Cali Symphony Receives NEA Grant for Young Amer. Composer Program

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced that the agency will award 863 grants to organizations and individual writers across the country. The California Symphony is one of the grantees and will receive $10,000 to support its Young American Composers Residency Program. The 863 grant awards total $22.543 million, encompass 15 artistic disciplines and fields, and support projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Among the California Symphony’s contributions to the cultural landscape is its Young Composer-in-Residence program. Recognizing the importance of creating new American music, the California Symphony began the program in 1991, giving emerging American composers an opportunity to work with a professional orchestra in a three-year residency, during which the Symphony commissions and performs one of the composer’s works. Of the six composers who have participated in the California Symphony’s YACR Program since its inception, the first three have each won the prestigious Rome Prize for Composition, and of these, two went on to win the BBC International Masterprize competition. The ‘94-‘96 resident composer, Christopher Theofanidis, is a now a Grammy-nominated and multiple award-winning composer, whose first full-length opera was commissioned and premiered by the San Francisco Opera in 2011.

“Art Works is the guiding principle at the NEA,” said agency Chairman Rocco Landesman. “And I’m pleased to see that principle represented through the 823 Art Works-funded projects included in this announcement. These projects demonstrate the imaginative and innovative capacities of artists and arts organizations to enhance the quality of life in their communities.”

“We are grateful to the NEA for recognizing, once again, the groundbreaking artistic endeavors of the California Symphony on behalf of our community,” said Walter Collins, Executive Director. “We are excited to rekindle a partnership with the NEA.”

In March 2011, the NEA received 1,686 eligible applications for Art Works requesting more than $84 million in funding. The resulting funding rate of 49 percent of eligible applications reflects both the significant demand for support and the ongoing vitality of the not-for-profit arts community despite current financial challenges. Art Works grants are awarded based on the applications received by the NEA and how those applications are assessed by the review panels.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA web site at arts.gov.

California Symphony’s 25th anniversary season continues Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 4pm with a concert helmed by guest conductor Robert Moody and featuring exciting young cellist Joshua Roman. The program will include Copland’s Fanfare for The Common Man, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. The season continues with concerts March 4 and May 4-6. All concerts will be held at The Lesher Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Center Drive, Walnut Creek. Single tickets ($20 Student to $69) are on sale now. For additional information call California Symphony at 925-280-2490 or visit www.californiasymphony.org.

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