MacPhail Center for Music: McKnight Fellowships



	To visit the McKnight Foundation website, click here. 2008 McKnight Ensemble Application Form (pdf) 2008 McKnight Soloist Application Form (pdf) About the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians With the generous support of the McKnight Foundation, MacPhail Center for Music awards fellowships which recognize and support outstanding Minnesota performing musicians. The McKnight Artist Fellowships provide financial support, professional development opportunities and recognition to musicians as they explore their craft and develop their musicianship skills and performance style while enriching Minnesota’s cultural community. This program is made possible by the generous support of the McKnight Foundation. The Fellowships for Performing Musicians program, administered by MacPhail Center for Music, is one component of the McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships program, which contributes more than $1.5 million per year to assist individual artists in 12 disciplines. The McKnight Foundation provides Fellowships for ceramic artist, choreographers and dancers, composers, filmmakers and screenwriters, performing musicians, photographers, playwrights and theater artists, visual artists and writers, administered respectively by Northern Clay Center, Southern Theater, American Composers Forum, IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts, MacPhail Center for Music, Minnesota Center for Photography, The Playwrights’ Center, MCAD and the Loft Literary Center. Awards Four $24,000 fellowships are awarded to outstanding solo musicians or small ensembles. A final audition of nine finalists determines the four fellowship recipients. All nine finalists who participate in the final audition each receive $1,000 in honorarium. Note: Ensembles that are recognized as finalists and/or fellowship recipients will split awards between members; individual ensemble members do not each receive the full award amount. Awards are subject to state and federal income tax guidelines. Community Projects An additional $2,500 will be awarded to fellowship winners who choose to participate in one or more community projects during the fellowship year. Community projects are arranged with the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians manager and must be completed during the award year. Activities may include (but are not limited to) public performances, workshops, master classes or other types of community projects. 2008-2009 Eligibility Requirements Please read carefully. Applicants who do not meet all of the following criteria and expectations will not be considered and should not apply. Soloists and ensembles (of up to five members) in all music styles will be considered. All members of an ensemble must individually meet these criteria and be performing members. Artists may enter as both a soloist and ensemble member. Conductors are not to be considered in this competition. ”Applicant” refers to soloists and ensemble members: 1. Applicant(s) must be legal resident(s) of Minnesota for at least 12 months prior to the application deadline. 2. Fellowship recipients (soloists and ensemble members) must maintain residency in Minnesota until the end of the fellowship grant period of September 1, 2008 – August 31, 2009, or they will forfeit their grant money. 3. Applicant(s) must be 18 years of age or older. 4. Applicant(s) may not be enrolled either part-time, full-time or finishing work in a degree-granting program. 5. Applicant(s) may not apply to more than one of the 12 McKnight Artist Fellowships programs in a given year. Doing so will disqualify applicants from consideration in any program in that Fellowship year. 6. Eligible ensembles are those whose members have performed together for three or more years as the ensemble named on the application and whose membership is no more than five members. 7. Once an artist has won the McKnight Performing Musicians Fellowship they must wait four years before they may apply again. The Fellowship recipients of 2004-2005 are eligible to apply for the 2008-2009 Performing Musicians Fellowships. 8. An artist may not win more than $50,000 in McKnight fellowship awards in three years. Application Deadline The application deadline is Tuesday, January 22, 2008. All applications must be postmarked or delivered by hand to MacPhail Center for Music by 8:30 p.m. No late or incomplete applications will be accepted. Please note: MacPhail Center for Music is moving MacPhail Center for Music, that administers the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians, will be moving from its location on LaSalle Avenue on Friday, December 21, 2007 to a new location. If you mail or hand-deliver your application before December 21st, the application should be addressed/delivered to: Matthew Prediger McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians MacPhail Center for Music 1128 LaSalle Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 If you mail or hand-deliver your application after Friday, December 21, 2007, the application should be addressed/delivered to: Matthew Prediger McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians MacPhail Center for Music 501 S. 2nd St. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 Application Materials Applications must contain all of the following materials and be submitted by the deadline or the application will not be accepted. • Recordings: eight compact discs. Please see specific recording instructions below. • Five identical copies of a resumé (one original plus four copies), which should be no more than two pages long. • One completed and signed application form. • One sealed envelope with the application materials enclosed. • One clearly legible copy of a driver’s license, or other proof of legal Minnesota residency. (Ensemble members submit photocopies of each member’s driver’s license.) Supplemental or additional materials such as cover letters, photographs, articles, folders and pocket files will not be permitted. 1. Recordings of Recent Performances: All recordings must be submitted in compact disc format and consist of live or studio recordings made in the last three years. It is recommended that recordings be of the highest quality and be representative of the applicant’s best work, entering the competition as either a soloist or an ensemble. 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. The following are required criteria for the timing and formatting of recordings. Any non-compliance will result in disqualification of the application. Compact Disc A Time limit: 4 minutes or less Number of copies of Compact Disc A: 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), with 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 limit: 24 minutes or less Number of copies of Compact Disc B: 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 exact 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 or works included from Compact Disc A. This second portion of works included on Compact Disc B may be recorded as one single track, however, it is recommended that works be separated into individual tracks so that judges may easily advance through the applicants’ recorded works. 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. Label five identical copies of Compact Disc B labeled with the letter “B” (nothing more) with black permanent marker. Fading in and fading out a recording is acceptable to avoid exceeding the allotment of time for these additional works. 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 Compact Disc B exceeds the total 24 minutes required. Movements from larger pieces are acceptable. In other words, the applicants’ eight total CDs submitted, all begin with the same work or works from Compact Disc A. Five out of the eight CDs, will include additional works. The judging panel will listen to Compact Disc B of applicants who advance to the second round. DO NOT: Do not write your name, sample work titles, tracks numbers, etc., on compact discs. Compact discs should be labeled with the letters “A” and “B” only. Applicants’ CDs will be assigned an entry number once the application is received to keep all applications separate. Please do not submit CDs in plastic jewel cases. Instead, we ask that CDs be submitted in paper sleeves or flexible plastic sleeves. An applicant will not be disqualified for providing the wrong CD cases. 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. 2. Professional Resumé or Bio Two pages maximum, single sided Number of copies: 5 (one original and four copies) Resumés should pertain to the soloist’s or ensemble’s music career (two pages maximum). The top of soloist resumés must include nothing more than the soloist’s name, instrument(s), address and phone number. The top of ensemble resumés must include nothing more than the ensemble name, ensemble members’ names and instruments, as well as the ensemble contact person’s name, address and phone number. If you wish to include the titles of the works on your CDs, please include a third page to your resume/bio that includes your name and contact information at the top of the page and in any format, include the titles of the works and their respective composers/song writers that you have submitted on Compact Disc B. Do not include: Resumés/bios may not include web site addresses, email addresses, pictures, photographs, reviews, quotes, cover letters, plans for fellowship, or recommendation letters. 3. Signed and completed application form Applicants must submit one completed and signed application form. Ensembles submit one application form for the entire group and should be signed by each ensemble member. Each soloist and ensemble member should include his/her address and phone number and keep the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians manager apprised of any changes in address or phone number, if changes occur before fellowship recipients are announced on April 26, 2008. 4. Proof of current residency within the state of Minnesota Soloists and each ensemble member must submit a clearly legible copy of a driver’s license, or other proof of Minnesota residency with your application. Judges’ Selection Process and Criteria Performance excellence is the primary criterion 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 judge’s selection process, members of the judging panel will review the Compact Disc recordings labeled “A”. The judging panel will choose one third of the applications to advance to the second round. Soloist’s and ensemble’s resumés/bios 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”. The soloist’s and ensemble’s resumés 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 Saturday, April 26, 2008. 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 by MacPhail Center for Music in mid March of 2008. 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 Sundin Hall, Hamline University on Saturday, April 26, 2008. 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 the each soloist’s/ensemble’s resumé for review. All finalists must participate in the April 26 auditions to be considered for a fellowship. 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. Further Information If you have any questions regarding the application or audition process, or if you would like to receive a McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians brochure/application each year, please contact: Matthew Prediger, McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians Manager, email: prediger.matthew@macphail.org or call 612.767.5310 McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians Winners 2008-2009 Linda Chatterton, flute Sarah Kwak, violin Gao Hong, Chinese pipa Arek Tesarczyk, cello 2007-2008 Noah Hoehn, harmonica David Karr, sax Charles Lazarus, trumpet Matthew Young, viola 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 Tuner, 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, vocalists/guitarists 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