CMA Awards Over $600,000 in Jazz and Classical Commissioning Grants
CMA's 2022 Fiscal Year Grants Total Over $1.4 Million
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nichole L. Knight, nknight@chambermusicamerica.org
New York, NY—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the distribution of $601,750 through its two flagship commissioning grant programs: New Jazz Works, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Classical Commissioning, supported by The Mellon Foundation.
Together with this year’s previously announced grant programs, CMA has awarded over $1.4 million to the small ensemble music field in its 2022 fiscal year.
“I am honored that CMA is funding these 24 ensembles from all corners of the United States,” said Kevin Kwan Loucks, chief executive officer. “These commissioning grants and the boundary-breaking new works that will develop as a result, cap off a remarkable year of CMA championing the creativity and expansive range of today’s ensemble music ecosystem,” he added.
The 2022 New Jazz Works and Classical Commissioning grantees were selected by independent peer panels adjudicated in June and July 2022.
New Jazz Works
Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
A total of $392,000 has been awarded to 12 ensembles through New Jazz Works, which provides grants to U.S. jazz ensembles to create, perform, and if desired, record new works. The new work may be composed by the ensemble leader or another member of the ensemble.
The 2022 New Jazz Works Grantees are:
dB-ish (Roxbury, MA)
Leader/Composer: Darren Barrett
Instrumentation: trumpet, saxophone, piano/keyboard, bass, drums
Steve Carrington Group (Bronx, NY)
Leader/Composer: Steve Carrington
Instrumentation: tenor/soprano sax/EWI, trumpet/flugelhorn, trombone, piano, guitar, keyboard/piano, bass, drums, percussion
Lorca Hart Quartet (San Francisco, CA)
Leader/Composer: Lorca Hart
Instrumentation: drums, piano, bass, tenor saxophone
säje (Tacoma, WA)
Leader/Composer: Johnaye Kendrick
Instrumentation: four voices, piano, bass, drums
Heidi Martin Ensemble (Takoma Park, MD)
Leader/Composer: Heidi Martin
Instrumentation: voice/piano/keyboards/guitar, voice, trumpet, tenor/soprano saxophone, guitar, piano/keyboards, bass, drums
Dave Meder/Psalmic Echoes Quartet (Denton, TX)
Leader/Composer: Dave Meder
Instrumentation: piano/voice, trumpet, piano, bass, drums
Elsa Nilsson – Band of Pulses (Brooklyn, NY)
Leader/Composer: Elsa Nilsson
Instrumentation: flute, piano, bass, drums
Caili O’Doherty Quartet (Jersey City, NJ)
Leader/Composer: Caili O’Doherty
Instrumentation: piano, saxophone, bass, drums
Diego Rivera Quintet (Lansing, MI)
Leader/Composer: Diego Rivera
Instrumentation: saxophones, trumpet, piano, bass, drums
Luciana Souza Trio (Los Angeles, CA)
Leader/Composer: Luciana Souza
Instrumentation: voice/percussion, guitar/voice, bass
Helen Sung’s “JazzPlasticity” (Forest Hills, NY)
Leader/Composer: Helen Sung
Instrumentation: piano/keyboards, saxophones/flute/bass clarinet, bass, drums, turntables
Samuel Torres Group (Brooklyn, NY)
Leader/Composer: Samuel Torres
Instrumentation: piano, drumset, bass, trumpet, saxophones, percussion, violins, viola, cello
Classical Commissioning
Supported by The Mellon Foundation
A total of $209,750 has been awarded to 12 ensembles through the Classical Commissioning program, which supports professional U.S.-based presenters and ensembles whose programming includes Western European and/or non-Western classical and contemporary music. Grants are provided for the commissioning and performance of new works by American composers.
The 2022 Classical Commissioning grantees are:
48 St. Stephen (Glen Carbon, IL)
Composer: Christopher Stark
Instrumentation: violin, piano
Aizuri Quartet (New York, NY)
Composer: Layale Chaker
Instrumentation: two violins, viola, cello, clarinet (guest)
Akropolis Reed Quintet (Northville, MI)
Composer: Derrick Skye
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon
Amorsima Trio (Denton, TX)
Composer: Chaz Underriner
Instrumentation: violin, viola, cello
andPlay (New York, NY)
Composer: Julie Herndon
Instrumentation: violin, viola
Del Sol Quartet (San Francisco, CA)
Composer: Michael Gilbertson
Instrumentation: two violins, viola, cello, plus ondes martenot (guest, performed by the composer)
Kahl & Nyce Duo (Kansas City, MO)
Composer: Yotam Haber
Instrumentation: saxophone, piano
Friction Quartet (Concord, CA)
Composer: Paul Mortilla
Instrumentation: two violins, viola, cello, vocal quartet (guests), harpsichord (guest)
Longleash (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Igor Santos
Instrumentation: violin, cello, piano
Picosa (Chicago, IL)
Composer: Shawn Okpebholo
Instrumentation: flutes, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, plus electronics (guest)
Strobe (San Francisco, CA)
Composer: Kay Rhie
Instrumentation: oboe, violin, viola, cello
Whistling Hens (Lanham, MD)
Composer: Kate Soper
Instrumentation: clarinet, soprano
View CMA’s April 12 and July 25 press releases, which announced the 2022 Artistic Projects, Performance Plus, Presenter Consortium for Jazz, and Ensemble Forward grant recipients.
Chamber Music America, the national network of ensemble music professionals, was founded in 1977 to develop, strengthen, and support the chamber music community. With a membership including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artists’ managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides its members with consulting services, access to instrument and other insurances, conferences, seminars, and several publications including Chamber Music magazine and the weekly e-newsletter, Accent.
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 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.
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