Elizabeth Swados Inspiration Grant Launches with Help from Diane Lane

Academy Award nominee and soon-to-be Broadway lead Diane Lane has committed $20,000 towards a four-year, $5,000 annual grant for NYC-based female educators vested in music in honor of composer Elizabeth Swados.

Created in partnership with the Ziegfeld Club, the Elizabeth Swados Inspiration Grant is open to any NYC-based female music educator with a minimum of five consecutive years of teaching experience and at least 20 teaching hours per week during a full school year.

The recipient will be chosen by a panel of industry professionals chaired by Tony award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori. Deadline for grant applications is Friday, June 17, 2016 at 11:59pm EDT. All details are available by visiting http://www.theziegfeldclubinc.com/submissions/

Ms. Lane made her acting debut in the Swados-composed Medea at Ellen Stewart's La MaMa experimental theatre in 1972. She then worked on Swados' Public Theater original production of Runaways, which will be revived July 6-9, 2016 at New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center where Ms. Tesori is in her final year as Artistic Director.

Ms. Lane recalls, "Liz Swados gave her energetic force and encouragement to young, would-be artists to flourish and collaborate beyond their own perceived limitations. It is within this spirit of empowerment that we wish to continue Liz's legacy and impact, especially for under-recognized women in the field of teaching music".

Ms. Tesori stated, "I have met so many former students of Liz's whose career began in her class. We want to honor Liz Swados; this great teacher, this pioneering and fearless artist, by honoring another teacher who is using music as a tool for what it does best; reveal, inspire, and unify."

The recipient of the 2016 Elizabeth Swados Inspiration Grant will be presented with their award on stage following the Runaways performance on July 9.

Having garnered Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Oscar® nominations for her career's work, Ms. Lane is set to return to Broadway this fall in Anton Chekov's The Cherry Orchard as "Mme. Ranyevskaya". The Roundabout Theatre Company production will feature a new adaptation by Stephen Karam (The Humans), directed by Simon Godwin (Associate Director, Royal National Theatre) making his Broadway debut. Preview performances begin September 15, 2016, opening Sunday, October 16, 2016 with a limited engagement run at the American Airlines Theatre.

Ms. Lane is currently filming "Felt", the Watergate-themed, historical thriller with co-star Liam Neeson.

The Ziegfeld Club, one of the oldest not-for profits in the Broadway community, recently re-launched in 2015 with a new mission and focus on gender parity on Broadway. The organization was founded in 1936 by Billie Burke, Florenz Ziegfeld's widow, who is best known for the role of "Glinda the Good" in the Wizard of Oz.

Elizabeth Swados - composer, writer, director and educator in musical theater, with a vast palette of musical styles inspired by the street, fringe, and political issues of the disenfranchised - passed away in January 2016 at the age of 64.

Photo by Walter McBride