, Chen Yi, and Richard Wernick.

Opera Company of Philadelphia
Porgy and Bess return to Philadelphia after a 25-year absence

Grant amount: $80,000
Grant period: 2000-2001

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Opera Company of Philadelphia presented six performances of George and Ira Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The opera was directed by Henry Miller and featured a new set by Felix Cochran. The Opera Company's production of Porgy and Bess was the first in Philadelphia in 25 years.

Orchestra 2001
Four major commissions in celebration the ensemble's name year, "2001"

Grant amount: $60,00
Grant period: 2000-2002

In celebration of the ensemble's name year "2001," the group commissioned and performed four major new works by Thea Musgrave, David Finko, Gunther Schuller and Jonathan Holland, all to be recorded on a single CD for Composer's Recording, Inc.

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
The International Vocal Music Project

Grant amount: $40,000
Grant period: 2000-2001

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society expanded its International Vocal Music Project series to include performances by Anonymous 4, Stephanie Blythe, the Curtis Opera Department, the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, Joan Morris and Bill Bolcolm, Heidi Grant Murphay, the Philadelphia Singers, Christoph Pregardien, and Mitsuko Shirai. Concerts were supplemented by master classes, pre-concert lectures, and a limited number of free student tickets.

Philadelphia Orchestra
Six commissions to celebrate the Orchestra's 100th anniversary

Grant amount: $160,000
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned and performed six major works in celebration of its centennial. Commissioned composers were Richard Danielpour, Roberto Sierra, Michael Daugherty, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Jennifer Higdon. The sixth commission was written by Kevin Beavers, the winner of a competition for composers under the age of 35.

Philomel
Exploring the Baroque concerto on period instruments

Grant amount: $34,000
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, Philomel expanded its concert series under the unifying theme "The Baroque Concerto." Guest soloists for this series included Julianne Baird, soprano; Stanley Ritchie, violin; Gonzalo Ruiz, oboe; Rachel Begley, recorder; John Thiessen, trumpet; and David Miller and Peter Bucknell, viola.

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band
From the first volume of printed music to 17th century brass repertoire

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2000-2002

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, Piffaro expanded its regular concert season to include an additional concert weekend and a special event. Special programs included "Canarios," music from late 16th century Spain and Latin America; "Brass Music of the Early 17th Century"; and "Music from the Odhecaton - the First Volume of Printed Music." Guest artists for the expanded season included King's Noyse, a violin band; Concerto Palatino; and the Concord Ensemble, a six-voice male vocal ensemble.

Relâche
The 21st Century Composers Series

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2000-2001

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, Relache launched its 21st Century Composers Series with five commissioned works by Amy Denio, Kyle Gann, Eric Moe, Leslie Burrs, and Joseph Koyykar. Performances of these works included high school programs with composers and musician post-concert discussions.

Panelist Biographies

Steve Zakar (panel chair)
Steve Zakar produces National Public Radio’s daily music show, Performance Today. He supervises the acquisition of over 1,000 diverse concerts a year for the program. Mr. Zakar began his career in audio 1969 with programming positions at WFCR, public radio in Western Massachusetts and continued through the seventies and eighties with freelance jobs in and out of New York City that took him to such far-flung cities as Portugal for the Madeira Bach Festival, Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende and Honokaa, Hawaii.

Louise Basbas
Louise Basbas serves as director of music and organist at Corpus Christi Church, where she also leads the Choir of Corpus Christi. Ms. Basbas is the founder and Executive Director of the concert series Music Before 1800, where the Choir of Corpus Christi Church is in residence. Ms. Basbas additionally serves as organist and director of music at Temple Israel of New York City.

Charles Calmer
Charles Calmer is Artistic Administrator with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he helps plan the artistic season, selects the Orchestra’s composer-in-residence, and conceived the Orchestra’s first Principal Guest Conductor, Itzhak Perlman. Previously, Mr. Calmer worked with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the University of Iowa Theatres.

Eric Reed
Eric Reed began playing with Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson at age 18. After his first recording at age 19, Soldier’s Hymn, for Candid Records, he was signed to MoJAZZ Records. In 1993 he recorded It’s All Right To Swing with the Marsalis Septet. Since 1994, Mr. Reed has been leading his own band both in the U.S. and Europe, and has played alongside Benny Carter, Charlie Haden, Roay Hargrove, Javon Jackson, and Wess Anderson.

Wayne Sanders
Wayne Sanders is co-founder of Opera Ebony and has served as the company’s music director since its inception in 1973. Also an active accompanist, Mr. Sanders has performed with Jessye Norman, Florence Quivar, Kathleen Battle, Geroge Shirley, William Brown, Benjamin Matthews and Jubilant Sykes at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and other leading stages. He currently serves on the voice faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.

George R. Steel
George R. Steel is the Executive Director of Columbia University’s Miller Theatre as well as Programming Consultant for the Electronic Evolution series of Lincoln Center Festival 2000. Mr. Steel has also worked as Managing Producer of the 92nd Street YW-YMHA, Tisch Center for the Arts and as Director of Development for the Washington Conservatory of Music.

Chen Yi
Chen Yi has been recognized as an outstanding composer with fellowships from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and others. Her compositions are largely influenced by her expertise in traditional Chinese music. Awards include first prize in the Chinese National Composition Competition, the Lili Boulanger Award, and the 1996 Sorel Medal for Excellence in Music. She has been commissioned by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Women’s Philharmonic, the Central Philharmonic of China, and numerous other ensembles.