MacPhail Center for Music: McKnight Fellowships



	McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians Announcements SAVE THE DATE! The final auditions of the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians is on Saturday, May 9, 2009, 9am–4:30pm. If you plan to apply for the McKnight Fellowships in 2009 please keep 9am-4:30pm. of May 9th open in your schedule. McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians Administered by MacPhail Center for Music 2009-2010 Application Information 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. The McKnight 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, MNartists, 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. 2009-2010 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 not enter as both a soloist and ensemble member in the same year. 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, 2009 – August 31, 2010, or they will forfeit their award moneys. 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. Eligible ensembles are those which are active ensembles, having at least four significant performances in each of the last three years. 8. Once an artist has won the McKnight Performing Musicians Fellowship they must wait five years before they may apply again. The Fellowship recipients of 2005-2006 are eligible to apply for the 2009-2010 Performing Musicians Fellowships. 9. An artist may not win more than $50,000 in McKnight fellowship awards in three years. 10. An artist may not apply as both a soloist and as a member of an ensemble in any given year. Application Deadline The application deadline is 9 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 2009. THIS IS NOT A POSTMARK DEADLINE. All applications must be received by January 26. No late or incomplete applications will be accepted. Applications can be mailed or hand-delivered to the MacPhail front office. Please address sealed envelopes 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. 1. Recordings: 8 compact discs. See specific recording instructions on pages 5-6. 2. Five identical copies of a resumé (one original plus four copies), which should be no more than two pages long. All ensemble resumés must include a list of at least 12 significant performances from the last three years prior to the application deadline, with at least four significant performances per year. 3. Five identical copies of an artist statement (maximum of two 8-1/2" x 11," one-sided pages) with your name at the top of each page. 4. One completed and signed application form. 5. 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.) 6. One sealed envelope with the application materials enclosed. Please be sure the envelope is labeled properly. Supplemental or additional materials such as cover letters, photographs, articles, folders and pocket files are not permitted and will be recycled. Application Materials 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 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. Please read “List of CD works” on page 7 for instructions on how to include CD work titles in your application. • 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. • Please do not submit CDs in plastic jewel cases. Instead, we ask that CDs be submitted in paper sleeves or flexible plastic sleeves. Applicants will not be disqualified for providing the wrong CD cases. 2. Professional Resumé Two pages maximum, single sided, stapled Number of copies: 5 (one original and four copies) Soloists: Resumés should pertain to the soloist’s music career (two pages maximum). The top of the soloist’s resumé must include the soloist’s name, instrument and address. Ensembles: Resumés should pertain to the ensemble’s music career (two pages maximum). All ensembles resumés must include a list of at least 12 significant performances from the last three years prior to the date of the application deadline, with at least four significant performances per year. The top of an ensemble’s resumé must include the ensemble name, each ensemble member’s name and instrument, as well as an ensemble contact person’s name and address. List of CD works (optional): Along with a resumé, all applicants may submit a list of CD works submitted on Compact Disc B by adding an additional page to their resumé. This additional page must include nothing more than the soloist/ensemble name at the top of the page, and the titles of the works and composers that were submitted on Compact Disc B. Resumés may not include: email addresses, web site addresses, quotes or reviews, pictures, photographs, cover letters or letters of recommendation. 3. Artist Statement Two pages maximum, single sided, stapled Number of copies: 5 (one original and four copies) An artist statement includes the soloist/ensemble name at the top of each page and must 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? The artist statement may also take any of several directions at your discretion: information about your background, the development of your work, your interests as an artist or your aesthetic position, your future artistic direction, or any other information you would like to present to the panel. 4. 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 must 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 May 9, 2009. DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION FORM: McKnight soloist application form (pdf) McKnight ensemble application form (pdf) 5. Proof of current residency within the state of Minnesota Soloists and each ensemble member must submit a clearly legible photocopy of a driver’s license, or other proof of Minnesota residency with their application. 6. Sealed Envelope Submit application materials in a sealed envelope with the application materials enclosed. Please be sure the envelope is labeled properly to the attention of Matthew Prediger, McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians, MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St. Minneapolis, MN 55401. 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 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 Saturday, May 9, 2009. 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 Audition: 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, May 9, 2009 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. All finalists must participate in the May 9 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. Questions and “How to Apply” Seminars For questions please contact the McKnight Fellowships for Performing Musicians Manager at 612.767.5310, or email: mprediger@macphail.org For assistance in person, we welcome you to attend one of the seminars on how to apply, held at MacPhail Center for Music (information below). If you plan to attend, please RSVP at least three days in advance of the seminar date by calling 612.767.5310 or email: mprediger@macphail.org Monday, January 5, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in room 124 of the new MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St, downtown Minneapolis. Sunday, January 11, 1:00-2:00 p.m. in room 124 of the new MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St, downtown Minneapolis. 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