Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA)
22 Pan-Latin Classics

Grant amount: $80,000
Grant period: 2002-04

With support from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA) will present two concerts featuring 22 classic pan-Latin works newly arranged by Ruben Gonzalez of the Buena Vista Social Club, Bomba Jazz proponent Papo Vasquez, Frank Emilio, Jorge Abad, Andres Alen, Guillermo Rubalcava, Orlando Adad, Mari Baracardo, and Elio Villafranca. Johnny Pacheco will offer workshops and rehearse and conduct the orchestra, which will feature Villafranca, Pablo Batista, and Marlon Simon, in two ten-day residency sessions culminating in public performances.

Located in the heart of the Puerto Rican/Latino community, AMLA's mission is to promote the development, dissemination and understanding of Latin American Music in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region, with an emphasis on youth. AMLA produces concerts and books Latin music groups at events throughout the Delaware Valley, commissions new works by recognized and emerging Latin composers, and spearheads the annual community festival, la Feria del Barrio, reaching an audience of 12,000.

Astral Artistic Services
Philadelphia Premieres

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2002-2003

Astral Artistic Services will use support from PMP to present "Philadelphia Premieres," a series of three concerts featuring world premieres of works by Philadelphia composers Jennifer Higdon, Luis Prado, and David Ludwig, written for and featuring Astral artists Igor Begelman, clarinet, and Katherine Needleman, oboe. Astral will also present the Philadelphia debut of the chamber ensemble Kremerata Musica led by renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, joined by Astral pianist Andrius Zlabys in the Enescu Piano Quintet.

Founded in 1992, the mission of Astral Artistic Services is to discover the most promising classical musicians residing in the United States, assist their early professional development, and present their world-class artistry to the community through concerts and outreach programs. Astral artists have performed with the Philadelphia, Moscow Symphony, and Montecarlo Orchestras and have appeared at major music festivals including Marlboro and Ravinia.

Bucks County Choral Society
30th Anniversary Commission Project

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2002-03

Funding from the Philadelphia Music Project will support the Bucks County Choral Society in the commissioning of a major new work by Philadelphia composer Robert Maggio to mark the 30th anniversary season of the Choral Society in March 2003. Using texts from the Bible and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay, this 30-minute work, entitled "Rachel and Her Children, Small Hands Relinquish All," will be composed for chorus, wind orchestra, the Pennsylvania Youth Chorale, and mezzo-soprano soloist Suzanne DuPlantis.

The Bucks County Choral Society is a select vocal ensemble whose mission is to bring memorable performances of outstanding choral music to the people of Bucks County and the Greater Philadelphia area. The choir performs an extensive repertoire of music from classical to contemporary, including locally composed pieces and works commissioned for the group by composers such as Jennifer Higdon, Richard Wargo, Alice Parker, and Steven Sametz.

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
2002-03 Season: Programmatic Enhancement and Audience Development

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2002-2003

A PMP grant to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will subsidize performances by guest artists Shai Wosner, piano; Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin; Emmanuel Pahud, flute; and the Moscow Soloists; support the commission of a new work by Mark Orton for the Chamber Orchestra and guest artists Tin Hat Trio; and fund production expenses of a 52-week concert broadcast series over WRTI-FM, Temple University Public Radio. Founded in 1964, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia offers regional audiences concerts of the finest chamber orchestra repertoire, performed at international standards by the orchestra's exceptional professional musicians and world-renowned guest artists.

Mendelssohn Club
Two Works by Charles Fussell

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2002-04

Funding from the Philadelphia Music project will enable Mendelssohn Club to perform two works by composer Charles Fussell during the next two seasons. "Specimen Days," commissioned and premiered by Mendelssohn Club in 1992, will be presented on a program in 2002-03, paired with "Choral Elegy" by Philadelphia composer Harold Boatrite. In 2003-04, Mendelssohn Club will perform a newly commissioned work by Fussell based on Hart Crane's poem, "The Bridge." Baritone Sanford Sylvan will be featured in both performances.

One of Philadelphia's oldest avocational choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia provides audiences with innovative programming that embraces the finest choral music of many cultures, traditions, periods and styles, including commissions of new choral works. Founded in 1874, the Mendelssohn Club's rich musical history includes the American premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony and the Philadelphia premieres of Brahms's Ein Deutches Requiem and Britten's War Requiem.

Network for New Music
Eight Commissions for the Network for New Music Ensemble

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2002-04

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, the Network for New Music will commission new chamber works by Gerald Levinson, Melinda Wagner, George Walker, and Thomas Whitman. PMP funding will also support NNM's Poetry Project, which in 2004 includes the commission of two sets of songs each by composers David Finko, Cynthia Folio, Jennifer Barker, and Jeremy Gill, all set to new poetry by Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Dunn.

Since 1984, Network for New Music has produced, presented and commissioned over 430 new works by composers of outstanding achievement and excellence. Winners of the 2001 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, Network for New Music has collaborated with the League of Composers/ISCM, the Society of Composers, Inc., the Stefan Wolpe Society, Temple University, and University of the Arts, and has been supported by composers of international reputation including Jacob Druckman, George Rochberg, Milton Babbitt, Bernard Rands, Joan Tower, George Walker, Aaron Kernis, and Oliver Knussen.

Opera Company of Philadelphia
Ariadne auf Naxos

Grant amount: $67,500
Grant period: 2002-03

A PMP grant to the Opera Company of Philadelphia will support seven performances of Richard Strauss's Ariadne Auf Naxos, starring mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose, soprano Jayne Casselman, soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge, and baritone Jochen Schmeckenbecher.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia, one of the fastest-growing opera companies in North America, is Philadelphia's only grand opera company. Established in 1975 through a merger of the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, the Opera Company of Philadelphia is considered home to some of opera's brightest singers, composers, directors and conductors.

Orchestra 2001
Six World Premieres and Eastern Guest Artists

Grant amount: $60,000
Grant period: 2002-04

Orchestra 2001 will use PMP support to commission and present the world premieres of five works by Philadelphia area composers George Crumb, David Crumb, James Matheson, Melinda Wagner, and Jay Riese; present the world premiere of a work by Philadelphia composer Tina Davidson; and engage renowned Asian artists Wu Man, pipa soloist; The Silk Road Ensemble, conducted by Bright Sheng; and the Oriental Music Ensemble.

Orchestra 2001 is one of Philadelphia's most active, ambitious, and internationally admired cultural assets, as well as one of America's most important and widely respected 20th- and 21st-century music ensembles. Recent highlights include four fully staged operas; works by 25 American composers, including 11 premieres; Shostakovich's colossal 14th Symphony in the first American performance of the composer's alternate version of the work with texts in the original languages; and four performances and a recording of Gerald Levinson's Time and the Bell.

Painted Bride Art Center
Beat This! Drumming at the Core

Grant amount: $80,000
Grant period: 2002-04

Funding from PMP will support the Painted Bride Art Center's percussion series "Beat This! Drumming at the Core," featuring four traditional drumming ensembles (Grupo Afro Boricua, Masters of Percussion, Soh Daiko, and La Troupe Makandal) and four contemporary/experimental percussion groups (Scrap Arts Music, Flammable Contents, Nexus, and Beat the Donkey).

Founded in 1969, the Painted Bride Art Center is recognized nationally as a premiere venue for dance, jazz, poetry, spoken work, theater, world music, and visual arts. The Bride has presented some of the brightest legends, including Spalding Gray, Elvin Jones, and Philadanco, and has earned a reputation as an incubator for emerging artists who are breaking new ground in their fields.

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
Development and Expansion of Collaborative Special Repertoire Outreach Series

Grant award: $40,000
Grant period: 2002-2003

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society will use PMP support to present two new collaborative special repertoire series: a five-concert "Festival of Philadelphia Composers" featuring new music by George Crumb, Jacob Druckman, Ralph Shapey, Richard Wernick, Stefan Wolpe and others; and four all-Bach concerts featuring solo cello and violin repertoire. Guest artists include Network for New Music; Orchestra 2001; Juilliard String Quartet; Chicago String Quartet; Miami String Quartet; Colorado String Quartet; Brentano String Quartet; Peter Serkin, piano; Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano; Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano; Edward Aldwell, piano; Anner Bylsma, cello; and Soovin Kim, violin.

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society was formed to enable audiences to enjoy exceptional international artists and ensembles, including rarely heard repertoire and new music. Since its 1985 founding, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society has presented nearly 450 concerts featuring artists of national and international renown. The annual program today consists of more than 50 performances and 35 educational events.

Philadelphia Singers
Handel's Solomon

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2002-03

Funding from the Philadelphia Music Project will support the Philadelphia Singers' 30th anniversary gala performance and Philadelphia premiere of Handel's Solomon with guest soloist John Maldonado, countertenor.

The Philadelphia Singers is a chorus of professional singers who excel in solo as well as ensemble work. Founded in 1972, the Singers have performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and the New York Philharmonic. They recently entered into a partnership with the Philadelphia Orchestra as its resident chorus.

Piffaro, The Renaissance Band
Large-scale Choral/Instrumental Works of the Late 16th and Early 17th Centuries

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2002-03

With funding from the Philadelphia Music Project, Piffaro will present two programs that illustrate two contrasting ways of combining instruments and voices in 16th and 17th century performance practices: a reconstruction of a mass by Spanish composer Fancisco Guerrero; and a program featuring the works of 17th century German master Heinrich Schütz, Matthias Weckmann and their contemporaries. Guest artists include In Clara Voce; Kiri Tollackson, cornetto; Mack Ramsey, sackbut and recorder; Christa Patton, harp; Laura Heimes, Philip Anderson, and John Alston, vocalists; and Barbara Weiss, keyboards.

Piffaro, The Renaissance Band brings to its audiences historically-informed performances of music from the late Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque periods, in the manner of the civic, court, and chapel wind bands that existed between 1450 and 1650. The ensemble has toured extensively throughout the US and Europe. Piffaro has had successive recording contracts with Newport Classic, Deutsche Grammophon's Archiv Produktion, and Dorian Recordings, and has released eight recordings.

SRUTI, The India Music and Dance Society
Sangam--Confluence of Carnatic and Hindusthani Music

Grant amount: $12,500
Grant period: 2002-2003

PMP support will enable SRUTI to present two programs featuring a confluence of the Northern (Hindusthani) and Southern (Carnatic) streams of music from India: a duet by two slide instrument maestros Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat and Chitravina Ravikiran playing two super vinas designed by them, accompanied by percussionists Subrata Bhattacharya on the tabla and T. H. Subhashchandran on the ghatam (clay pot) and konnakkol (vocal percussion); and a vocal concert in Carnatic style by T. M. Krishna.

SRUTI strives to enhance the cultural awareness of the region by presenting live Indian classical music and dance programs. Founded in 1986, SRUTI has organized over 85 concerts featuring more than 300 distinguished artists, including acclaimed sitarist Ravi Shankar.

Strings for Schools
A Violin Summit

Grant amount: $30,000
Grant period: 2002-2003

Strings for Schools will use PMP funding to support a violin summit featuring three of America's most talented jazz violinists, Regina Carter, John Blake, Jr., and Diane Monroe, accompanied by Kenny Barron, piano; Avery Sharp, bass; and Winard Harper, drums. Activities planned include an in-school workshop for jazz instrumentalists at the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts; a master class and joint concert with the Main Line Chamber Orchestra, a youth orchestra; and a public performance.

Founded in 1974, Strings for Schools presents educational programs on jazz, classical, and multicultural/multiethnic musical traditions to students in Philadelphia and the surrounding communities. Strings for Schools offers over 500 school and public concerts a year and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Billy Taylor, Quincy Jones, and Geri Allen.

WHYY
Sunday Showcase

Grant amount: $80,000
Grant period: 2002-2003

A PMP grant to WHYY will support Sunday Showcase, broadcasting the Philadelphia Orchestra's 2002-03 season, five productions by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and selected programs from the Curtis Institute of Music's 2001-02 season on WHYY 91FM.

Founded over 45 years ago, WHYY operates community public radio and television stations 91FM, TV12, and DTV55, as well as whyy.org. The mission of WHYY's Arts and Culture Services program is to help define the Delaware Valley as a world-class center for the cultural arts and to help organizational partners reach the largest possible audience with their unique brand of expression.

Year 2002 Panelists

Don Byron, Jazz Clarinetist and Composer
Don Byron has been consistently voted best clarinetist by critics and readers alike in leading international music publications since being named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by Down Beat in 1992. He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Symphony Space in New York City, where he created Contrasting Brilliance: The Music of Henry Mancini and Sly Stone during a creative residency in 2000. His current ensembles include Music for Six Musicians, a new quintet with drummer Ralph Peterson, a sextet dedicated to early Ellington that he calls "Jungle Music for Post-Moderns," and Bug Music/Bug Music for Juniors. He is working on soundtracks for two documentary films for PBS and producing an album of his "Six Musicians" pianist Edsel Gomez. Byron's recordings include Tuskegee Experiments (Nonesuch, 1992), Don Byron plays the Music of Mickey Katz (Nonesuch, 1993), Music for six musicians (Nonesuch, 1995), No-Vibe Zone (Knitting Factory Works, 1996), Bug Music (Nonesuch, 1996), Nu Blaxploitation (Blue Note, 1998), Romance with the Unseen, A Fine Line: Arias & Lieder (Blue Note, 2000), and You are #6: More Music for Six Musicians.

Patrick Gardner, Director, Riverside Choral Society
Patrick Gardner, the director of New York City's Riverside Choral Society, is also the Director of Choral Activities at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Riverside Choral Society serves regularly as the chorus for the Mostly Mozart Festival and will perform this summer with both the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Active in premiering new music, he has won the praise of such notable composers as William Bolcom, John Harbison, Lou Harrison, and Lukas Foss. Mr. Gardner has conducted more than 70 major works with orchestra in the past ten years. He has prepared choruses for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Austin Symphony, and for a presentation of the Berlioz Requiem conducted by Robert Shaw. Mr. Gardner acted as the chorus master for the internationally acclaimed Robert Altman production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at the Opera de Lille in France. He has recorded for Albany, Folkways and Ethereal records and recently recorded Miriam Gideon's Sacred Service. His recording of William Bolcom's The Miracle is to be released in early May of 2002.

Steven Mackey, Composer and Professor of Music, Princeton University
Steven Mackey is a Professor of Music at Princeton University where he has been a member of the faculty since 1985. As a composer, Mackey has been honored by numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, two awards from the Kennedy Center for the performing arts and in 1995 he was given the Stoeger Proze for Chamber Music by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mackey will be the featured composer at the 2003 Holland festival in Amsterdam. Among his commissions are works for the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kronos Quartet, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Fromm Foundation, the Borromeo String Quartet, Bill Frisell and Joey Baron, and cellist Fred Sherry. His recent works include Tuck and Roll (concerto for orchestra and electric guitar), Eating Greens, Lost and Found, and String Theory (for string quartet). His monodrama, Ravenshead, has been performed nearly one hundred times and was named "Best New Opera of 1998" by USA Today.

Angela Mariani, Host, "Harmonia"; founding member, Altramar
Angela Mariani, a native of western Massachusetts, is a performer and scholar in the field of early music. After leaving the University of Massachusetts with a degree in music theory, she taught and performed freelance in the Boston area before striking out for the Midwest, where she earned a graduate degree at Indiana University's Early Music Institute. Mariani is a founding member of the medieval ensemble Altramar, whose CD "Crossroads of the Celts" was described in a 5-star review by Classical Pulse magazine as "a fine demonstration of how medieval music can speak directly to us." Angela has written, hosted, and produced "Harmonia" for Indiana University Public Radio on a weekly basis since 1991 locally and 1995 nationally, drawing on commercial, private and rare archival recordings as well as interviews with performers and scholars. She is a member of the music faculty at Texas Tech University.

Paul Meecham, General Manager, New York Philharmonic
Paul Meecham was appointed General Manager of the New York Philharmonic in March 1999. As General Manager, his areas of responsibility cover the management of all the orchestra's activities: the concert schedule and all operational activities involved in its implementation; the planning and execution of touring; all radio, recording, television, and other media projects; the supervision of educational activities; the marketing and orchestral personnel departments; the New York Philharmonic archive; and the purchase of rare string instruments. British born, Meecham was musically trained on piano and violin and graduated as Bachelor of Music at the University of Birmingham, England. After a career in music publishing, mostly at the London firm of Boosey & Hawkes, he moved into orchestra management, first as Head of Marketing and Sales at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1988 to 1991, and from 1991 to 1997 as General Manager of Britain's premier 20th century music orchestra, the London Sinfonietta. Meecham also served as General Manager of the San Francisco Symphony before joining the New York Philharmonic.

Daniel Sheehy, Director and Curator, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Previous to joining the Smithsonian in 2000, Dan Sheehy was staff ethnomusicologist and Director of Folk & Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts. A native of California, he received his B.A. in music education and his M.A. and doctoral degrees in ethnomusicology from UCLA. In recent years, he has published chapters on regional music of Mexico in the books Musics of Multicultural America, Music in Latin American Culture, and The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music, and he co-edited the 1100-page South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean volume 2 of The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. In addition, he has been an active professional musician for over 30 years, specializing in Mexican mariachi music.

George Shirley, Tenor, Director of Vocal Arts, University of Michigan
George Shirley, B.S., (tenor), is in demand nationally and internationally as performer, teacher and lecturer. He has won international acclaim for his performances in the world's great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera (New York), Royal Opera (Covent Garden, London), Deutsche Oper (Berlin), New York City Opera, Scottish Opera (Glasgow), Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera (Kennedy Center), Michigan Opera Theater, Glyndebourne Festival, and Santa Fe Opera. He has recorded for RCA, Columbia, Decca, Angel, Vanguard, CRI, and Philips and received a Grammy Award in 1968 for his role in the RCA recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte. In addition to oratorio and concert literature, Mr. Shirley has, in a career that spans 41 years, performed more than 80 operatic roles with many of the world's most renowned conductors (Solti, Klemperer, Stravinsky, Ormandy, von Karajan, Colin Davis, Böhm, Ozawa, Haitink, Boult, Leinsdorf, Boulez, DePriest, Krips, Cleva, Dorati, Pritchard, Bernstein, Maazel, and others). Mr. Shirley was the first African American tenor to sing leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera, where he remained for eleven years as leading artist. Professor Shirley joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1987.

Erica Zielinski, General Manager, Lincoln Center Festival
Erica Zielinski began her arts management career in Boston, where her earliest assignments included positions at the Huntington Theater Company and the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. She attended business school at Boston University and studied harp at the Cleveland Institute and Baldwin Wallace College. In 1984, Zielinski relocated to New York and began her career at the New York Philharmonic. In 1988, she co-founded a company that provides artistic and strategic management consulting to orchestras, with a special emphasis on creating professional-quality international concert tours and cultural exchanges for pre-professional orchestras and choirs. In January 1996, Zielinski was named general manager of the Lincoln Center Festival, an annual 3-week summer festival that presents opera, dance, music, theater and performance art.