National Endowment for the Arts Awards $50,000 Stimulus Grant to The Young People's Chorus of New York City™

By -

July 22, 2009…The Young People’s Chorus of New York City™ has been awarded a $50,000 stimulus grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the National Endowment for the Arts. As part of President Obama’s stimulus package, the NEA has awarded grants to fund arts projects and activities that preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.

The list of award recipients is a collection of some of the most highly regarded arts institutions in the country. The grant was awarded based on an assessment of the quality of the organization, the potential and significance of the organization in the arts work force, and the likelihood for further success as an institution. YPC is one of only four choirs around the country to receive this vital support, and the only youth chorus to receive it under the Music category.

This award comes at a significant time in the organization’s institutional development, enabling YPC to continue to offer the broad-reaching music education and performance programs that enrich the lives of over 1,000 New York City youth and to commission new, cutting-edge choral music from some of the nation’s most eminent composers. In the face of an economic crisis, the magnitude of which we have not seen since the Great Depression, the American Recovery and Recruitment Act represents a significant investment in our country’s future and will help YPC reach its financial goals.

Francisco J. Núňez, Artistic Director and Founder of YPC, says: “This grant could not have come at a better time. We are extremely grateful to the NEA for their measure of support and for providing us with funds that will aid in our ability to continue to provide children of diverse abilities and ethnic backgrounds with a unique program of music appreciation and choral performance that seeks to fulfill each child’s musical potential, while creating a model of artistic excellence and harmony that enriches our community.”

Young People’s Chorus of New York City™ is one of today’s most influential youth choruses. It was founded in 1988 by Francisco J. Núňez and is the resident chorus of the 92nd Street Y; Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center; and WNYC, New York Public Radio. Children of all ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds participate annually through the core after-school choral program and the Satellite program in New York City public schools.

The NEA also supports two of YPC’s vital programs: the Partner Schools Program which recruits young people from New York City’s underserved schools and offers full scholarships to participate in YPC’s award-winning after-school chorus, and Radio Radiance, YPC’s new commissioning and performance project that develops new audiences for new music by using the combined resources of radio, digital media and the internet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In &quo
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

The Art of String Quartets by Brian Ferneyhough

By -
Image
When an artist sets paint to canvas, there are brush strokes used for different effects. Sometimes those strokes are subtle, imperceptible; they produce works of art like the Mona Lisa . Other times the very obvious nature of the stroke is the art, as in works by Van Gogh. With some composers of music, the notes on the page are their craft. How those notes translate into an aural experience is what defines some composers as great artists. Brian Ferneyhough has a masterful command of the techniques of putting notes on the page. These techniques are sometimes so subtle, even though written in black and white, they escape detection. Some of what he attempts with his music is just that, to escape detection, to bury the framework, diverting the ear away from the structure, so only the music is heard . The subtlety is so fine it is almost imperceptible. Even though he studied at several institutions, he is considered self-taught, studying scores from Boule
Read more