The New York State Music Fund helps broaden access to music through second round of grants to 218 nonprofit contemporary music appreciation programs.
New York, December 19, 2006 – Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors today announced 218 recipients of the second cycle of grants from the New York State Music Fund (“the Fund”), an innovative program created by the Office of the New York State Attorney General to make contemporary music of all genres more available and accessible to diverse audiences and communities within New York State. Nonprofit groups from over 75 towns and cities were awarded grants totaling $19 million for programs ranging from hip-hop to new classical music, and jazz to folk music from around the world. The Fund grew out of settlements with major recording companies investigated for violating state and federal laws prohibiting “pay for play” (also called “payola”).
“The greater number and variety of applications since our first round demonstrate the vitality of this creative sector across the state and the need to level the playing field for all forms of music,” said Jessica Chao, vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the nonprofit organization that developed and manages the grant program. “These 218 grants will go a long way toward fulfilling the Fund’s mission of ensuring that people of all ages, backgrounds and interests have an opportunity to discover new and less familiar performers and artists.”
The New York State Music Fund published guidelines and criteria and accepted grant applications in a number of categories, including music education and public performances of music by artists working in hip-hop, reggae, fusion, jazz, new classical and folk music of all cultures. Applications related to recording, distribution or broadcast through traditional and new media were also eligible. Special emphasis was placed on reaching underserved populations and broadening awareness of artists, genres or styles with limited access to commercial broadcast or other mass distribution vehicles. The Fund received a total of 402 applications for its second cycle.
Awards to the 218 grantees represent every region of New York State and range from $10,000 to $500,000. Diverse forms of popular or experimental music, including indie rock, salsa, electronic, fusion and reggae account for almost 37 percent of grants and more than 15 percent celebrate a spectrum of jazz; nearly 25 percent include new classical music. The state’s ethnic or racial minority communities are served by close to a third of all programs, while 28 percent specifically target rural communities. The Fund’s size and emphasis on music of our time in all its forms set it apart from other arts grant programs.
An Advisory Panel comprised of recognized leaders from a cross-section of the music world evaluated and recommended the applications based on criteria focusing on artistic merit and community impact. The panel included Carl Atkins, musician, composer, and professor at Rochester Institute of Technology; Don Byron, musician and composer; Joseph Dalton, arts reporter and critic; Richard Kessler, musician and executive director of The Center for Arts Education; Michael Orlove, senior program director for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs; Elisabeth Perez-Luna, a producer, host and writer at WHYY-FM; Bobby Sanabria, musician, composer and educator; Daniel Sheehy, ethnomusicologist and director and curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; and Elisabeth Vincentelli, Arts and Entertainment editor of Time Out New York.
Grantees include:
- Boys Club of New York (Harlem) $100,000
For the Music School, offering children age six to 20 comprehensive music education including lessons in a variety of acoustic and electronic instruments as well as music technology and band ensemble, training in technique and theory, and numerous performing opportunities playing a range of music including jazz, R&B, rock, funk and classical. - Irish Arts Center/An Claidheamh Soluis (New York) $100,000
For the presentation of a concert performance by traditional Irish musicians, curated by scholar and performer Mick Moloney and filmed by Academy Award-winning director Paul Wagner, for broadcast on New York’s public television stations. - Just Buffalo Literary Center $70,000
To support the Interdisciplinary Program Series’ headline performances and the school-based Williamsville/Buffalo Poetry, Music, Dance Celebration bringing together students from 37 schools to create new works culminating in a public performance. - Pregones Theater (Bronx) $65,000
For “March is Music,” a month-long Latin music festival presenting a broad selection of concert performances, public dialogues, and artist-led educational activities to showcase the diversity and dynamism of Latino musical heritage. - Seagle Music Colony (Schroon Lake) $70,000
To present to Adirondack audiences the operas The Goose Girl by Thomas Pasatieri and Lysistrata by Mark Adamo, who will direct the opera and give a public lecture; and to workshop the first act of Stephen Schwartz’s opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon. - SUNY Cortland $500,000
For “Live from the Heart of New York,” a two-year collaborative project comprised of seven local arts and community development partners, offering a broad spectrum of musical fare such as jazz, blues, folk and world music. The project will present a series of concerts and events incorporating a range of educational activities including composing workshops and master classes and use technology to enable “on demand” access via podcasts and broadcast. - WXXI Public Broadcasting Council (Rochester) $165,000
To support “BackStage Pass,” a series of broadcasts coupled with artist interviews in an hour-long, twice-monthly series for television, radio, and the Web featuring regional artists from Western New York representing a variety of multigenerational music and the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
This second cycle of funding also included a number of grantees that represented the “Special Initiatives” category, specially designed to address the music field’s ability to monitor and maintain an open and fair marketplace. Grantees in this category include:
- Alliance of New York Arts Organizations (Mattituck) $115,000
For online courses and a blog for New York State musicians, composers, performers to learn how to distribute and promote their music online, protect themselves in the marketplace, and enhance their skills at making a living through music. - Future of Music Coalition (DC) $250,000
For an initiative to inform New York State musicians and citizens through statewide forums and Internet resources about key arts and media policy issues related to supporting an open and fair marketplace for creativity and cultural diversity such as payola, media consolidation, copyright, and emerging technologies. - WFMU (Jersey City) $400,000
To develop, host, and maintain a non-commercial digital library of “podsafe” music targeted to New York musicians and audiences. This web site will offer free legal music downloads, utilizing public domain material and songs licensed under Creative Commons by their creators.
For a full list of grantees, background on The New York State Music Fund and updates on future plans, please visit: www.rockpa.org/music. The web site also lists grant awards from the first cycle, which total $13 million. For information about the payola settlements related to the recording and radio industries, visit www.oag.state.ny.us.
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About Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (www.rockpa.org) is an independent, nonprofit service that develops and manages effective giving programs throughout the world. In 2005 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors advised on and managed more than $130 million in giving to more than 30 countries. Headquartered in New York City with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it traces its antecedents to John D. Rockefeller, Sr., who in 1891 began to professionally manage philanthropy “as if it were a business.” He set the style of family giving by specifying that grants would be used “for the well-being of people throughout the world.” Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors also includes The Philanthropic Collaborative, a special donor-advised fund for international giving and special projects including partnerships with major public and private institutions.