CMA Awards More Than $850,000 in Grants for Small Ensembles and Presenters

New York, NY (August 6, 2019)—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the distribution of $855,570 through its four grant programs: New Jazz Works and Presenter Consortium for Jazz, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; the Classical Commissioning Program, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Residency Partnership Program, funded by Chamber Music America’s Residency Endowment Fund.

This funding will provide key support for the creation, performance, and presentation of small ensemble works, and for community engagement and audience-building initiatives. The grantees in each program were selected by independent peer panels. A complete list of the 2019 grantees follows:

A total of $402,000 was awarded to 12 jazz ensembles through the New Jazz Works program, which supports the creation of new works by professional U.S.-based composer-led jazz ensembles and helps assure that these compositions will be heard through live performances and recordings.

                                2019 New Jazz Works Grantees

Amina Figarova Sextet PLUS (New York, NY)
Composer: Amina Figarova | Instrumentation: Flutes, Tenor/Soprano Saxophone, Trumpet/Flugelhorn, Piano, Bass, Drums, Violin, Viola, Cello

Arun Ramamurthy Trio (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Arun Ramamurthy | Instrumentation: Violin, Bass, Drums

Broken Reed Saxophone Quartet (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Charley Gerard | Instrumentation: Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone

David Murray Octet (New York, NY)
Composer: David Murray | Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone/Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Guitar, Piano, Bass, Drums

Freddie Bryant and Kaleidoscope (New York, NY)
Composer: Freddie Bryant | Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone/Flutes, Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Violin, Viola, Cello, Voice

Henry Cole & Villa Locura (San Juan, PR)
Composer: Henry Cole | Instrumentation: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone/Flute, Trumpet, Guitars, Keyboard, Bass, Drums, Percussion

Jason Palmer and the Lost Art Ensemble (Roslindale, MA)
Composer: Jason Palmer | Instrumentation: Tenor Saxophone, Trumpet, Vibraphone, Bass, Drums

Oscar Hernández’s Alma Libre (Burbank, CA)
Composer: Oscar Hernández | Instrumentation: Saxophone/Flute, Trumpet, Piano, Bass, Drums, Percussion

Rajna Swaminathan and RAJAS (Cambridge, MA)
Composer: Rajna Swaminathan | Instrumentation: Tenor Saxophone, Trumpet/Santur, Guitar, Bass, Mrudangam/Voice, Violin, Voice

Sara Serpa Trio (New York, NY)
Composer: Sara Serpa | Instrumentation: Tenor Saxophone, Cello, Voice, Piano (guest artist)

Sumi Tonooka Trio and Guests (Philadelphia, PA)
Composer: Sumi Tonooka | Instrumentation: Flute, Tenor Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Oboe, Trumpet, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums

Trio 3 (Montclair, NJ)
Composer: Andrew Cyrille | Instrumentation: Saxophone, Bass, Drums/Percussion, Piano (guest artist)

Thirteen grants totaling $209,100 have been awarded through the Classical Commissioning program, which supports professional U.S.-based ensembles and presenters for the creation and performance of classical contemporary chamber works.

92nd Street Y with the McGill/McHale Trio (New York, NY)
Composer: Tyshawn Sorey | Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Piano

Cassatt String Quartet (New York, NY)
Composer: Victoria Bond | Instrumentation: Two Violins, Viola, Cello

Departure Duo (Boston, MA)
Composer: Sarah Gibson | Instrumentation: Soprano, Double Bass

FLUX Quartet (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Hans Tammen | Instrumentation: Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Live Sound Processing (guest artist)

F-PLUS (Chicago, IL)
Composer: Jessie Montgomery | Instrumentation: Violin,
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Percussion

Hub New Music (Jamaica Plain, MA)
Composer: Hannah Lash | Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Harp (guest artist)

Kaleidoscope (Los Angeles, CA)
Composer: Peter Shin | Instrumentation: Flute, Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Harpsichord

Latitude 49 (Waco, TX)
Composer: Gity Razaz | Instrumentation: Piano, Percussion, Violin, Cello, Clarinet, Saxophone

Musiqa (Houston,TX)
Composer: Trevor Weston | Instrumentation: Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano

                           2019 Classical Commissioning Program Grantees

PRISM Quartet (Philadelphia, PA)
Composer: George Lewis | Instrumentation: Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Soprano (guest artist)

Shanghai Quartet (Montclair, NJ)
Composer: Marcos Balter | Instrumentation: Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Countertenor (guest artist)

The Nouveau Classical Project (New York, NY)
Composer: Sugar Vendil | Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano

Third Sound (Philadelphia, PA)
Composer: Kati Agócs | Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, Soprano (guest artist)

Additional program support is provided by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Chamber Music America Commissioning Endowment Fund.

Presenter Consortium for Jazz supports consortiums of three U.S. presenters to collectively engage up to three professional U.S. jazz ensembles. Project grants totaling $125,250 have been awarded to four consortiums (12 presenting organizations), which will receive an additional $60,000 in general operating support.

This year’s grantees are:

• Foundation for Puerto Rico, Inc. (San Juan, PR)
• Fundación de Culebra (Culebra, PR)
• Museo de Arte de Ponce (Ponce, PR)

Presenting William Cepeda’s Afro-Rican Jazz

• Ars Nova Workshop (Philadelphia, PA)
• Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (Buffalo, NY)
• Elastic Arts (Chicago, IL)

Presenting Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble performing her 2006 New Jazz Works Commission, Xenogenesis Suite

• Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival (Springfield, MA)
• Painted Bride Art Center, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)
• San Jose Jazz (San Jose, CA)

Presenting Elio Villafranca and the Jass Syncopators

• Stanford Jazz Workshop (Stanford, CA)
• Helena Presents/The Myrna Loy (Helena, MT)
• Jazz Bakery Performance Space (Santa Monica, CA)

Presenting Matt Wilson’s Honey and Salt performing his 2001 New Jazz Works Commission, The Carl Sandburg Project

The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building awareness and appreciation for classical, contemporary, jazz, and chamber music through community-based residencies that engage audiences beyond traditional concert settings. A total of $59,220 has been awarded to four presenters and six ensembles.

                         2019 Residency Partnership Program Grantees

The 2019 grantees are:

• Arts for Art (New York, NY) with In Order to Survive
• Castle of Our Skins (Dorchester, MA)
• Chamber Music Hawaii (Honolulu, HI) with the Spring Wind Quintet
• Chione Quintet (Saint Paul, MN)
• Da Camera Society of Texas (Houston, TX) with Imani Winds
• Fifth House Ensemble (Chicago, IL)
• Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) with Third Coast Percussion
• Quintet of the Americas (Brooklyn, NY)
• The VA’V (Freemont, CA)
• WeFreeStrings (Leonia, NJ)

Chamber Music America, the national network for ensemble music professionals, was founded in 1977 to develop, support, and strengthen the chamber music field. With a membership of nearly 6,000, including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artist managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. CMA provides its members with grant programs, consulting services, a national conference, professional development seminars, access to instrument and other insurances, and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine; the weekly Accent e-newsletter; and a member-driven website, www.chamber-music.org.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, and child well-being, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation seeks to strengthen, promote, and defend the centrality of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse, fair, and democratic societies. To this end, its core programs support exemplary and inspiring institutions of higher education and culture.