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The Next Chapter

Dear Christopher,

I recently joined New Music USA as President and CEO because I’m passionate about delivering more support to the many talented people who are bringing new music into our lives. I want this vibrant community of composers, performers, presenters, and programmers to have the funds they need to create exceptional work. I also want to be sure that New Music USA is doing everything in its powers to grow creative opportunities, programs, and services that will help the whole new music field to thrive. But first, I know that I need to listen and learn. So that’s how I’ve spent my first four months here. 

This fall we launched a survey to assess the needs of the new music community. I traveled and met with composers, performers, administrators, supporters, and other members of our community in places such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. I asked to meet with many different people, so I could hear the stories of the creators who make up our field. 

Happy Holidays!

Message From Vanessa Reed on Our New Amplifying Voices Program

This month, I’m very excited to announce a new partnership with the wonderful Sphinx Organization which was established to address the under-representation of people of color in classical music. The new Sphinx Venture Fund is enabling us to work with consortia of orchestras and composers to create more opportunities for co-commissioning and promotion of repertoire by diverse US-based composers who are writing exceptional music. In recent years, we’ve seen many positive examples of US orchestras commissioning and working closely with composers of color, including Philadelphia Orchestra and Detroit Symphony which facilitated hugely successful residencies with Hannibal Lokumbe and Gabriela Frank through our Music Alive program with support from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Amplifying Voices seeks to increase the momentum behind this change by encouraging more collaboration and collective action towards equitable representation of composers of color in the contemporary classical canon. As well as stimulating co-commissions and performance of existing repertoire, our new initiative with Sphinx will give composers the chance to contribute to artistic-planning, working with our team at New Music USA and orchestras’ artistic management on highlighting the array of excellent composers whose work would benefit from more exposure. 

Many of you told us in our 2019 Impact Survey that you wanted New Music USA to encourage a greater awareness of equity, diversity, and inclusion amongst the people and organizations we work with and support. Amplifying Voices is a response to this feedback and represents New Music USA’s first step towards other new initiatives which will put partnerships between music creators, performers, and institutions at the heart of long-term sector change.

Watch out for more news at SphinxConnect next February and thanks to my team at New Music USA and to Afa Dworkin at Sphinx for making this work possible!





 

Winter 2020 Project Grant Round Now Open

The deadline for submission will be 5 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, January 30, 2020. The online system is now open to accept applications.

Thank you to everyone who made their voice heard in our Impact Survey this fall. Based on your input, we've made many changes to our Project Grant program. Please read the full guidelines to see how your feedback has helped us implement new restrictions as well as increased transparency around funding facts and figures.

The Furies: A Laptopera

The Furies: A Laptopera is a retelling of the Greek tragedy Electra. It explores central questions regarding how communities escape from cycles of violence and the role of guilt and shame in community identity. This work investigates themes of personal responsibility, how justice interfaces with cycles of violence, and redemption. Watch a video of Act III here and mark your calendars for the full premiere of the entire opera in March 2020.

We Need an Antiracist Music Theory Classroom

Dave Molk writes in his recent NewMusicBox article, "Teaching Inequality: Consequences of Traditional Music Theory Pedagogy" that an antiracist approach to music theory recognizes that Western art music is simply one among many equally valid forms of artistic musical expression.

Stories from the Field: Grace and Mercy

Support from New Music USA allowed for the Fisher Center to present two beautiful and ambitious collaborations—Grace and Mercy—and bring the work of these incredible artists further into the community through free classes taught by Brown at the Fisher Center and other local venues.

—Gideon Lester, Artistic Director for Theater and Dance, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College

Make more stories like this happen, donate today!

Stories from the Field: A?rabe

Árabe would not be possible without the support of New Music USA! I have been able to expand my artistry, seek out new collaborators in different disciplines than my own, and create a project that is truly representative of my musical and personal identity.

—Amanda Ekery

Make more stories like this happen, donate today!

Winter 2020 Project Grant Deadline Approaching

The deadline for submission will be 5 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, January 30, 2020.

New Music USA Project Grants support a wide range of new music projects from individuals, groups, or organizations and focuses on any activity that involves new music getting out into the world.

We’re especially interested in having our funds go towards paying artists directly for their work, whether that’s creating, engaging, performing, or something else. We place special emphasis on:

• The creation of new musical work
• New live music for dance
• Recording costs
• Residency and community outreach activities

Val Jeanty hailed a 2020 Winter Jazzfest "must-see"

Sound artist Val Jeanty, who has created a distinctive style of music called Vodou electronica—a fusion of electronics and African Vodou rhythms—contributed mightily to multiple performances throughout the festival including Kris Davis' new project Diatom Ribbons with Jeanty and Terri Lyne Carrington as well as with the experimental project Nite Bjuti. Val Jeanty was a 2019 New Music USA Project Grant recipient with performance artist Risha Rox for their work Ritual Merging.

Ricky Ian Gordon and Frank Bidart's Ellen West praised as "unforgettable" during Prototype Festival

The seventy-five-minute one-act for two singers, two dancers, and chamber orchestra by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Frank Bidart is inspired by the case study of a real-life, early 20th-century woman who suffered from body dysmorphia and multiple eating disorders.

This 2019 New Music USA Project Grant recipient stood out during the annual festival of challenging, meaningful new works produced by Prototype. Read reviews from The New York Times, New York Classical Review, and OperaWire.

The next phase of the 'Bonnie Jones Grant'

Sound artist Bonnie Jones has been a busy organizer in the Baltimore art scene for 20 years. Creation, performance, curation, and community service are all crucial facets of her artistic life. 

Jones made a big impression at the Baltimore New Music Gathering as part of a panel featuring artists outside academia, saying, “I support my practice with the Bonnie Jones Grant. It’s called a job!”  She also wrote an amazing essay for NewMusicBox about the same subject a few years later. As the January 2020 cover interview for NewMusicBox, Jones talks with Alexandra Gardner about the next phase of this Bonnie Jones Grant as well as her work with Girls Rock Camps; DIY, handmade electronics building; and developing an inclusive understanding of her creative practice.

New Music Near You

• JANUARY 26, 2020 | FLIGHT+FUGUE: A Special Fifth Anniversary Concert | Houston, TX + LIVESTREAM
• JANUARY 28, 2020 | Outpost Concert Series - The Living Earth Show | Riverside, CA | FREE EVENT
• FEBRUARY 1, 2020 | Grand Chamber Music | Lowell, MA + LIVESTREAM
• FEBRUARY 9, 2020 | Transient Canvas and Michael Hall at Constellation | Chicago, IL
• FEBRUARY 11, 2020 | Each flows into the other (Project Grant Awardee) | Washington, DC
• FEBRUARY 16, 2020 | Premiere Performance of New Works written for fivebyfive (Project Grant Awardee) | Rochester, NY

Dear?Christopher,

I hope this email finds you and your loved ones well. 

It is in times of difficulty, despair, and loss as we face now that we are reminded of the power of music to offer us solace, hope, and a way forward. As we all navigate the challenges and changes this year has brought to our lives, New Music USA remains steadfast in our mission. Our organization exists to support all those doing the often difficult work of ushering new music into the world-work that has become even more difficult in our current collective circumstance. 

Throughout the year, we provide a growing number of opportunities that enable music creators and nonprofit organizations to thrive. At the end of this month, we'll be announcing the over 100 recipients of our annual Project Grants program, which offers project-specific funding to individuals and organizations for a broad range of activities including the creation of new work, live performances, and recordings. Our much-loved NewMusicBox publication continues to provide a platform for music creators to speak about their work and lives in their own words. 

Alongside these longstanding programs, last week we proudly announced the six composers who have been co-commissioned by orchestras around the country for our Amplifying Voices program, which launched in January of this year. These Black and Latinx artists will create new works to be performed by at least twenty-four orchestras. This is just one way in which we're helping to stimulate collective action toward a more open and equitable ecosystem for new music. (Watch the announcement video here.)

None of this work is possible without the generosity of our individual donors. Your support allows us to do what we do best-respond quickly and effectively to the needs of the new music community. If you are able, please consider supporting our efforts to keep music thriving in these challenging times. This is when your donation will make the biggest difference. 

With much appreciation,

 

Dear?Jack,

As we all know, the work of creating music and bringing it to audiences is now more difficult than ever. The entire new music ecosystem is suffering, and each segment of the ecosystem needs targeted support on their paths to recovery. The New Music Solidarity Fund-which provided emergency grants to over 1,000 musicians who lost income due to canceled performances-is only the first among several initiatives New Music USA plans to undertake in the next six months to assist music organizations and artists currently fighting to survive.  

 With your help, we hope to raise funds in order to: 

• increase our support of new music organizations-venues, festivals, presenters, and others who are at the forefront of commissioning and artist development, 
• provide resources to composers impacted by canceled work, and 
• sustain and grow our services as a national advocate and resource, with an eye toward supporting those most impacted by the current crisis. 

We can't do this alone. Please join us in this work by donating today. 

With much appreciation,

 

THE LATEST FROM NEW MUSIC USA:

Announcing Reel Change:

The Fund for Diversity in Film Scoring 

We recently launched Reel Change: The Fund for Diversity in Film Scoring, powered by SESAC and composer Christophe Beck.

Responding to the fact that the vast majority of films are scored by white men, Reel Change is a five-year grants and mentorship program for composers of diverse backgrounds who have been marginalized in film composition.

This fund supports film projects currently in production, where additional funding and mentoring would help composers at a pivotal moment in their careers. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling timeline by an advisory board made up of leading composers of film music, including Christophe Beck, Jongnic "JB" Bontemps, Kris Bowers, Miriam Cutler, Chanda Dancy, Tony Morales, and Pinar Toprak. Members of this advisory board will offer additional support and mentorship for interested applicants.
 

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN.
 

Make Your Vote Heard

Your vote is your voice. If you are eligible to vote, we encourage you to vote in person or drop your ballot directly in a registered ballot drop box.

The U.S. National Election is Tuesday, November 3

We''ve gathered information and resources that may help answer questions you encounter in this final stretch of our election cycle.

• Where to drop off your ballot
• Find your local election office
• What''s on your ballot
• What to do if you change your mind about voting by mail
• Know your voting rights
• Election Protection Line: 1-866-OUR-VOTE, espa?ol: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA

New Podcast and Articles on NewMusicBox

Upcoming Project Grant Events

To our dynamic community,

I am so grateful for the generosity and camaraderie you and our whole community have shown in this incredible time - and for all of the support behind the New Music Solidarity Fund.

The Fund has quadrupled its initial goals, raising enough money to provide emergency resources to over 900 musicians impacted by COVID-19. To date, we have received over $475,000 in donations and pledges, and are nearing our final goal of $500,000. If we can meet this goal, the Fund will be able to provide emergency grants to one thousand freelance musicians.

You can help us maximize our impact by spreading the word among your friends and community, donating if you can, sharing and supporting the performances and albums outlined in our letter below, or by circulating the link we've included to Claire Chase's extraordinary performance and fundraiser hosted by Music on the Rebound last week. Donations can be made here. Thanks again to everyone involved in this initiative which shows how together, as a community, we can make a difference for those most in need.

As we look ahead, we will continue to develop new programs and responses to your evolving needs and opportunities. It was both informative and inspiring to hear from representatives of the music community in Chicago who joined in with our discussion forum in April. I would also like to thank everyone who's signed up and helped with the events we're running across different US cities in the next few weeks.

We want as many people as possible to influence the next chapter of our work at New Music USA so please email solidarity@newmusicusa.org if you have any ideas or questions you'd like to share.

Our NewMusicBox content is also adapting to our changed reality and will include next month a livestreamed conversation, hosted by our very own Frank J. Oteri, with the composers behind New Music Gathering. I hope you will join in with that conversation on June 1 at 8 p.m. EDT along with the many other events and performances we're sharing in our continued efforts to amplify the work of the whole community.

Stay safe and stay creative!

Lori Laitman and Tom Cipullo Host Lean on Me - a Virtual Concert in Support of the Solidarity Fund

May 23, 2020 at 4pm EDT - Mark your calendars for performances of American Songs requested by essential workers in support of our New Music Solidarity Fund. Tickets are available here.
 

Save the Date: NewMusicBox LIVE Interview

June 1, 2020 at 8pm EDT - In advance of their virtual experience this year, our own Frank J. Oteri will interview the New Music Gathering organizers-Lainie Fefferman, Daniel Felsenfeld, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Ang?lica Negr?n-live with an open Q&A session at the end of the hour-long event. Please join us!
 

Advocacy

#BetterMusicCities - The Music Cities Resilience Handbook offers 9 suggestions any city, state, or region can take to increase the value of music in their communities. Reforms include recognizing music and culture in infrastructure plans, aligning relief to creation, establishing city music registries to support local songwriters, and refining and diversifying music education programs. New Music USA is pleased to have joined Sound Diplomacy''s campaign.

Letters to Congress - Both the Democratic leaders of the Arts and Humanities Caucuses as well as mayors from cities across the nation-supported by San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and spearheaded by the San Francisco Arts Alliance-have sent letters to Congress in support of funding for the arts and culture sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

New Music for Your Collection in Support of New Music Solidarity Fund

• Album - Son Lux (Project Grant recipient 2013 & 2016) albums on Bandcamp.
• Album - By and After Satie and Gibson Knight EP by R. Andrew Lee (Project Grant recipient 2017).
• Album - Creativity Quarantine by Flauto d''Amore Project on Bandcamp.
• Album - Dunns and Pearson: Olly Wilson Remixed by Arlene and Larry Dunn (NewMusicBox contributors 2020) and Kirk Pearson from New Focus Recordings.
• Score collection - Matthew Kennedy's Miniatures for One score collection through Just a Theory Press.

Updates from our Grantees

• New video - Filmmaker Saleem Reshamwala (KidEthnic) and his team assembled a short film documenting the residency and world premiere of Leyla McCalla''s Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever at Duke Performances in March 2020.
• New video - Watch How Sweet the Thought of You as Infinite (for marimba and electronics). This work was composed by Emma O''Halloran, performed by Adam Groh, produced by Four/Ten Media, and features electronics by Alex Dowling.

Thank You to National Sawdust for Supporting Solidarity Fund

National Sawdust''s Digital Discovery Festival is a weekly program of live performances, interviews, and artist development designed to bring audiences together with artists in the hope that we can help each other build community while physically distancing. We thank them for donating proceeds to the Solidarity Fund from April 29 through May 15.
 

New on NewMusicBox

David Skidmore, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and Sean Connors of Third Coast Percussion explain how they introduce audiences to percussion instruments, how they each came to devote their lives to making music, the dos and don'ts for writing and performing for percussion music, the staggering range of music they have nurtured from an extraordinarily wide range of creators as well as some of their own original compositions, and finally what they are all have been doing to cope during our present unprecedented and uncertain time. Read and watch the interview on NewMusicBox.

Dear Friends,

As we look ahead at the holiday season in this strange and difficult year, we''re taking stock of what we''ve learned and what we used to take for granted.

We''re so grateful for the creativity and resilience of the creators, artists, supporters, and listeners who are bringing new music into our lives. You''ve found new ways to connect, gather, and share light and inspiration, bringing us closer together in the times when we feel farthest apart.

As we kick off the holiday season this weekend, I hope you can find ways to stay connected and inspired - whether you can keep up your traditions, or define new ones.

Wishing you a safe and loving holiday weekend,

THE LATEST FROM NEW MUSIC USA:

Announcing our second response to COVID-19:

The New Music Creator Development Fund

New Music USA just launched a new fund in response to COVID''s impact on individual music creators and composers.

The New Music Creator Development Fund supports individual composers and creators who are feeling the impact of canceled commissions and an uncertain future.

New Music USA plans to allocate forty to sixty awards of up to $5,000 each. To fund this new program, we have allocated $100,000 from our annual grants budget, and are running a fundraising push in hopes of doubling this allocation. Contributions are welcomed.

Deadline: December 21, 2020, 5 p.m. ET

This fund is for individual music creators only. If you represent an organization, stand by for the launch of the New Music Organization Development Fund in early 2021. This separate fund will support organizations that provide crucial infrastructure for new music.

Updates to Amplifying Voices

New Music USA's Amplifying Voices program, launched in January 2020 to promote equitable representation of composers in orchestral music, is growing to include at least 30 orchestras and 8 composers, working together to expand the canon.

With support from the Sorel Organization, we''ve added two additional consortia, led by Dallas Symphony and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), who will each commission a woman of color to compose a new orchestral work.

With support from ASCAP and Wise Music Trust, we''re also developing the Amplifying Voices Learning Lab, to facilitate conversations with composers, orchestras, and industry guests.

New on NewMusicBox: Podcasts & Articles

Listen In: Check out our latest podcasts on Soundcloud!

Tune in to our latest composer interview!

The thing that we''ve always worked towards whenever we play music is the idea of playing together. Note for note. Beat by beat.

- Valerie Coleman in an interview with Frank J. Oteri
   Writing Music for People
 

Read Up: Catch up on NewsMusicBox articles & editorials

It''s not my job to protest in the streets. It''s my job to protest in the arts.

- Georg Friedrich Haas in an interview with George E. Lewis
   I Can''t Breathe: A Virtual Dialogue
 

Art will adapt and go on in new and unpredictable ways.

- John Niekrasz & Luke Wyland in
   Remember the Uncomplicated Joy

Streamable Content and Upcoming Events

Look back at the Virtual Boston New Music Festival
Some events are still streamable

If you didn''t catch everything you hoped at the Virtual Boston New Music Festival, you may still be able to stream some of their exciting programming. Check out these recent streams: Rasa Quartet, Pharos Quartet, New England Philharmonic, Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Fragility and Resistence.

7NMS with violinist Juliette Jones
A conversation on Instagram - streamable on IGTV

If you missed the 7NMS takeover on the New Music USA Instagram, tune back in to hear their conversation about family, their craft, and more.

Fast Forward Austin: Digital Assemblage
Sunday December 13, 3 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. CT - Free Streaming Concert

Fast Forward Austin will stream the digital premiere of its fall marathon concert, "Digital Assemblage," a program of forward-looking music from a diverse array of artists, including local, regional, and national talent. The performance will include sets by: Spectrum Ensemble (Denton, TX), Clifton Joey Guidry III (New York, NY), Bergamot String Quartet (New York, NY), Austin Guitar Quartet (Austin, TX), Adam Bedell and Rosalyn Nasky (Austin, TX), and VAMP Vocal Quintet (Austin, TX).

Mary Prescott: Tida
Saturday December 19, 8 p.m. ET - Livestream from Roulette

Mary Prescott presents an interdisciplinary performance examining intergenerational cultural identity through lineage. Integrating music, dance, and word, Prescott investigates her mother's undocumented Thai ancestry, her experience as a Southeast Asian immigrant raising biracial children in Midwest America, and the impact of these histories on her daughters and granddaughters. This project is supported through the New Music USA Project Grants program.

Dear Friends,

As we approach a much-welcome new year, I''m taking a moment to examine the events of 2020 through a lens of hope rather than despair.

While devastating, the pandemic sparked an unprecedented wave of ingenuity in how we create, share, and experience music. We''ve watched in awe as friends the world over customized new channels for connectivity and expression. Our isolation reminded us of the intrinsic value of human connection, family, and friendship.

A COVID-19 vaccine is underway. Regardless, our world will never be the same. I posit that some of what stretched us will empower us; some of what hurt will inspire. Some of what we lost will be recovered and restored to a more profound impact.

And, as always, there will be new music to express all we experience.

In this newsletter we''ve shared our last grant opportunity of 2020, which responds to some of the challenges our community has been facing - music creators, you have until Monday to apply! We're also sharing streamable events for the holidays, and conversations with artists who are inspiring us through their collaboration, leadership and support for others.

As always, thank you for being an essential part of the New Music USA community. In scheduling your year-end contributions, please consider making a 100% tax-deductible donation to the New Music USA Annual Fund. Our work is made possible by the generosity, vision, and ingenuity of people like you.

Thank you for another year, and cheers to 2021!

THE LATEST FROM NEW MUSIC USA:

Don''t miss your chance to apply:

New Music Creator Development Fund

Deadline: Monday December 21 at 5pm ET

The New Music Creator Development Fund offers support that will help composers and creators to keep developing their artistic practice in these challenging and uncertain times.

New Music USA aims to give forty to sixty awards of up to $5,000 each, and may expand these plans with additional community support. Contributions are welcomed.

This fund is for individual music creators. If you represent an organization, look out for upcoming announcements about the New Music Organization Development Fund in early 2021.

SoundLives

a NewMusicBox podcast

As thousands of people gather this month at the Midwest Clinic, we talked to Julie Giroux about why she thinks of a wind band as a Box of Crayons.

Listen to the full interview on Soundcloud, or read the article on NewMusicBox

NewMusicBox

articles and editorials