Above from left to right: Ayanna Woods of the The Crossing, Ariel Alvarado of Wilmington Children’s Chorus, and Chill Moody of The Mann Center Three of the Foundation’s grantee partners received Special Project grants to support fellowship/residency programs – music performer The Crossing (single year grant), music presenter The Mann Center for the Performing…
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…
The Presser Foundation’s final Next Movement of 2023 partnered with Candid, a nonprofit organization that collects data and information about the nonprofit sector, conducts research, and shares resources and analysis about nonprofits and funders. The session featured information about Candid’s platforms, its Seals of Transparency program, and how providing an organization’s data and information to…
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,…
Sepehr Pirasteh is The Presser Foundation’s 2023-24 Graduate Music Fellow. In this post, he shares his experience attending PRISM Quartet Inc.’s most recent concert and collaboration with composer Susie Ibarra and discusses why commissioning new music is so important. By Sepehr Pirasteh Background: About PRISM Quartet PRISM Quartet is a renowned chamber ensemble in…