Be A Voice For Voices

#Voice4Voices
#ChoralArtsNE

Thanks to our campaign donors!

As it marks its 40th year of supporting New England choruses, Choral Arts New England is launching a two-year campaign to double its grant-making endowment. Founded in 1980 as the Alfred Nash Patterson Foundation, the organization has built an endowment of more than $300,000; to date, its annual grants program has given more than 260 grants, totaling over $330,000, to support choral singing in the six New England states. Grants have helped create new choruses, reinvigorated long-established choruses, and supported transformative experiences for choral singers, their audiences, and their communities. While funds available for grants have remained steady for over a decade, both the number of high-quality proposals and the amount requested have more than doubled in that time. The New England choral community has greatly expanded over the decades, and choruses in today’s world—our communities' voices—play a unique role in building community and giving inspiration.

New Mass Cultural Council Recovery Grants for COVID-19 Reloef

The Mass Cultural Council has announced Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations—unrestricted grants ranging from $5,000-$75,000 for Massachusetts cultural organizations, collectives, and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recipients must be "fully cultural" in nature. Priority is given to organizations who have not received prior pandemic-related assistance, those located in communities with low median income and low educational attainment, those led by or serving ethnicities of color, and those with demonstrated impact on job creation or tourism in Massachusetts.

2022 Alfred Nash Patterson Grant Recipients

Choral Arts New England is delighted to announce the funding of 14 Alfred Nash Patterson grants, for a total of $23,550, in the 2022 grant cycle. The total amount awarded this year is the largest in the history of the grants program, thanks to the continued success of the capital campaign, "A Voice for Voices". The campaign will continue to accept new pledges and donations through the middle of 2022.

Ensemble Altera Second Annual Composition Competition

Composers are invited to submit a new work for Ensemble Altera’s second annual Composition Competition. The winning work(s) will be premiered and recorded by the ensemble as part of its summer project, The Lamb’s Journey. A prize fund of $500 is available.

Composers are invited to set William Blake’s poem, "The Lamb" as an a cappella composition lasting between three and five minutes, scored for any combination of mixed voices up to eight parts. The competition is open to all composers, regardless of age or experience. The deadline for submissions is Friday July 15, 2022.

Choral Arts New England Awards Ceremony: Saturday, October 23

Choral Arts New England held its annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 4 p.m. in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Due to public health-related space restrictions, attendance at the event is by invitation only. However, the ceremony will be available for streaming live and available for later viewing on YouTube (linked on the Choral Arts YouTube channel).

Phoenix Award Honors Choral Resilience In Pandemic

New England choruses have been severely tested in the past 18 months, and they have responded with tenacity and ingenuity. This year, Choral Arts New England decided to highlight some of the choruses who have made notable accomplishments during the pandemic by instituting a special Phoenix Award. The award particularly recognized continuing to make music in some way; engaging membership and the community; being creative, visionary and resourceful; contributing to artistic well-being; keeping musicians and/or staff employed; and providing educational opportunities.

List Your Online Events!

The Choral Arts New England chorus calendar is now listing online events (webcasts, virtual concerts, webinars) that are of interest to the choral community. To list your event, use the online form and put the event link in the "Location/Address" box; you may leave the city/state/Zip fields blank. Events must take place at a certain date and time (since this is a calendar), but need not list a physical location.

"Music, uniquely among the arts, is both completely abstract and profoundly emotional. It has no power to represent anything particular or external, but it has a unique power to express inner states or feelings. Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation. One does not have to know anything about Dido and Aeneas to be moved by her lament for him; anyone who has ever lost someone knows what Dido is expressing. And there is, finally, a deep and mysterious paradox here, for while such music makes one experience pain and grief more intensely, it brings solace and consolation at the same time."
   — Steven Jay Gould, long-time member of Boston Cecilia