Past
Grantees

Zeitgeist, Saint Paul, Minnesota, received $33,000 over two years for its Composer Workshop in 2017 and 2018 for emerging Minnesota composers.

Alwan for the Arts, New York City, received $10,270 as fiscal sponsor for a four-week Jerome@Camargo residency in 2017 for Amir ElSaffar, New York, New York.

American Composers Forum received $200,000 ($100,000 per year for two years) to support  the Jerome Fund for New Music and the Minnesota Emerging Composer’s Award (MECA) program.

The Cedar Cultural Center received $76,000 ($38,000 per year for two years) to support the Commissions program for emerging Minnesota composers in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

The Jazz Gallery, New York City, received $50,000 over two years in support of the 2016-2017 and 2017-18 Residency Commissions program for emerging New York City jazz composers.

Roulette Intermedium received $140,000 ($70,000 per year for two years) to support commissioning and residency programs for emerging composers based in New York City.

ROULETTE, Brooklyn, New York, as fiscal sponsor for Maria Chavez, Brooklyn, New York, received $12,000 to support the creation and recording of Chavez’s Tactile Peripheries #1-3, an interactive album/sculpture that can be listened to and viewed in different ways: as regular playback material, as a DJ tool, and as a sound sculpture. Composer, sound artist, and abstract turntablist Maria Chavez is influenced by improvisation and contemporary art. Her compositions, sound installations, conceptual objects, and live turntable performances focus on the benefits of accidents and chance. Roulette’s mission is to provide opportunities for innovative composers, musicians, sound artists, and interdisciplinary collaborators to present their work in accessible, appropriate, and professional productions. 

ETHEL’S FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, New York City, received $20,000 in support of its HomeBaked Commissioning Program, which will provide commissions to four emerging New York City-based composers. ETHEL will work with the composers to refine the works, rehearse the music, and present world premieres of the new compositions in New York City. ETHEL seeks compositions of the highest artistic and creative quality, works that challenge the quartet as musical artists and expand their reach in an ever-evolving compositional scene and a diverse contemporary audience. ETHEL's mission is to promote new music and expand and diversify audiences for it through adventurous performances, new technologies, and innovative community engagement programs.

THE JAZZ GALLERY, New York City, received $25,000 in support of the 2015-16 Jazz Gallery Residency Commissions, which support emerging jazz composers. During the 2015-16 year of the program, The Jazz Gallery plans to celebrate guitarists, with each of the selected artists approaching the guitar in a radically different way, challenging traditional notions of jazz, crafting their own methods of musical notation, engaging in creative methods of improvisation, and blurring lines of genre and culture in their music. The Jazz Gallery nurtures a young generation of professional jazz musicians, giving them a performance venue with audiences. The Gallery also encourages established musicians to present new projects and collaborate with emerging artists.

Springboard for the Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for composer Kathy McTavish, Duluth, Minnesota, received $12,500 in support of the development and production of the new work The Railway Prophecies. The mission of Springboard for the Arts is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the resources they need to make a living and a life. McTavish is a cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. In live performance, installation, and online environments, she blends improvisational cello, found sound, text, data, and abstract, layered, moving images. Her recent work has focused on creating generative methods for building multichannel video and sound environments. The Railway Prophecies is an evolving tale that centers on an everyman character named Pullman, whose story revolves around planetary climate change and the extinction of animal species. The work explores themes of over-consumption and meaningless productivity through its central character who travels through oceans of data washing over us every day.

ZEITGEIST, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $33,000 in support of the participation of emerging composers from Minnesota and New York City in the Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop, an annual five-day workshop devoted to exploring the artistic work of three emerging composers. Zeitgeist’s mission is to bring newly created music to life with performances that engage and stimulate. A quartet of musicians animated by a spirit of adventure and collaboration, Zeitgeist presents works of substance with passion and integrity, and strives to forge new links between musicians and music lovers through concerts, commissions, collaborations, recordings, and dialogue with audiences. The Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop is designed to give emerging composers the opportunity to develop creative ideas and stretch their artistic boundaries in an environment that celebrates exploration and experimentation.  The focus is not on the completion of a composition but rather on the generation and development of ideas and the exploration of musical possibilities. Each composer brings sketches of materials to develop, using Zeitgeist as a laboratory. The workshop culminates in an informal performance.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM, Saint Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $200,000 in support of the Jerome Fund for New Music and the Minnesota Emerging Composer's Award Program. The Forum enriches lives by nurturing the creative spirit of composers and communities. It provides new opportunities for composers and their music to flourish and engages communities in the creation, performance, and enjoyment of new music. The Jerome Fund for New Music (JFund) supports the creation, presentation, and subsequent life of a new work. Approximately ten grants are made each year by an independent selection panel reviewing submissions in response to an open call. Funding is restricted to emerging artists based in New York City and Minnesota. The Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA) is an annual award given to emerging Minnesota composers of Jazz/Improvisation, Electronic, and World Music. Recipients are nominated by a panel of leaders in the Minnesota new music community.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA, New York City, received $18,000 in support of the commissioning of new works from two emerging composers for the 2014-15 Orchestra Underground Concert. The Orchestra is dedicated to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. Founded in 1977, ACO pursues its mission through a range of activities including concerts, commissions, recordings, educational programs, and new music reading sessions. Jerome dollars will allow the Orchestra to commission new works from two emerging composers for its Orchestra Underground series, which challenges conventional notions about symphonic music and embraces multidisciplinary and collaborative work, novel instrumental and spatial orientations of musicians, new technologies, and multimedia.

THE CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $64,000 in support of 416 Club Commissions for emerging Minnesota composers. This performing arts venue organizes and hosts over 200 events each year, including music and dance performances, lectures, workshops, and benefits. Its mission is to promote inter-cultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance. Through an open call and competitive review, the Cedar will commission six emerging Minnesota artists to compose and perform new music. The commissioned works will debut in public performances at the Cedar. The commissions are intended to support ideas, collaborations, and/or bodies of work that would not have otherwise have been explored.

THE JAZZ GALLERY, New York City, received $25,000 in support of a residency and commissioning program for three emerging composers. The Gallery nurtures the youngest generation of professional jazz musicians by giving them an audience for their performances and a stage upon which to assemble their bands. The Residency Commissions offer artists a commissioning and residency fee that allows them to take a hiatus from the road as they create new works. The Gallery provides space in which to develop, rehearse, and workshop the new music before it is made public. The residency periods are four to six weeks and allow each composer the freedom to create a residency that meets his/her individual needs.

THE JAZZ GALLERY, New York City, received $25,000 in support of the 2014-15 residency and commissioning program for emerging composers. The Jazz Gallery nurtures the youngest generation of professional jazz musicians by giving them an audience for their performances and a stage upon which to assemble their bands. The Jazz Gallery residency commissions offer emerging composers financial support, and a space in which to develop, rehearse, and workshop the new compositions before they are publicly presented. Each residency is tailored to meet the needs of the composer.

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, New York City, received a two-year grant of $128,000 in support of programs for emerging composers based in New York City. For over three decades, Roulette Intermedium has presented experimental music and intermedia, most recently in a 400-seat theatre in Brooklyn. Its purpose is to support artists through presenting a substantial and diverse program of concerts, commissioning new work, paying artists a deserving fee, and finding artists and audiences interested in learning about developments in experimental art. Jerome support is directed to two programs, the first a commissioning program that annually provides four New York City-based emerging composers with commissions, fees to cover rehearsal and production, and concerts featuring their new works. The second is a residency program that provides fees and stipends to five emerging composers to develop new work while in residence at Roulette. They receive a substantial number of hours in the space and concerts.

VOCALESSENCE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $30,000 in support of the Essentially Choral Program. The mission of VocalEssence is to champion choral music of all genres, celebrating the vocal experience through innovative concerts, commissions, and community engagement programs. Essentially Choral focuses on the creation, development, and presentation of new choral works by emerging composers. The program connects four established Minnesota composers with four emerging Minnesota composers over a six-month period, providing professional development and vocal composition mentoring as the emerging composers write choral works to be premiered by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers at the American Choral Directors Association-Minnesota State Conference. The program aims to engage emerging composers and songwriters of all genres. 

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM, St. Paul, Minnesota, received $100,000 in support of the Jerome Fund for New Music (JFund) and the Minnesota Emerging Composers Award (MECA) program.  The Forum enriches lives by nurturing the creative spirit of composers and communities.  It provides new opportunities for composers and their music to flourish and engages communities in the creation, performance, and enjoyment of new music.  The Forum supports composers’ artistic and professional growth through a rich variety of programs and services, including commissions, performances, readings, and fellowships.  The JFund supports the creation of new musical works by emerging composers, composer/performers, improvisers, and sound artists from Minnesota and New York City.  It welcomes applications in all musical genres, and provides enhancement funds to help projects reach their maximum potential.  The Minnesota Emerging Composers Award is given to emerging Minnesota composers of jazz/improvisation, electronic, and world music.  

The Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $21,200 in support of its commissioning program for emerging Minnesota composers.  The Cedar is an eclectic music venue known for hosting a wide variety of folk, blues, jazz, indy rock, and world artists, as well as films, spoken word performances, dances, and community events.  Its mission is to promote inter-cultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance.  Jerome support is directed toward the commissioning of new works by seven emerging Minnesota composers and their presentation as part of the 416 Club Series.  Composers of diverse genres are selected through an open call based on their emerging status; aesthetic quality; and evidence of rigor, innovation, and potential.