Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater (ALT), announced today that the company has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a $35,000 Art Works grant to support its Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), the only full-time professional mentorship initiative for emerging operatic writers in the country.
Announced by Acting Chairman
Joan Shigekawa as one of 817 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant, this marks the fourth consecutive grant ALT has received from the NEA for this program. ALT's flagship initiative, the CLDP provides unprecedented professional instruction and guidance to gifted emerging operatic writers. The CLDP faculty includes some of the country's foremost artists, including composer/librettist Mark Adamo, composer Paul Moravec, librettists
Mark Campbell and
Michael Korie, and dramaturg Cori Ellison. Earlier this year, ALT announced the national expansion of the CLDP, allowing artists nationwide to participate in the program through the use of newly acquired HD teleconferencing technology. Previously, only artists living in the New York area were able to participate. The upcoming season of the CLDP will run from September 15, 2013 to June 18, 2014.
Acting Chairman Shigekawa stated, "The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support these exciting and diverse arts projects that will take place throughout the United States. Whether it is through a focus on education, engagement or innovation, these projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable opportunities for the public to engage with the arts."
Marc Scorca, President and CEO of OPERA America, has said of the CLDP, "ALT's Composer Librettist Development Program has been an important contributing force to the flow of new American operas in recent years. Outstanding works and strong new relationships among artists and producers have resulted from Edelson's visionary leadership of American Lyric Theater. I look forward to the expanded, national impact of this program."
Mr. Edelson commented on the grant, stating, "We are honored and thrilled by the increased support we have received from the NEA this year. Previously, ALT has only been able to offer the CLDP to artists living in the metropolitan New York City area. While the program has been a tremendous success, our goal for the CLDP has always been to become a truly national initiative, whereby we are providing mentorship to the most diverse group of gifted emerging operatic writers from across the United States. The NEA's increased support will help us to make the CLDP resources available to artists from around the country - artists who are the vibrant voices that will define the future of opera in America."
The NEA received 1,547 eligible applications under the Art Works category for this round of funding, requesting more than $80 million in funding. The Composer Librettist Development Program at ALT was the only program specifically dedicated to the training of operatic writers that received support from the NEA during this round of funding. The 817 Art Works grants total $26.3 million and support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts across 13 artistic disciplines and fields. Applications were reviewed by panels of outside experts convened by NEA staff and each project was judged on its artistic excellence and artistic merit.
For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at
arts.gov.
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