Advancement of Music

The Presser Foundation announces $1,518,500 in grants to 171 music organizations throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area, marking the first time the Foundation has distributed more than $1.5 million in a single grant cycle.* This year, 164 single-year grants and seven multi-year grants were awarded. Small organizations continued to represent a significant portion of grantees, with 65 organizations operating with budgets under $100,000, accounting for 38% of the total recipients. Twenty-three organizations are receiving Foundation support for the first time.

This year, many grantees are creating new programs to mark the U.S. Semiquincentennial. The Foundation’s flexible general operating support allows organizations to develop this type of work—whether they are performing and presenting groups activating local stages or music education organizations serving students throughout the region. Consistent, unrestricted funding continues to be vital for the region’s musical ecosystem.

William B. McLaughlin, III, Chair of the Advancement of Music Committee, commented, “We are proud to provide record support to our region’s music organizations. From concert halls to classrooms, our grantees are vital to the communities they serve, offering the connection, well-being, and joy that music uniquely provides. This funding reflects our commitment to ensuring that these organizations, and their immense talents, can reach everyone in our region.”

*Excluding 2020 COVID-19 emergency funding

Advancement of Music Grants: (in alphabetical order)

  • 1807 & Friends, Inc.*
  • Academy of Vocal Arts
  • AfterShock Fam*
  • Allentown Symphony Association
  • Ambler Station Singers
  • Ambler Symphony Orchestra*
  • Anna Crusis Feminist Choir, Inc.
  • Arcana New Music Ensemble
  • Ars Nova Workshop
  • Artistas y Musicos Latino Americanos (AMLA)
  • ArtSmart
  • Bay Atlantic Symphony, Inc.
  • Berks Arts Council
  • Berks Opera Company
  • Berks Sinfonietta
  • Berks Youth Chorus
  • Beyond the Bars
  • Black Music Preservation*
  • Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
  • Boheme Opera Company, Inc.
  • Bowerbird
  • Brandywine Valley Symphony
  • Bucks County Choral Society
  • Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society*
  • Bucks County Symphony Society
  • Cantus Novus
  • Capital Harmony Works
  • Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey
  • Chamber Music Lehigh Valley
  • Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
  • Chesco Pops
  • Chester Children’s Chorus
  • Chester County Choral Society*
  • Chester County Concert Band*
  • Choir School of Delaware
  • Choral Arts Philadelphia
  • Christina Cultural Arts Center
  • Community Music School Lehigh Valley
  • Community Music School of Collegeville
  • Community Youth Orchestra of Bucks County
  • Concord Chamber Singers
  • Concordia Chamber Players
  • Crescendo Phoenixville
  • Darlington Arts Center
  • Delaware Choral Arts Association
  • Delaware County Symphony
  • Delaware County Youth Orchestra
  • Delaware Symphony Orchestra
  • Delaware Valley Lyric Opera Guild
  • Dolce Suono Ensemble
  • Eastern University – Community Music School*
  • EMEAPP (Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project)
  • Esperanza – DBA Nueva Esperanza, Inc.
  • FamFrequency Productions, Incorporated
  • Filament
  • Friends of the Wanamaker Organ
  • Greater Philadelphia Choral Society*
  • Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra
  • Greater South Jersey Chorus
  • Harrisburg Symphony Association
  • IDEA Institute for the Development of Education in the Arts*
  • Jazz Bridge Project
  • Jersey Surf, Inc.*
  • Journey Arts
  • Keep Music Alive
  • Kelly Music for Life*
  • Lancaster International Piano Festival
  • Lancaster Symphony Orchestra
  • Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra
  • Lebanon County Choral Society
  • Lehigh Valley Chorale
  • Lehigh Valley Community Broadcasters Association
  • Lyra Society
  • Lyric Fest
  • Main Line Singers*
  • Main Line Symphony Orchestra
  • Mamadele Foundation
  • Market Square Concerts
  • Market Street Music
  • Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia
  • Mennonite Children’s Choir of Lancaster
  • Montgomery County Chorale & Orchestra
  • Montgomery County Concert Band
  • Music at Bunker Hill
  • Music at Gretna, Inc.
  • Music for Everyone
  • Musicopia
  • Nashirah: The Jewish Chorale of Greater Philadelphia
  • Network for New Music
  • Opera Philadelphia
  • OperaDelaware
  • Orchestra 2001
  • Orchestra Concordia Association
  • Penn Live Arts
  • Penn Square Opera
  • Pennsylvania Philharmonic
  • Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra
  • Pennsylvania Symphonic Winds
  • Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
  • Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society
  • Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts
  • Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus
  • Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, Inc.
  • Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project*
  • Philadelphia Sinfonia Association
  • Philadelphia Youth Choral Ensembles
  • Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute
  • PhilHarmonia
  • Philomusica Chorale
  • Piffaro, The Renaissance Band
  • Play On, Philly!
  • Princeton Pro Musica*
  • Princeton Symphony Orchestra
  • PRISM Quartet, Inc.
  • Project 440
  • Reading Musical Foundation
  • Reading Symphony Orchestra
  • Relache, Inc.
  • Riverside Symphonia
  • Rock to the Future
  • Rose Tree Pops Orchestra*
  • Rowan Community Music School
  • Settlement Music School
  • Sharim v’Sharot
  • Singing City
  • Singing Hearts Choir Inc.
  • South Jersey Pops Orchestra*
  • Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra
  • Sruti
  • State Street Academy of Music
  • State Theatre New Jersey
  • Susquehanna Chorale
  • Symphony in C
  • Tempesta di Mare, Inc.
  • Temple University Music Preparatory Division
  • The Allentown Band
  • The Bach Choir of Bethlehem
  • The Brandywine Valley Chorale
  • The Camerata Singers
  • The Crossing, Inc.
  • The Dryden Ensemble
  • The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy
  • The Friends of Chamber Music of Reading
  • The Georgia E. Gregory Interdenominational School of Music
  • The Harrisburg Singers*
  • The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts
  • The Jazz Sanctuary, inc.
  • The Lotus Project of Trenton, Inc.
  • The Music School of Delaware
  • The New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra*
  • The Organ Historical Society*
  • The Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble
  • The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center Inc.
  • The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey
  • The Producer’s Guild*
  • The Young People’s Philharmonic of the Lehigh Valley
  • Tri-County Concerts Association, Inc.
  • Valley Forge Chorus*
  • Variant 6
  • Voices Chorale NJ
  • West Jersey Music Academy
  • West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance*
  • Westrick Music Academy
  • Wheatland Chorale
  • Wildflower Composers
  • Wilmington Children’s Chorus
  • Wilmington Concert Opera
  • WRTI90.1FM
  • WXPN
  • Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey
  • Zoellner Arts Center

*Denotes a new Advancement of Music grantee.

 

About The Presser Foundation

The Presser Foundation was established in 1939 under the Deeds of Trust and Will of the late music publisher Theodore Presser. It is one of the few private foundations in the United States dedicated solely to music education and music philanthropy. The Presser Foundation supports music organizations working in a broad range of traditions, genres, and styles through general operating and program grants to music organizations; capital grants for music building projects; undergraduate and graduate student awards; and assistance to retired music teachers. Much of the grant making focus of the Foundation is on organizations and institutions in the 75-mile radius surrounding Center City Philadelphia. For more information: www.presserfoundation.org.