Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Receives $400,000 from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

­­The dynamic conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has received its third major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The three-year, $400,000 grant enables Orpheus to launch "Next Generation Orpheus," a new initiative that has developed out of careful consideration for the orchestra's continued growth. The aims of the initiative are twofold: to engage new musicians of varying demographic backgrounds and to provide support for musician-led transitions. Founded on principles of inclusiveness and empowerment, Orpheus is committed to continuing this philosophy into its 42nd season by building stronger connections with broader and younger audiences. The orchestra celebrates the increasing diversity of the national and international communities that it serves, and strives to reflect this evolving global audience within its internal musician network. Like many organizations, Orpheus is transitioning from a founder-driven organization to its next generation. Guided by the three elected Artistic Directors with input from other Orpheus member musicians, "Next Generation Orpheus" will address both of these aspects regarding the make-up of its artistic personnel and carry Orpheus through its next stage of development, ensuring the orchestra's artistic vibrancy for the future.

This Mellon Foundation award will support Orpheus' efforts to implement a three-pronged framework to promote diversity both on and off the stage. The first prong will establish an apprenticeship program for a limited number of pre-professional musicians to be invited into the Orpheus Process, playing alongside the orchestra at specific rehearsals and attending artistic planning and administrative meetings. The second prong will introduce a select number of newly professional musicians to Orpheus through rehearsals to familiarize them with the orchestra's distinctive music-making process. The third prong will expand the existing personal and artistic qualifications for hiring within the primary substitute pool to include a consideration for diversity.

Orpheus will also allocate a portion of the grant to create paid part-time staff positions for emeritus members, including three two-year positions that will help foster the Orpheus Institute. Through the Orpheus Institute, the orchestra shares its distinctive collaborative model with university students of all disciplines, offering collaborative leadership training and empowering individual voices within broader team projects. In this way, Orpheus can employ the vast knowledge and experience of emeritus members to benefit the next generation of music-makers and music-consumers. Additional income opportunities for musicians are expected to become available through active participation in the Institute's educational activities.

Orpheus opens its 2014-15 concert series at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, October 23 at 8 p.m., with a program that includes Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, featuring Jonathan Biss. The concert, which opens with the overture to Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio and closes with Poulenc's Sinfonietta, also celebrates the 75th birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich with a performance of her 1983 work Prologue and Variations. This program will also be performed on tour in Indiana on October 18 at the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, outside Indianapolis, and on October 19 at the Goshen College Music Center.