2019 applications are now under review. Winners to be announced the week of Jan 21.
This award funds innovative ideas in areas including artistic expression, audience development, education, community engagement, social justice, and technology.
Winners will sharpen their business skills through the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Residential (March 24-28, 2019) and expand their professional networks as participants of the Classical Evolution/Revolution Conference (July 21-27, 2019).
This opportunity is available to all Music Academy alumni. Proposals must align with or challenge the Academy’s mission to further classical music education while cultivating discerning, appreciative, and adventurous audiences. Awards granted for alumni projects range from $2,500 to $20,000 based on scope and scale.
About the 2018 award-winning projects
Ben Bliss ('12): MESS Core Ensemble
Under the leadership of stage director Paul Curran, the group spent five days preparing operatic scenes for a Brooklyn, New York performance on the final day of their Initial Ensemble Session, geared toward a millennial demographic.
Evan Shinners ('09): The Bach Store
Learn about the pop-up storefront in NYC where musicians played Bach every day, for five hours a day, over 30 days in the New York Times feature article by Michael Cooper: A Pop-Up Shop That Offers Bach Preludes, Fugues and Condoms
Molly Carr ('07), Anna Petrova ('17): NOVEL VOICES
This debut album for the Carr-Petrova Duo premiered this fall as part of their “Refugee Awareness” concert in Carnegie Hall, mounted to raise awareness about the lives and struggles of refugees across the globe.
Brenda Patterson ('00): The Forgotten
A Halloween double-bill that interwove Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Menotti’s The Medium, The Forgotten explored American poverty, economic anxiety, and teenage gender identity.
Theresa Kim ('06): IMS Presents
The founding director of International Music Sessions launched Social Integration Workshops, offering 5-weekend musical workshops to young people from diverse communities.