Various photos of Jonathan Schneider, Graduate Music Award recipient, performing the harp and learning in Europe By Jonathan Schneider 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…
By Daniel Jackson, Graduate Music Fellow On Sunday, October 27th, the Greater South Jersey Chorus and Chamber Singers, under the baton of Artistic Director Dr. Christopher Thomas and conductor Art McKenzie, captivated their audience with a beautifully curated program titled Untraveled Worlds: Landscapes From Within. Set against the evocative backdrop of the historic Scottish Rite…
By Daniel Jackson, Graduate Music Fellow Karim Sulayman, tenor; Sean Shibe, guitar On this clear and comfortable Sunday afternoon, I enjoyed the serenity of my back porch while watching tenor Karim Sulayman and guitarist Sean Shibe perform at the historic Benjamin Franklin Hall, hosted by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. This concert series showcases high-quality…
Jasmine De Leon received the 2023-24 Undergraduate Scholar Award from New Jersey City University. Here, we share why she was selected to be a Presser Scholar. Jasmine was named the first Presser Scholar at New Jersey City University (NCJU), a NASM Accredited Hispanic Serving Institution added to the Scholar Award Program in 2023-24. In May, Jasmine graduated…
By Daniel Jackson, Graduate Music Fellow This inaugural installment launches a five-part series that delves into classical music and its potential to foster social justice and create a more inclusive environment for diverse audiences. Surveys by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts provide insight on…
By Daniel Jackson, Graduate Music Fellow An unseasonably warm and humid evening air permeated through the windows and doors of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia on this Friday evening. Condensation from the rain glistened from the open windows. But no one seemed to mind the warmth or inclement weather, for in this sanctuary the…
Shanna Echeverry received the 2023-24 Undergraduate Scholar Award from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Here, we share why she was selected to be a Presser Scholar. Shanna was named the first Presser Scholar at William Paterson University of New Jersey, a NASM Accredited Hispanic Serving Institution added to the Scholar Award Program in 2023-24. Shanna graduated…
By Abby Rolland Last spring, we saw a trend within the Capital Support grantmaking area – multiple music organizations of varying sizes and foci were applying for funds to tailor or design a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). In its basic definition, a CRM helps businesses manage their interactions with customers and potential customers. For…
Image: A graphic of choral music singers In the fall of 2023, Bucks County Choral Society’s Artistic Director Thomas Lloyd penned an article for The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians about whether the choral music space has changed since the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Here, we delve into some of his…
Image: A preliminary rendering of Tanda Francis’ Marian Anderson sculpture shows how it would appear. Courtesy of Tanda Francis. In 2020, Philadelphia Inquirer Arts & Culture reporter Peter Dobrin proposed that Philadelphia needed “a sculpture or monument to Marian Anderson, the late singer, civil rights figure, and city daughter, and it should sit smack dab…