Chamber Music America Announces 2001-02 Awards Including 16 Commissions

Chamber Music America has announced support for sixteen commissions, part of a list of thirty-three awards granted this season to ensemble musicians, presenting organizations, and community groups across the country. CMA will also support seventeen long and short-term residency projects. The awards are intended to fund music education and outreach programs, provide ensembles with performance opportunities and increased visibility, assist presenting organizations in the advancement of chamber music within their communities, and support the creation of new works.

Residency and commissioning awards range from $3,500 to $15,000. The CMA’s Commissioning Program was established in 1983 to build the chamber music repertoire by funding the creation of new American works and the presentation of those works to a broad range of audiences. CMA’s newest initiative, the New Works: Creation and Presentation program, is part of the Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project and supports composer/performer-led ensembles in the creation of music in the jazz idiom.

This season’s commissioning projects (composers/performing groups) include:

Commissioning Program:

David Sampson/The Amherst Saxophone Quartet (NY)
Zack Browning/Bang on a Can All Stars (NY)
Akemi Naito/Cygnus Ensemble (NY)
Gerald Levinson/Network for New Music (PA)
Judith Sainte Croix/Quintet of the Americas (NY)

New Works: Creation and Presentation:

Ben Allison (NY)/Medicine Wheel
Ray Anderson (NY)/The Pocket Brass Band
Dave Douglas (NY)/Witness
Billy Harper (NY)/The Billy Harper Quintet
Jim Hobbs (MA)/The Fully Celebrated Orchestra
Bennie Maupin (CA)/The Bennie Maupin Trio
Jason Moran (NY)/Jason Moran and The Bandwagon
Jean-Michel Pilc (NY)/The Jean-Michel Pilc Trio
David Weiss (NY)/The New Jazz Composers Octet
Bert Wilson (WA)/Bert Wilson & “Rebirth”
Matt Wilson (NY)/The Matt Wilson Quartet

In addition to these commissions, the CMA funding is dedicated to supporting the following residencies and performances:

The Ensemble Residency Program, established in 1978, is CMA’s oldest grant program. It allows ensembles to establish a three-year partnership with community-based organizations, performing concerts, workshops, and school programs, among other projects, thereby deepening the role of music in the community.

The Rural Residencies Program originated in 1992 with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and is intended to introduce small communities to an art form not readily available to them.

The Presenter-Community Residency Program supports short-term residencies to encourage presenters to develop appreciative audiences within their communities.

In addition, five of the eight major chamber music presenting organizations will showcase the Miami String Quartet, recipients of the third biennial Cleveland Quartet Award. The award honors the Cleveland Quartet’s twenty-seven years of dedication to chamber music performance and education by supporting rising young string quartets.