Choral Arts New England has announced the funding of 10 Alfred Nash Patterson grants, for a total of $13,000, starting in 2021. Funded projects were selected from 46 proposals received. Last year, 51 applications were received and $13,500 was given in grants. The current grants are in addition to the 20 "emergency grants" totalling $10,000 that were given in December 2020 to choruses especially imperiled by restrictions on singing. Funded projects will be celebrated at Choral Arts New England's annual Awards Ceremony, which is currently planned for fall 2021. This year, in recognition of the serious impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the choral arts, Choral Arts New England is again sending award checks immediately to all grant recipients. We hope that all of us will be able to safely join in song once again in the near future.

The funded projects are listed below.

Classical Uprising, Portland, Maine
I Dream a World

For an in-person, outdoor concert called “I Dream a World” on May 26, 2021, by Classical Uprising Youth Choirs, grades 2-12, which features choral music by African American and female composers and songs celebrating the dream of unity, freedom, and peace.

Coro Allegro, Boston, Mass.
Amplifying Black Voices Series (Choral Arts New England Board grant)

To support a new series called "Amplifying Black Voices," which is led by Black artists, advocates, composers, and conductors who have collaborated with Coro Allegro in the past. Funding will cover production costs of two virtual choir sessions with The Heritage Chorale of New Haven. Combining archival recordings, new virtual collaborations, fresh conversation, and stories, these digital programs model a new way to engage national audiences.

Ensemble Altera, Johnston, R.I.
We Remember

For a choral program in July 2021 to bring together the Rhode Island community in remembrance of those impacted and lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiding the healing of the community through song. The concert will feature choral pieces from the medieval through modern eras, including Hear My Prayer, Fürchte dich nicht, (J.C. Bach) (Henry Purcell), Song for Athene (John Tavener), selections from Duruflé’s Requiem, and For the Beauty of the Earth (John Rutter). The choral selections will be complemented by instrumental pieces on organ and piano.

The Keene Chorale, Keene, N.H.
The Ordering of Moses (Saxton Family grant)

For a performance of The Ordering of Moses, a major choral-orchestral work by Black Canadian composer R. Nathaniel Dett, which reimagines Negro spirituals and uses this very sonic American language to tell the narrative of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt — a distinct correlation to the experience of slavery and struggle for freedom in this country. Funding will also support several outreach opportunities to engage the community to discuss the importance of the work and composer.

The Main Street Children's Choir, New Britain, Conn.
Virtual Community Spring Choral Festival (Grant in honor of Richard Coffey)

To support a virtual Spring Choral festival from January to May 8, 2021, featuring the guest conductors and clinicians Nekita Waller, Thomasina Levy, and Dr. Ellen Gilson Voth.

Metropolitan Chorale, Brookline, Mass.
No Place Like Home! (Choral Arts New England Chairs' and Vice Chairs' grant)

To support a multimedia performance on June 8, 2021 (and thereafter), of the world premiere of Steven Sametz's commissioned work, Home, with text drawn from reflections submitted by singers about what home has meant for them during the pandemic. Singers from the chorale will be featured throughout the concert in video clips speaking about their own experiences of home. The concert will also feature performances of Antonin Dvorak's "Going Home" arranged by Nicholas White, Stephen Paulus's "The Road Home", and Johannes Brahms’s An die Heimat.

Renaissance Men, Westwood, Mass.
RenMentality Recording

To support the recording costs of Renaissance Men’s third album, "RenMentality," a one-act performance art piece which explores the intersection of mental health and music in an honest and humanizing way, and can be shared digitally in a time when live performance is not possible.

Schoodic Arts for All / Schoodic Summer Chorus, Winter Harbor, Maine
Music for Zoom Singing

To support composition of a song cycle designed for small ensembles singing live with no muting in real time on Zoom. Those songs would give chorus members and other singers an opportunity to sing together live and refine their musicianship and ensemble-singing skills without needing to be together in close proximity.

Solaris Vocal Ensemble, Essex Junction, Vt.
"One Day" Community Choral Performance on Vermont Public Radio

To produce the “One Day” concert project, which will bring various community choirs together after the pandemic (hopefully in October or November 2021) to share an inspiring concert featuring a new work by Vermont composer and Vermont Public Radio host James Stewart. The concert will be recorded and aired on VPR.

Worcester Children's Chorus, Worcester, Mass.
Collaborative Commission: Grace Brigham and Youth of Worcester (Hammond Family grant)

To support a collaboration between the Worcester Children's Chorus and the Assumption University Choirs between February and May 2021 to engage in an immersive commissioning process with nationally-recognized composer Grace Brigham to write, record, and premiere a newly composed piece focused on the idea of hope in the Worcester community.