Najean Lee
Connecting with Congress: On April 11, 2018, members of the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra’s Brass Quintet gave a pop-up concert on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The concert was part of the 2018 Shift Festival of American Orchestras in Washington, which brought live orchestral music to sites and venues throughout the capital city. After the pop-up concert, representatives from the Albany Symphony including Principal Trumpet Eric Berlin, Music Director David Alan Miller, Executive Director Anna Kuwabara, Marketing and Patron Services Manager Justin Cook, and the League’s Washington-based advocacy team, Heather Noonan and Najean Lee, met with a staff member from the office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY).
pertinent now than ever in this moment of cultural reckoning.” Orchestras Connecting with Congress
Elected officials are returning to their home districts and states with increased frequency in the months ahead, with the longest recess period taking place this August. Congressional recesses are ideal times for orchestra stakeholders to meet with their senators and representatives, whether by inviting officials or their staff to attend a community engagement event, or visiting them in their district office to sit down and discuss the local impact of federal policies. With major decisions ahead related to the National Endowment for the Arts, arts education, and tax policies, orchestras are making plans and brushing up on the League’s advice about how to be an effective orchestra advocate. Visit the Advocacy page of the League’s
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website at https://americanorchestras.org/ advocacy-government.html to find background information and talking points on the latest key policy issues, a calendar of the exact dates when members of Congress will be returning to their home states, and an indispensable resource from the League, Playing Your Part: An Orchestra’s Guide to Public Policy Advocacy. League Awards Futures Fund Grants to Smaller-Budget Orchestras and Youth Orchestras
Highlighting the groundswell of innovation at smallerbudget orchestras and youth orchestras across the country, seventeen orchestras have received $30,000 American Orchestras’ Futures Fund grants from the League of American Orchestras, made
possible with the generous support of the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation. An additional five orchestras have been selected to receive seed grants of $6,000 each. The Futures Funds grants were announced on April 19, 2018. The League’s American Orchestras’ Futures Fund is a competitive grants program designed to advance the innovative work of orchestras. Initiatives by the 2018 grantees include performing contemporary repertoire by American composers, developing imaginative concert experiences and cross-cultural artistic programming, increasing diversity and access to music education, connecting with new immigrants and underserved populations, extending reach via digital streaming initiatives, investing in audience-development research, and working with multiple populations in rural and urban regions. Descriptions of the initiatives by the 2018 grantees supported by the American Orchestras’ Futures Fund can be found here. The $4.5 million American Orchestras’ Futures Fund program included a first round of grants for larger-budget orchestras, announced in 2017. For this 2018 round, smaller-budget and youth orchestras that are based in the U.S. and that are members of the League of American Orchestras were eligible to apply. An independent review panel selected the orchestras. Learn more about the American Orchestras’ Futures Fund here. Five Orchestra Musicians Receive League’s Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in Community Service
Five orchestra musicians will receive Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in
American Orchestras’
FUTURES FUND symphony
SUMMER 2018