New Chorus America Grants Cycle Brings Responses to Feedback and Learnings

Chorus America is thrilled to announce our new grants cycle, which includes two grant opportunities specifically dedicated to supporting the choral field. Applications for both grants are now open, and the deadline to submit for this grant cycle is November 17.

If you’ve applied to our grant or award programs before you may be familiar with the Music Education Partnership Grants and Dale Warland Singers Commission Grant. While the focus and core values for both opportunities remain the same as in past years, we’ve made some changes in response to learnings and feedback to better serve applicants, panelists, and grant partners.

Music Education Partnership Grants

What’s New?

• More Inclusive Student Eligibility Criteria.  The grant now targets projects that engage early childhood to 12th grade students, widening its scope to be inclusive of all educational stages and mindful that access by age varies across different communities.
• Project Period.  We recognize that multi-year funding can facilitate better project planning and implementation. The grant period will now span two school years (this grant cycle will fund 2024-25 and 2025-26 years). This multi-year funding will provide grants averaging $20,000 to $25,000 annually, or up to $50,000 over two years.
• Timeline.  Many projects expressed a need for sooner notification so that they can coordinate with schools earlier (and before they leave for summer break). The timeline for the grants application has been updated so that we are positioned to announce grants in mid-April. To accommodate this earlier announcement, applications are due earlier than last cycle, and must be submitted by November 17 for consideration this grants cycle.
• Eligibility.  In response to concerns about school and district’s ability to take on grant funds, this grant cycle, only nonprofit organizations or fiscally sponsored projects can apply. Schools may be project partners but cannot act as the fiscal agent or primary applicant.
• Project Budget.  This grant cycle, we are requiring a project budget to help the panel understand how the grant will be most helpful. We’ve included a template to reference as a convenience.

The Dale Warland Singers Commission Grant

What's Changed?

As announced in September 2023, the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award will transition to a grant as part of a series of updates to Chorus America’s Award program. This grant will continue to support the creation of new choral music with a focus on funding future work rather than recognizing past achievement. While the core focus and values remain the same, there is an increased emphasis on access, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI).

What’s New?

• Timeline.  The transition to a grant means that applications will be accepted earlier (now through November 17) to align with our grant programs. This earlier timeline also provides more time from the decision announcement to the start of many chorus performance seasons, which we hope will facilitate more supported planning and implementation.
• Application Questions.  The previous 5-page statement requirement has been replaced with 4 short-answer questions to better understand the commission’s intended impact.
• Tools and Resources.  To provide the level of transparency on decision-making consistent with other our other funding opportunities, a scoring rubric, application toolkit and other templates are available to guide you through the application process. All applicants may schedule a time to receive anonymized scores and feedback after decisions have been made.
• Streamlined Recording and Score Requirements.  Only 1-2 recordings and scores need to be submitted as part of the application process.

Learn More and Apply!

Don’t miss out on these funding opportunities to further your choruses’ work. To get a more in-depth understanding of these grants, please register for our upcoming webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, October 18 at 2PM Eastern. For any further queries or clarification, we encourage you to reach out to members of the grants team. We are more than happy to assist you through this process!

Kimberly Theodore Sidey is the Director of Grants at Chorus America, where she oversees the organization’s grantmaking and review process, collection of data and impact, and learning cohort for Chorus America’s grant partners.