This is one in a series of blog posts featuring each one of The Presser Foundation’s Board and Committee members. These individuals come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences but have one trait in common – they love music. Keep an eye out on the series to learn more about each member, their background,…
The Presser Foundation Will Distribute More Than $787,000 in Capital Support Grants in 2024The Presser Foundation is pleased to announce new Capital Support grants totaling $474,125 in single year and multi-year grants to 16 music organizations. Grant payments made in 2024 for previous commitments total $363,500. A full listing by category of the grantee organizations…
By Sepehr Pirasteh, Graduate Music Fellow As the Graduate Music Fellow at the Presser Foundation, I had the opportunity to interview Badie Khaleghian, one of the recipients of the Graduate Music Award and ask about his project, Sounds of Freedom. Badie is a DMA student at Rice University, and I had been following his artistic…
A photo collage of some of the 2022-23 Undergraduate Scholar Award recipients During the 2023-24 year, The Presser Foundation Undergraduate Scholar Award program has undergone a “fundamental realignment,” a term used by Scholar Award Committee Chair Dr. Mark Wait to describe how the changes made to the program itself and its overall process. One of…
La Tasha Butler received the 2022-23 Undergraduate Scholar Award from Arizona State University (ASU). She wrote this letter after receiving the Award and answered several questions about her experiences at ASU. I started playing violin in the fourth grade. You can imagine what a fourth grader learning violin sounds like, but to me it was…
It’s been a busy 2023 at The Presser Foundation! With music at the center of all we do, the Board, Committees, and staff have been actively engaged in facilitating grant cycles, communicating with grantees in a variety of ways, attending site visits and performances, hosting virtual Next Movement Idea Forums, embarking on a strategic planning…
The Presser Foundation is pleased to include 37 new institutions for a total of 244 institutions that will be included in the 2023-24 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award program. The Award is designed to encourage and support in a special way the education and career of one music student at each school who has achieved a…
An image from Race Against Racism, a collaboration of Lancaster YMCA and Music For Everyone By Dr. John R. Gerdy, Founder and Executive Director, Music For Everyone As the founder and executive director of a music related Community Benefit Organization (CBO), I constantly think of how to more effectively leverage the power and potential of…
Images featuring Russell Fisher performing the steel pan compositions By Russell Fisher Invited annually, graduate schools of music present the Presser Graduate Music Award to an outstanding graduate music student whom they select. The program is designed to encourage and support in a special way the advanced education and career of truly exceptional graduate music…
By Sepehr Pirasteh As The Presser Foundation’s Graduate Music Fellow, I have the opportunity to experience various performances hosted by many different music organizations. This month, I chose one of the newest grantee partners of The Presser Foundation, Fire Museum Presents, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting creative music in Philadelphia. After attending two of…