CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Nov. 18, 2014 — Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and Annie Gosfield are just one of 12 orchestras and composers who have been selected to receive Music Alive: New Partnerships grants of $7,500 each from the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. Matching composers and orchestras who have not previously worked together, the program will support a series of one-week residencies between 2014 and 2016, each culminating in the performance of an orchestral work from the composer’s catalog. Orchestras with operating budgets of approximately $7 million and below were eligible to apply.

“CHQ is proud to be part of the New Music USA composer residence program,” said Rossen Milanov, who was appointed in October as the CSO’s ninth music director. “The music of Annie Gosfield will resonate perfectly with the spirit of the summer festival, with its focus on cross-pollinating cultures, ideas and experiences.”

Forty-four orchestras and 219 composers applied for the program and two artistic panels selected the 12 grantees. Each residency will include a performance of a work by the composer, as well as individually tailored events, enabling the composers to reach new audiences, interact with youth, and take part in community-centered activities.

“I am thrilled to be awarded a residency with the CSO,” said Gosfield. “One of my great joys as a composer is to work closely with musicians. This is a great opportunity to get to know this excellent orchestra as well as their new conductor and music director Maestro Milanov and be part of CHQ’s collaborative spirit.”

“These new Music Alive residencies provide communities across the country with invaluable opportunities to hear the music of our time while connecting in-person with these talented composers,” said League president and CEO Jesse Rosen. “Supporting orchestras in their commitment to perform the works of living American composers has always been an institutional priority for the League, with programs such as Ford Made in America and the ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming historically playing an important role at the organization.”

“Through the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and our other funders, we are delighted to be continuing our support of collaborations between composers and orchestras,” said Ed Harsh, president and CEO of New Music USA. “Through Music Alive and in many other ways, New Music USA supports the dynamic, sustained relationships between individual creative artists and orchestras that are essential to a healthy musical ecology.”

The other composer-orchestra partnerships are:

• Clarice Assad and Boston Landmarks Orchestra
• Douglas Cuomo and Grant Park Music Festival (Chicago)
• Takuma Itoh and Tucson Symphony Orchestra
• Jingjing Luo and Princeton Symphony Orchestra (New Jersey)
• Missy Mazzoli and Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
• Rick Robinson and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (Houston)
• Carl Schimmel and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (New Orleans)
• Laura Schwendinger and Richmond Symphony Orchestra (Virginia)
• Derrick Spiva and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
• Sumi Tonooka and South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (Sioux Falls)
• Dan Visconti and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (Little Rock)

Hailed as “A star of the Downtown scene” by The New Yorker, Annie Gosfield has been awarded fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin (2012), the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (2008), New York Foundation for the Arts, the Siemens Foundation, and the McKnight Foundation. She has received grants from New Music USA, The Map Fund, USArtists International, Meet the Composer and many others. Active as a writer and teacher, she is a regular contributor to the New York Times series “The Score,” and was the Milhaud Professor of composition at Mills College, a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and a visiting artist at Cal Arts. Dedicated to working closely with performers, Gosfield has collaborated with many musicians and ensembles, such as Joan Jeanrenaud, Lisa Moore, Stephen Gosling, Felix Fan, Frances-Marie Uitti, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, MIVOS Quartet, Flux Quartet, Athelas Sinfonietta, Agon Orchestra, Present Music, Spit Orchestra, West Australia Symphony Orch., So Percussion, and Talujon Percussion. She has performed with John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, Fred Frith, and many others. Her work has been performed internationally at festivals including MaerzMusik, The Bang on a Can Marathon, Warsaw Autumn, The Venice Biennale, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, ISCM Music Days, River to River (NYC), and Otherminds. Her discography includes four portrait CD’s on the Tzadik label.

Now in its 14th year, Music Alive supports composer residencies in the concert halls and communities of orchestras throughout the country by providing funding, administrative support, and resources for both short and multi-year orchestra-composer collaborations. In addition to the new Music Alive: New Partnerships program, Music Alive also currently supports a three-year residency program for five composers and orchestras, most recently announced in 2013. Since 1999, there have been 127 Music Alive orchestral residencies; that number includes 78 individual orchestras and 110 individual composers (several orchestras and composers have participated multiple times). Music Alive programs help orchestras increase new music opportunities for audiences, artists, and administrators; identify model practices for sustained partnerships between artists and communities; help orchestras fully and comprehensively achieve their missions; and enrich orchestral repertoire with fresh and inventive music of our time.

More information on Music Alive is available here.

Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, and The Amphion Foundation.

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The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1929 and today continues its legacy as the center of musical life at Chautauqua Institution. Performing 20 concerts in the Amphitheater including two concerts accompanying Chautauqua Dance, and two productions in collaboration with Chautauqua Opera, the CSO is a tenured union orchestra that draws its membership from around the nation and around the world. It has grown from its original complement of 52 musicians to the current roster of 74 active members.

The League of American Orchestras leads, supports, and champions America’s orchestras and the vitality of the music they perform. Its diverse membership of approximately 800 orchestras across North America runs the gamut from world-renowned symphonies to community groups, from summer festivals to student and youth ensembles. The only national organization dedicated solely to the orchestral experience, the League is a nexus of knowledge and innovation, advocacy, and leadership advancement for managers, musicians, volunteers, and boards. Its conferences and events, award-winning Symphony magazine, website, and other publications inform music lovers around the world about orchestral activity and developments. Founded in 1942 and chartered by Congress in 1962, the League links a national network of thousands of instrumentalists, conductors, managers and administrators, board members, volunteers, and business partners. Visit americanorchestras.org.

New Music USA is devoted to fostering the creation, dissemination, and enjoyment of new American music. New Music USA places special emphasis on broadening the public community for the music and musicians whom we serve. Advocacy in the broadest sense is at the heart of all of New Music USA’s work. It is inherent in the work of the online magazine NewMusicBox and radio station Counterstream, in all of New Music USA’s grantmaking activity — which distributes more than $1 million each year to the field—and in New Music USA’s role as a key voice in the national and international scenes. Newmusicusa.org

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