MacPhail Center for Music: McKnight Fellowships



	Please read the updated information about the required Artist Statement Download McKnight Booklet McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians With the generous support of the McKnight Foundation, MacPhail Center for Music awards fellowships which recognize and provide support for mid-career performing musicians. A McKnight Fellowship can help an artist set aside periods of time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; take advantage of an opportunity; or work on a new project. These prestigious fellowships are intended to reward artistic excellence and to support performing musicians who have reached a critical point in their career development. DETAILS If you are a performing musician, MacPhail Center for Music invites you to apply for a McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians. MacPhail awards four $25,000 fellowships to outstanding solo musicians or small ensembles. All finalists receive an $1,000 honorarium. For the winners this is considered part of their $25,000 award. Ensembles that are recognized as finalists and/or fellowship recipients will split awards between members; individual ensemble members will not each receive the full award amount. Awards are subject to state and federal income tax guidelines. These unrestricted fellowship funds may be supplemented with an optional project grant of $2,500 for Fellows to pursue a community-based project of their own design. WHO MAY APPLY • Musicians in any genre are encouraged to apply. • Applicants must be 18 years of age or older. • Musicians who have been legal residents of Minnesota for the past 12 months. • Fellowship recipients (soloists and ensemble members) must maintain residency in Minnesota until the end of the fellowship grant period or they will forfeit their award moneys. • An artist may not win more than $50,000 in McKnight fellowship awards in three years. Ensemble Eligibility • Artists may not apply as both a soloist and an ensemble member in the same year. • Members must have performed together for three or more years as the ensemble named on the application. • Must be made up of no more than five members. • Must be an active ensemble, having at least four significant performances in each of the last three years. WHO MAY NOT APPLY • Artists who have been awarded a McKnight Performing Musicians Fellowship in the past three years (2007, 2008, 2009). • Students who are enrolled in part-time, full-time or finishing work in a degree granting program. • Artists may not apply to more than one McKnight Fellowship discipline per year. Application Materials Recordings: 8 compact discs. • Recordings of Recent Performances: All recordings must be submitted in CD format and consist of live or studio recordings made in the last three years. Recordings should represent the artist’s highest quality, best work. Soloists must submit recordings of solo performances, and ensembles must submit recordings that feature all ensemble members listed on the application. Recordings of soloists and ensembles can include accompaniment, however, the judges should be able to easily identify that they are hearing the music of a soloist or an ensemble by the listening process alone. • Compact Disc A Time requirement: 4 minutes or less Quantity required: 3 identical copies (one original plus two copies) Compact Disc A should include one or more of the soloists’ or ensembles’ works, which when added together, do not exceed a combined total of four minutes on the entire disc. Submit three identical CDs, labeled with the letter A (nothing more), in black permanent marker. Fading in or fading out a recording is acceptable to avoid exceeding the time allotted. Compact Disc A is the only music heard by the judges in the first round. • Compact Disc B Time requirement: 24 minutes or less Quantity required: 5 identical copies (one original plus four copies) Begin Compact Disc B with the exact work or works of Compact Disc A, followed by 5 seconds of silence or a 5-second track of silence. In addition to including the identical recording(s) from Compact Disc A, Compact Disc B must contain two or more additional works, which when added together, do not exceed a combined total of 20 minutes in length. Fading in or fading out a piece of music is acceptable to avoid exceeding time allotted. The 20 minute time limit of this second portion of works does not include the work(s) included from Compact Disc A. Submit five identical copies of Compact Disc B, labeled with the letter B (nothing more) in black permanent marker. It is recommended that all works be separated into individual tracks so that judges may easily advance through the applicant’s recordings. If the applicant chooses to present the second portion of works as one single track, any period of silence in between works is counted towards the 20 minute time limit on the second portion of music of Compact Disc B. The total length of all recordings on Compact Disc B must be no more than 24 minutes. Applicants will be disqualified from the competition if the total time of all works on Compact Disc B exceeds 24 minutes. The judging panel will listen to Compact Disc B of all applicants who advance to the second round. As a result, the applicant’s eight total CDs submitted will all begin with the same, identical work or works from Compact Disc A. Five of the eight CDs submitted will include additional works. Do not write your name, sample work titles, tracks numbers, etc., on compact discs. Compact discs must be labeled with the letters A and B only. Applicants’ CDs will be assigned an entry number once the application is received to keep applications separate. Do not include any introductory spoken commentary on your CDs. Do not exceed the allotted recording times. Applicants will be disqualified from the competition if the recordings exceed the time allotted. Resumé: 5 identical copies, 2-pages or shorter (one original + four copies). Resumés should pertain to the soloist or ensembles music career. Please include the soloists/ensembles name, address and instrument/s at the top of the resumé. Ensemble resumés must include at least 12 significant performances (4 per year) from the 3 years prior to the application deadline. RESUMÉS MAY NOT INCLUDE: email addresses, web site addresses, quotes or reviews, pictures, photographs, cover letters or letters of recommendation. List of CD Works (optional): Applicants may submit a supplementary page to their resumé listing only the CD works and composers submitted on Compact Disc B. Artist Statement: 5 identical copies, 2-pages or shorter, with your name at the top of each page. The statement should answer the following questions: How will this award further/significantly advance your career? Should you win, what are your plans with a McKnight Fellowship award? It may also address information regarding your background, the development of your work, your interests as an artist or your aesthetic position, and/or your future artist direction. Artist Statement: 5 identical copies, 2-pages or shorter, with your name at the top of each page. The statement should answer the following questions: How will this award further/significantly advance your career? Should you win, what are your plans with a McKnight Fellowship award? It may also address information regarding your background, the development of your work, your interests as an artist or your aesthetic position, and/or your future artist direction. Completed and signed application form. Clearly legible copy of a driver’s license for each applicant or other proof of legal Minnesota residency. A sealed envelope with the application materials enclosed. Supplemental or additional materials such as cover letters, photographs, articles, folders and pocket files are not permitted and will be recycled. Judges’ Selection Process and Criteria Performance excellence along with the merits of the artist statement will be considered for the selection of four fellowship recipients. Soloists and ensembles in all styles compete together. First Round Selection Process: In the first round of the judges’ selection process, members of the judging panel will review the Compact Disc recordings labeled A. The judging panel will choose approximately one-third of the applications to advance to the second round. Soloist/ensemble resumés and artist statements are not viewed in the first round of the selection process and the judges are not given the names of applicants until the second round. Applicants who do not advance to the second round are told in writing. Second Round Selection Process: In the second round of the judge’s selection process, the judging panel will review the Compact Disc recordings labeled B. Soloist/ensemble resumés and artist statements are reviewed for the first time by the judging panel in the second round. The judging panel will choose nine soloists/ensembles to perform in the live auditions on Friday, May 7, 2010. Soloists and ensembles that do not proceed to the final auditions are told in writing. The nine soloist/ensemble finalists who are selected will be notified in writing at least one month prior to the final audition date. Final Auditions: A total of four soloist/ensemble fellowship recipients will be selected to receive a fellowship based on their performance at this event. The final auditions will be held at MacPhail Center for Music on Friday, May 7, 2010 from 9 a.m–5 p.m. Finalists must present a live performance no longer than 30 minutes in length at the finalist showcase. (Finalists are not required to perform works from their CD submissions at the final audition). At the live auditions, the judging panel will be provided with each finalist’s resumé and artist statement for review. Attendance at the final performance is mandatory to receive an award—no exceptions can be made. Each finalist’s audition time will be selected by a lottery system. Fellowship awards will be announced the evening of auditions by 9 p.m. Checklist: ❑ the application form from the McKnight booklet (completed and signed by all members) ❑ 5 copies of a resumé, (for ensembles: list of significant performances in last three years), plus optional list of work titles from Compact Disc B ❑ recordings (8 compact discs total): 3 “A” compact discs, and 5 “B” compact discs ❑ artist statement ❑ photocopy of soloist’s/each ensemble member’s Minnesota drivers license or other proof of permanent residency in the state of Minnesota ❑ sealed envelope with application materials enclosed POSTMARK DEADLINE: Monday, January 25, 2010 Send Applications to: Lindsay Lewis McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians 501 South 2nd St. Minneapolis, MN 55401 QUESTIONS and “HOW TO APPLY” SEMINARS For questions please contact Lindsay Lewis at 612.767.5586 or via email. For a more in-depth discussion of the application process please attend one of the following “How to Apply” Seminars: Monday, January 11th, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis in room 124. Sunday, December 13th, 12:30-1:30 p.m. at MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis in room 124. If you plan to attend please RSVP to Lindsay Lewis three days in advance of the seminar. McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians Winners 2008-2009 Linda Chatterton, flutist Sarah Kwak, violinist Gao Hong, Chinese pipa player Arek Tesarczyk, cellist 2007-2008 Noah Hoehn, harmonica player David Karr, saxophone player Charles Lazarus, trumpeter Matthew Young, violist 2006-2007 Katja Linfield, cellist Patrick Harison McPeck, accordionist The Minneapolis Quartet, string quartet 2005-2006 Connie Evingson, vocalist Amy and Sara Hamann, piano duo Ross/Rapier Cello Duo Voice Trek, vocal ensemble 2004-2005 Stephanie Arado, violinist Artaria String Quartet John Snow, oboist Thomas Turner, violist 2003-2004 Steven Copes, violinist Noah Hoehn, harmonica player Dean Magraw, guitarist Stephanie Wendt, pianist 2002-2003 Leibundguth-Witt Duo, flute & piano duo Neal and Leandra, voice/guitar duo Nina Tso-Ning Fan, violinist Soyulla Duo, violin & cello duo 2001-2002 Dare to Breathe, vocal ensemble Gao Hong, Chinese pipa player Prudence Johnson, vocalist Anthony Ross, cellist 2000-2001 The Bakken Trio, piano trio Rosalyra Quartet, string quartet Timothy Paradise, clarinetist Connie Evingson, vocalist 1999-2000 Duologue, flute & guitar duo Jorja Fleezanis, violinist Diane Jarvi, vocalist & instrumentalist Peter Mayer, vocalist/guitarist 1998-1999 Linda Chatterton, flutist Laura MacKenzie, Celtic multi-instrumentalist Ruth MacKenzie, vocalist Sunita Staneslaw, harpist 1997-1998 Ensemble Capriccio, string trio Gao Hong, Chinese pipa player Shank-MacLaughlin Duo, violin & piano duo Tadeusz Majewski, pianist

McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians Winners