| Grants: Grantees |
2006 Grantees Hold cursor over images for credits and captions.
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Grant amount: $60,000 The Academy of Vocal Arts will produce a concert performance of Hector Berlioz’s rarely heard final opera, Beatrice et Benedict. Vocalists will include Evelyn Pollock (soprano), Ariya Sawadivong (soprano), Jennifer Hsiung (mezzo-soprano), Elspeth Kincaid (mezzo-soprano), and Stephen Costello (tenor). Founded in 1934, the Academy of Vocal Arts provides tuition-free vocal training and opera experience to talented young singers who have the potential for international stature. AVA graduates include winners of prestigious vocal competitions, such as the Richard Tucker Foundation Award and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and frequently perform on the major opera stages of the world. Each year AVA presents its resident artists in fully stages opera performances; recent productions have included Lucrezia Borgia, L'amico Fritz, Puccini’s Edgar and Le villi, Massanet’s La Navarraise, and the world premiere of Margaret Garwood’s The Scarlet Letter.
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Grant amount: $20,000 The American Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter, will bring the composer/improviser Pauline Oliveros and her Deep Listening Ensemble to conduct artist workshops with Philadelphia composers and performers, and to present programs for the general public. Building a visible presence for new music and supporting local composers and performers, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composers Forum dedicates its activities to the spirit of collaboration and connection. It connects composers to other composers and artists, to the resources available in the community, and with new audiences in a fresh and innovative fashion. Featured on NPR's “All Things Considered,” the Chapter was credited for the growing interest and visibility of new music in Philadelphia. The Community Partners program continues to fund projects that have encompassed teaching elements of jazz and improvisation, creating a new work for a local community band, and working with homeless women and their families.
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Grant amount: $30,000 Center City Opera Theater will present a new chamber orchestra version of Lowell Lieberman’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. This will be the regional premiere of the opera, and just its third production since it was composed in 1996. The performances will be held in the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater. Vocalists will include Justin Vickers (tenor), Jody Sheinbaum (soprano), Rachele Gilmore (soprano), David Schmidt (baritone), Graham Fandrei (baritone), and David Cushing (bass). Center City Opera Theaterwas founded in 1999 with
three objectives in mind: (1) to produce well-known, new, and less-familiar
opera and musical theater in an intimate setting; (2) to provide opportunities
for emerging opera and theater professionals who are becoming known
for their excellence; and, (3) to be an active arts educator in the
Philadelphia metropolitan area. Since its 2003-04 season the Center
City Opera Theater performs in the Kimmel Center. The company places
its highest emphasis on beautiful singing and dramatic storytelling,
utilizing eloquent, sophisticated and simple design techniques. The
company is dedicated to making critically important performance opportunities
available to the current generation of opera and theatrical performers,
designers, and directors. |
Grant amount: $4,700 Chamber Music Now received support for The Cinematic Cello, a concert featuring local cellist Ovidiu Marinescu in a multimedia recital in which he will perform alongside video and electronic accompaniment. CMN will commission four world premieres for the concert, pairing local composers and filmmakers to produce collaborative compositions inspired by life in Philadelphia. The commissioned composers include Richard Belcastro, Andrea Clearfield, David Ludwig, and Paul Geissinger. Geissinger will produce his own film; the three other filmmakers will include Deron Albright, Ed Feldman, and Can Yegen. Founded in 2002 by two composers, Chamber Music Now is in its fourth
year of providing the Philadelphia community with exceptional concert
productions. CMN has presented seven artists in ten productions and
premiered 22 new works written for its concert series, many by young
composers. This year the concert series features new repertoire inspired
by rock, pop, jazz and club music and will host world premiere performances
of CMN commissioned composers Jay Reise and Jan Krzywicki. |
Grant amount: $30,000 Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia will produce a program of symphonic choral music in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center. This concert will celebrate CASP’s 25 th anniversary and will feature a major commission by renowned composer Roxanna Panufnik as well as Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2. Guest Artists will include Jacqueline Horner (soprano), Suzanne DuPlantis (mezzo-soprano), William Yeats (tenor), and Diane Meredith Belcher (organ). Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia is recognized for performing choral music at the highest artist standards possible that is designed to enrich, engage, educate and inspire large and diverse audiences. Growing in critical acclaim and audience base, Choral Arts Society was the 2002 National Winner of Chorus America's prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence. This award was followed by Philadelphia Magazine's 2002 Best of Philly®. Choral Arts' 100-voice symphonic chorus is comprised of volunteer singers as well as a 16-voice professional core. Founded in 1982 and currently under the direction of Matthew Glandorf, Choral Arts has performed nearly 200 works by more than 100 composers in many languages.
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Grant Amount: $33,000 The Curtis Institute of Music will commission and present the world premiere of a new work by Eric Sessler – an organ concerto for Alan Morrison and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. The performance will use the new Dobson pipe organ in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, to be led by Mark Russell Smith, music director and conductor of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. The Curtis Institute of Music trains exceptionally gifted young musicians
for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level.
Founded by Mary Louise Curtis Bok in 1924, the Curtis Institute offers
tuition-free training with today’s most respected artists and
teachers, including Julius Baker, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Gary
Graffman, Jaime Laredo, Otto-Werner Mueller, Ned Rorem, and Peter Serkin,
among others. Curtis’s ensembles include a symphony orchestra,
an opera department, and a small number of students studying keyboard,
composition, and conducting. |
Grant amount: $30,000 International House Philadelphia will present Seraphic Light, a year-long celebration honoring the oeuvre and 80 th birthday of John Coltrane. This series seeks to commemorate and continue Coltrane’s legacy through unique performances with Coltrane’s former bandmates as well as those who continue to explore and celebrate the boundaries of jazz. Guest Artists will include Rova Orkestra: Ascension, with the Rova Saxophone Quartet; Spiritual Unity with Marc Ribot; the David S. Ware Quartet; Cecil Taylor; and the Dave Burrell Ensemble. Founded in 1910, International House Philadelphia is an independent,
non-profit organization housing nearly 1200 students, scholars, and
interns from over 65 countries and presents public programs to over
30,000 Philadelphia area residents throughout the year. Film + Music
@ International House, dance and theater performances, art exhibits
and cultural festivals enable area audiences to explore their own roots
and learn about the heritage of others. International House provides
more than 150 cultural, educational and social programs that assist
its residents and other international students and scholars with their
adjustment to American society and life in Philadelphia, while encouraging
cross-cultural understanding and leadership skills. |
Grant amount: $60,000 The Kimmel Center Presents received support for its Fresh Ink series, featuring new music virtuosos in the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater. Violinist Jennifer Koh will premiere a Jennifer Higdon piece co-commissioned by the Kimmel Center. eighth blackbird will present an intriguing program including recent works by Joseph Schwantner, Derek Bermel, David M. Gordon, and Steven Mackey. And the Kronos Quartet will make its Kimmel Center debut with a multimedia production of Terry Riley’s “Sun Rings.” Each concert will conclude with an Artist Chat, and all of the performances will be recorded and broadcast on WRTI-FM. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission is to operate a world-class performing
arts center that engages and serves a broad audience from throughout
the Greater Philadelphia region. The principal means by which the Kimmel
Center achieves its mission include: operating and maintaining world-class
performance venues; providing state-of-the-art venues and support facilities
for its Resident Companies and a broad range of other regional performance
groups at rates that are below its costs; presenting artistic programming
of the highest quality that serves diverse audiences and brings world-renowned
artists to Philadelphia; and providing vital arts education and community
programming to serve the interests of a broad and diverse audience.
The Center’s facilities include Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater,
Commonwealth Plaza, Innovation Studio, the Merck Arts Education Center
and several ancillary spaces. KCI also manages the historic Academy
of Music, which is owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association.
The Center’s facilities host eight resident companies: The Philadelphia
Orchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, Philadanco, The Chamber
Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society,
American Theater Arts for Youth, the Opera Company of Philadelphia,
and the Pennsylvania Ballet.
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Grant amount: $30,000 Latin Fiesta will present the second annual Hispanic music festival, Hispanos…Many Roots…Many Faces at the Arts Bank on the Avenue of the Arts, during the Spring of 2007. The highlight of the festival will be the world premiere of the Hispanic suite “Tabla Raza,” commissioned from composers Tania León and Arturo O’Farrill. Two concerts and a workshop will explore the richness of Hispanic musical heritage and include performances by Latin Fiesta; Badal Roy, tabla master artist; La Cumbiamba eNeYé, a leading Colombian music ensemble from New York, and Cristian Puig, flamenco guitarist/singer. Latin Fiesta has won national acclaim as pioneers in the presentation
of crossover concerts. The 10 member ensemble is led by Cuban born
concert pianist Maria del Pico Taylor, professor at Temple University
and a well known authority in Hispanic music. The ensemble has performed
nationwide with symphony orchestras, in festivals, residency and outreach
programs. |
Grant amount: $30,000 Montgomery County Community College will present a series of three concerts entitled “Back to the Roots.” The concerts will feature two ensembles, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and The Holmes Brothers, and a legendary icon of American folk music, Odetta. Through pre-concert lectures given by Dr. Gloria Goode, the series will explore the cultural origins of this music, as well as the artists’ individual influences. The cultural mission of Montgomery County Community College is to
serve as a focal point for cultural activities, providing public access
to the arts for county residents through arts presenting and educational
activities. Over its 18-year history, MCCC’s Lively Arts Series
has introduced audiences to the work of exemplary artists representing
a variety of performing mediums from different cultural traditions.
Recent seasons have included performances by Ron Carter, Mose Allison,
Cephus & Wiggins, Meredith Monk, and Abbey Lincoln. |
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Grant amount: $40,000 Musicopia will bring the Appalachia Waltz Trio, under the direction of fiddler Mark O’Connor, to Philadelphia for a three-part project to perform with jazz violinist, John Blake, Jr., a Strings for Schools roster artist. The project, which includes jazz, country, and classical elements, will feature performances in a student workshop, a guest appearance at the 188 th Annual Philadelphia All City Youth Orchestra, and a public concert with newly commissioned works by O’Connor and Blake. Musicopia, founded in 1974 as Strings for Schools, presents educational
programs on jazz, classical, and multicultural/multiethnic musical
traditions to students in Philadelphia and the surrounding communities.
Musicopia offers over 500 school and public concerts a year and has
collaborated with such renowned artists as Billy Taylor, Quincy Jones,
Geri Allen, and McCoy Tyner. |
Grant amount: $60,000 The Network for New Music will conduct a two-year commissioning and performance project, involving the creation of six major chamber works by emerging and established composers David Ludwig, Zhou Long, Richard Festinger, George Tsontakis, Richard Brodhead, and Shulamit Ran. The project will feature guest performances by Group Motion Dance Theatre. ince 1984, Network for New Music has produced, presented and commissioned
over 500 new works by composers of outstanding achievement and excellence.
Winners of the 2001 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, Network
for New Music has collaborated with the League of Composers/ISCM, Phrenic
New Ballet, poets Sonia Sanchez and Stephen Dunn, Temple University,
the University of the Arts, and many other artists and institutions.
The group has commissioned composers of international reputation including
Milton Babbitt, Bernard Rands, Augusta Read Thomas, Mario Davidovsky,
Chen Yi, Gerald Levinson, Thomas Whitman, Melinda Wagner, Steven Mackey,
James Primosch, Andrea Clearfield, George Walker and many others. |
Grant amount: $30,000 Orchestra 2001 will produce a series of five concerts called Ligeti: Life Cycle and Legacy. Each program will include a work by the iconic Hungarian composer György Ligeti, as well world premieres by five Philadelphia composers: Andrea Clearfield, Philip Maneval, Larry Nelson, Luis Prado and Andrew Rudin. Guest soloists are Sharla Nafziger (soprano), Jody Karin Applebaum (soprano), Gloria Justen (violin), Diane Monroe (violin), Jennifer Koh (violin), Ulrich Boeckheler (cello). 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. |
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Grant amount: $80,000 The Painted Bride Art Center will present XL, four concerts featuring large ensembles spanning global and cultural influences. The featured groups are Philadelphia’s own Odessa to Istanbul, a 14-member collaboration between Arabic/Jewish Middle Eastern traditions with Eastern European Klezmer; Cudamani, a 25-member Gamelan orchestra from Bali; Papo Vazquez’s Pirates Troubadours, a 14-piece ensemble that integrates jazz and Afro-Caribbean traditions, and Philip Hamilton’s Voices, a 15-member choir featuring vocalizations from a wide spectrum of global traditions. Collaborating organizations include Swarthmore College, Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos, Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, and WRTI-fm. ounded 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. |
Grant amount: $60,000 The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society will produce Chamber Music Today, a special series of concerts that will offer the first Philadelphia performances of ten new works – including two world-premieres of compositions by Richard Wernick and Robert Capanna – at concerts in the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Convention Center, and Curtis Institute of Music. Chamber Music Today will feature appearances in the city next season by such exceptional artists as the Orion and Miami String Quartets, Imani Winds, Meridian Arts Ensemble, pianist Peter Serkin and Ursula Oppens, the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri String Quartet, and the Philadelphia Orchestra ensemble with David Kramer (flute). The project will also include educational outreach programs for Philadelphia students. he Philadelphia Chamber Music Society was formed to make exceptional
international artists and ensembles widely available to people throughout
the Greater Philadelphia region through a policy of affordable ticket
pricing. Since its founding in 1986, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
has presented over 600 concerts of masterworks, rarely-heard repertoire
and newly-composed music, performed by some of the leading artists in
the world. Today’s annual program consists of more than 60 performances
and 50 educational events. |
Grant amount: $30,000 The Philadelphia Folklore Project received $30,000 in support of its Musicians-in-Residence program. The program will feature three outstanding African immigrant musicians – Zaye Tete, Fatu Gayflor, and Mogauwane Mahloele. Both Tete and Gayflor are from Liberia and sing a range of traditional Liberian songs. Mahloele sings and plays his native BaPedi South African music and develops new material based on this heritage. The Musicians-in-Residence program will include residencies, the commissioning of collaborative work, performances in two public concerts, and broadcast video postcards. Collaborating Organizations include WHYY-fm, and the Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS). The Philadelphia Folklore Project is a 19-year-old public interest
urban folk-life agency committed to sustaining community-based folk
arts in our region. PFP works for cultural equity, offering public
education in the folk arts (school- and community center-based long-term
teaching residencies), technical assistance services (grant-writing
workshops for artists), community projects (performance salons and
concerts, exhibitions), and documentary resources (publications, videos/DVDs,
and an archive housing a record of Philadelphia folk and traditional
arts.) We are committed to the practice of investing in, and spurring
investment in, the cultural infrastructure and folk-life activities
of local communities, and conduct ongoing ethnographic research into
local arts, history and culture. |
Grant amount: $30,000 The Philadelphia Museum of Art was awarded $30,000 to support performances by two jazz orchestras presented as part of the Museum’s Art After 5 series. Concerts by the Mingus Big Band and Vanguard Jazz Orchestra will enliven the Art After 5 repertoire and draw new and returning audiences during the extended Friday evening hours. Chartered in 1876, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest
art museums in the United States and houses collections of works from
around the world. The museum presents a Friday evening jazz series, Art
After 5, that features performances by acclaimed jazz artists.
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 Piffaro,
The Renaissance BandThe Return of the Pipers – Renaissance Winds in Consort Grant Amount: $30,000 Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, will present two concerts, “The Return of the Pipers – Renaissance Winds in Consort” and “The Bavarian Hofkapella – A Wedding Celebration,” both of which stage music of the Renaissance and early Baroque from historical events in which ensembles and specific repertoire have been documented or depicted in artwork. These large-scale, festive occasions used sizeable musical forces and are seldom, if ever, recreated in modern concerts. Guest Artists will include Daphna Mor (recorder); Parthenia, A Consort of Viols; Laura Heimes (soprano); Tony Boutté (tenor); Philip Anderson (tenor); Sumner Thompson (baritone); William Dongois (cornetto); Mack Ramsey (sackbut and recorder), and Erik Schmalz (sackbut). 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. |
 Relâche Future Sounds 2006 Grant amount: $30,000 Relâche will commission and perform new works by composers Elliott Sharp and Jennifer Barker on its Future Sounds series. Elliott Sharp will write a fifteen-minute piece entitled “Evolute,” inspired by both differential geometry and recent public debate surrounding Darwinism and Creationism, for the eight-member Relâche ensemble and laptop processor. Jennifer Barker will write a ten-minute piece for Relâche drawing from her deep connection to the heritage of her native Scotland. Relâche is a new music ensemble with a unique
sound – flute, oboe, clarinet/sax, bassoon, piano, percussion,
viola and bass – first established in 1979. The players of Relâche
are classically trained, but often explore sounds from outside of Western
classical traditions, such as jazz, free improvisation, electronica,
world music, and film music. To date, Relâche has performed more
than 550 concerts, commissioned over 150 new works (from composers
like Robert Ashley, Gavin Bryars, John Cage, Uri Caine, Philip Glass,
and Pauline Oliveros, to name a few), and recorded three CDs, the latest
of which, Pick It Up, was nominated for a Grammy Award. |
 SRUTI,
The India Music and Dance Society Unity and Diversity in Classical Music Grant amount:
$24,500 SRUTI, The India Music and Dance Society, will present three concerts: a recital by the renowned vocalist Sudha Raghunathan in the South Indian (Carnatic) style, a sitar concerto for western classical orchestra by Shafaatullah Khan and the Mansfield University Orchestra, and a symphonic work by the Jayamangala School of Music and Dance. SRUTI, the India Music and Dance Society, has earned a reputation
as a premium organization presenting artists of high caliber. Founded
in 1986, SRUTI has organized well over 100 concerts with about 350
very distinguished artists participating. Highlights of the performances
presented by SRUTI include a concert by the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi
Shankar to commemorate its tenth anniversary. As SRUTI celebrates its
twentieth anniversary this year, several luminaries will participate
in the season’s concert series. |
 Tempesta
di Mare Hoshanna Grant amount: $30,000 Tempesta di Mare will present a concert entitled, “Hoshanna,” featuring two anonymous Hebrew cantatas from 1730s Italy for soloists, chorus and orchestra, and a motet for soprano and strings from 1770’s Amsterdam by Lidarti. This seldom heard repertoire represents an important period of Jewish culture during the Enlightenment. Two of the works will be US premieres. WHYY 91-FM will broadcast the performance on its classical music program “Showcase.” Guest Artists include Sheryl Heather Cohen (soprano), Nell Snaidas (soprano), Daniel Bubeck (alto), Marc Molomot (tenor), David Newman (baritone), and the Chamber Singers of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges. Tempesta di Mare performs baroque music on baroque instruments with
repertoire that ranges from staged opera with full orchestra to chamber
music. The ensemble was founded in 1996, and its debut CD that year
of Veracini recorder sonatas on PGM received BBC Music Magazine’s
highest marks. Tempesta’s Greater Philadelphia Concert Series has
enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence since its launch in 2002. The group
has toured from Oregon to Prague. National broadcasts of performances
include NPR’s Performance Today, Sunday Baroque and Harmonia.
Concerts are carried locally on WHYY-91FM's Showcase and video
of recent performances can be seen on WYBE Public Television. WHYY-TV12
has also produced a three-documentary series about the group. Tempesta
di Mare records for the British label Chandos, with a discography that
includes the world-premiere Weiss Lute Concerti (2004) and Flaming
Rose: Handel's German Arias with Julianne Baird (forthcoming). |
 Temple
University Boyer College of Music and Dance Boyer College Atelier Series Grant amount: $80,000 Temple University ’s Boyer College of Music and Dance received $80,000 for the Boyer College Atelier Series, produced in partnership with Peregrine Arts. This three-program series features, first, “The Fantastic Voyage,” a revision of Gavin Bryars’ “The Sinking of the Titanic,” performed by the Momenta String Quartet and Boyer College students. New York City’s Ridge Theater will contribute a multimedia staging. Second, Asian-American jazz composer and saxophonist Fred Ho will stage his full-length music theater work, “The Black Panther Suite,” performed by his Afro Asian Music Ensemble, members of his theater company, Big Red Media, and Temple students. The program will open with a newly commission work by Ho for student ensemble. Third, the British sound artist Robin Rimbaud (a.k.a. “Scanner”) will develop an electro-acoustic performance-installation work called “The Gentle Madness,” to be performed by the Momenta String Quartet, Rimbaud, and student musicians. Each program will be accompanied by master-classes and programs of works by faculty and student composers. Collaborative partners for the project will include The Rosenbach Museum & Library and the Ryerss Museum and Library. The Temple University Boyer College of Music and Dance has grown
steadily from its nascence as a department in the College of Education
at the beginning of the 20th century to its current position as a
nationally recognized, comprehensive college of music and dance.
Approximately 300 music performances and 25 dance concerts are presented
each year by Boyer College students, faculty and guest artists. The
Boyer College of Music has a rich engagement with new music performance,
one which offers student composers an exceptionally wide range of
performance opportunities. Students can participate in the Early
Music Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, Small Chamber Ensembles, Orchestra,
Wind Ensemble, Concert and Marching Band, Contemporary Music Ensemble,
Concert Choir, Women’s Chorus, Chorale, University Singers,
World Music Ensemble, Opera Theater, Jazz Band, and various other
jazz ensembles. The Momenta Quartet, the distinguished new music
string quartet, has been in residency in the department of composition
for two years and regularly premiere student works. |
 West
Philadelphia Cultural AllianceThe Music of Francis Johnson Grant amount: $23,660 The West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance will produce a concert highlighting the music of Francis Johnson (1792-1844), a virtuoso keyed bugle player and band leader whose racially integrated band performed a mix of classical and folk music both in Philadelphia and abroad, arguably making him America’s first international star. The Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass will collaborate saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Philadelphia-based Time for Three, and pianist Karen Walwyn to perform works from Johnson’s repertoire, celebrating one of the country’s most important early musicians. Founded in 1984 by Frances Aulston, a former research librarian
of The Free Library of Philadelphia, community leader, and activist,
the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (WPCA) was formed to stimulate
community participation in the arts by cultivating an interest in,
understanding of, and appreciation for the arts in the greater Philadelphia
region. Located at 4949 Walnut Street in the heart of West Philadelphia,
WPCA is recognized as a leading arts and culture organization in
the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Its core programs include
arts in education, exhibitions, concerts and the administration of
The Paul Robeson House and Library. |
| Panelist
Biographies,
2006 Grant Panel
Martha Gilmer As the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) Vice President for Artistic Planning and Audience Development, Martha Gilmer is responsible for program planning, engaging guest conductors and artists, and formulating the orchestra’s artistic profile. She has developed long-standing relationships with some of the world’s greatest artists, including two Music Directors (Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim). She has also worked closely with Principal Guest Conductor Pierre Boulez, and leading guest conductors, soloists and composers. A core element of the artistic profile of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the largest professional chorus in the United States. In addition, Ms. Gilmer and her staff also oversee the artistic planning for Symphony Center Presents, a diverse series of recitals, concerts, and performances by top classical, jazz, pop, and world music artists, presented at Orchestra Hall. Recently, an increasing focus has been on program development for new audiences. In 1999, she launched a new initiative entitled ClassicEncounter, targeted at attracting audience members seeking an introduction to classical music. As program co-host she has developed and expanded this series of eight concerts leading to a new and dedicated audience for classical music. New to the 2005-06 season is a series of concerts initiated by Ms. Gilmer called Beyond the Score, which provide an in-depth exploration of a single work in a live-documentary format. Ms. Gilmer does extensive lecturing and writing on music. She is a member of The Chicago Network and was recently elected to Today’s Chicago Woman Hall of Fame. Ray
Allen Ray Allen is Associate Professor of Music and American Studies at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, and a Senior Associate at the Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College. He teaches courses in various aspects of American vernacular music with an emphasis on the music cultures of New York City. Trained in folklore, ethnomusicology, and American Studies, Professor Allen’s research has ranged from African-American gospel and Caribbean Carnival music to works of composer’s Ruth Crawford Seeger and George Gershwin. He is the author of Singing in the Spirit: African-American Sacred Quartets in New York City (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991) and co-editor of Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York (University of Illinois Press, 1998) and Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Worlds: Innovation and Tradition in Twentieth Century American Music (University of Rochester Press, forthcoming). He is currently working on a primary source reader for George Gershwin’s 1935 folk opera, Porgy and Bess. Allen’s media productions include New York the Global City: Grassroots Music from Around the Boroughs (Double CD and booklet compiled and annotated for Smithsonian Folkways Records, Spring 2001) and We Love You Like a Rock: The Story of the Dixie Hummingbirds (co-producer of 90 minute film documentary, Searchlight Films, 1995). He is currently working on a second documentary film on Philadelphia gospel music, Packin' Up: Marion Williams and the Philadelphia Gospel Women. Harolyn Blackwell One of the brightest stars on stages in the U.S. and abroad, charismatic soprano Harolyn Blackwell has been hailed by audiences and critics alike as a “model of agility, spunk, charm and silvery tone” for her expressive and exuberant performances, as well as for her radiant voice. She has performed with many of the major national and international opera companies and at festivals around the world, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires, San Francisco Opera, Netherlands Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra de Nice, Miami Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Opera Orchestra of New York, and New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, among others. At the Metropolitan Opera, she has appeared in several productions, including La Fille du Régiment,Un Ballo in Maschera, Le Nozze di Figaro, Manon, Die Fledermaus,and Werther. Miss Blackwell’s operatic and symphonic engagements have included appearances under the batons of such renowned conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Erich Kunzel, James Levine, Andrew Litton, Zdenek Macal, Kurt Masur, Trevor Pinnock, André Previn, Simon Rattle, Gerard Schwarz, Leonard Slatkin, and David Zinman. Ms. Blackwell has appeared with major American symphony orchestras, including The Minnesota Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. She has also appeared with The Munich Philharmonic, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra, and The New York Philharmonic. To date, Miss Blackwell’s recordings include the role of Clara in the Glyndebourne Festival’s Porgy and Bess (EMI); Cunegonde in the Broadway cast album of Candide (RCA-Victor), and two solo albums: Strange Hurt (RCA-Victor) and Blackwell Sings Bernstein (RCA-Victor). She is also featured on: Selections from Porgy and Bess (Telarc); The Canadian Brass: Noel (RCA-Victor); and Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (RCA-Victor).
Michael Cain After growing up on soul and R&B, then studying jazz, classical, African and Indonesian music, pianist/composer Michael Cain began a performing career working with flutist James Newton, Marlena Shaw, Gerald Wilson, Billy Higgins, and the New American Orchestra. After moving to New York, Mr. Cain began working with members of the M-Base collective such as Greg Osby and Robin Eubanks, joined Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, and worked with artists such as Dave Holland, Steps Ahead, Dewey Redman, Ravi Coltrane, Bobby McFerrin, Stanley Turrentine, Pat Metheny, and Meshell N’degeocello. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Cain was an assistant professor in the Jazz and Contemporary Media department at the Eastman School of Music. He directed small ensembles and taught a variety of subjects including improvisation, contemporary techniques in composition, pedagogy, history and analysis, and piano. In 1997, Mr. Cain joined the faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music where he currently directs an ensemble, teaches classes on rhythm analysis, and teaches private piano. He has received numerous awards, including a 2006 Grammy nomination for Dance of the Infidel, Meshell N'degeocello's 2005 Shawnachie Records release, on which Mr. Cain is pianist and co-arranger. He has recorded several records as a leader, including Circa, a 1996 ECM release. Karen Chester As Director of Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center in New York City, Karen Chester has been responsible for the artistic vision of Merkin Hall from 2002 through June of 2006. As founder and Principal of Sound Vision Inc., she has worked as an executive arts consultant, supported and promoted organizations as diverse as the Colorado Symphony; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS; and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Chester is also an award-winning recording producer. Her career started with the creation and launch of Koch International Classics, where she was involved with one of Koch’s first releases – the Grammy award-winning world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles. From there she moved to Angel/EMI Classics where she served as consulting producer from 1992 through 1994, and in 1995 she was chosen to head BMG Classics’ Catalyst label, where she became the Artists & Repertoire and Label Manager. As an independent producer, Ms. Chester produced recordings for RCA Victor/Red Seal, Angel/EMI, Sony Classical, Virgin Classics, and Nonesuch. She has recorded and worked with such artists and arts organizations as Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, Placido Domingo, Sergio & Odair Assad (Latin Grammy), Mark O'Connor, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Sharon Isbin (Grammy Nomination), the Brentano String Quartet, The London Symphony, and the Saint Paul Orchestra. Ms. Chester has produced several films and documentaries, among them for the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Association for Jazz Education, the Avery Fisher Prize and Placido Domingo's “Operalia.” Lee
Hyla Lee Hyla was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Greencastle, Indiana. He has written for numerous performers including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet (with Allen Ginsberg), The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum Musicae, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Lydian String Quartet, and Triple Helix. Premieres in 2004-05 included a setting of the poem “Quarry” by Paul Auster, which was premiered on the Works and Process series at the Guggenheim Museum in September 2004, Amore Scaduto for violin and cello, which was premiered by the Network for New Music and Phrenic New Ballet on March 8th and 9th, 2005 in Philadelphia; Paradigm Lost for saxophone quartet which was premiered by the Prism Quartet in New York at Symphony Space on May 20th; and The Triadic Coast for orchestra, commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center and premiered at Tanglewood on August 8th. Hyla has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim, the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Rome Prize. In the Fall of 2004 he was the Resident Composer at the American Academy in Rome, and in the Spring he was a composition fellow at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. His music has been recorded on Nonesuch, New World, Avant, Tzadik, and C.R.I., and is published exclusively by Carl Fischer. Trans, a CD of his orchestral music, performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose conductor, was released in February 2004 on New World. He lives in Boston where he is chairman of the composition department at the New England Conservatory. Michael McCraw Bassoonist Michael McCraw, cited in the newest edition of “Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians” as one of the most important early bassoon players and pedagogues of our time, began his career in New York City as a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and as one of the pioneers in the field of baroque performance with original instruments. From 1979 he lived in Cologne, Germany, playing with such ensembles as Musica Antiqua Koeln, Concentus musicus Wien, London Baroque, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and Camerata Koeln. Mr. McCraw moved to Toronto in 1991 to take up the position of principal bassoonist with the Tafelmusik Orchestra, a position he held through 2002. Also a gifted teacher, he has taught at festivals and workshops all over the world and was on the faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto as well as the University of Toronto. In August 2004 he was appointed director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University. His recordings number more than 140, including a highly acclaimed CD of Vivaldi bassoon concerti with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra. American Record Guide names this recording “number one for Vivaldi bassoon, with no reservations.” Mr. McCraw continues to free-lance in North America and Europe and is also musical director of the baroque double reed workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mark Shapiro
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2006 Grantees
Academy
of Vocal Arts
American
Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter
Center
City Opera Theater 
Chamber
Music Now
The
Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia
Curtis
Institute of Music 
International
House Philadelphia 
Kimmel
Center for the Performing Arts 
Latin
Fiesta 
Montgomery
County Community College 
Musicopia
Network
for New Music 
Orchestra
2001
Painted
Bride Art Center 
Philadelphia
Chamber Music Society 
Philadelphia
Folklore Project
Philadelphia
Museum of Art 