Music Academy Of The West Has Unveiled The 2020 Alumni Enterprise Award Winners

A pioneer of thought leadership in music and the arts, Music Academy of the West has announced he winners of its third annual Alumni Enterprise Awards. Over $70,000 in cash prizes will be shared among eight alumni, funding four winning projects and two Innovation Awards.

Alumni Enterprise Award Projects

• Tenor and non-profit founder of Opera4Kids Bernardo Bermudez ('11) will use digital platforms to bring opera to young people through his program Musical Make Believe.
• Violinist Clara Lyon ('03, '04) and violist Doyle Armbrust ('01, '03) of the Spektral Quartet (pictured above), will record and release a commissioned work, Enigma, with a 360-degree video screened in planetariums and viewed on VR headsets.
• Cellist John Popham ('05, '06) of Longleash will create a meditative, active listening podcast, States of Listening.
• Tenor Andy Zimmermann ('19) will bring opera to Broadway with Opera Jukebox, a concept that will reinvent popular arias for a wide audience.

Innovation Awards

· Innovation Awards are being presented to flutist Sasha Launer ('11), co-founder of One Found Sound, and co-awarded to mezzo-soprano Jenny Rivera ('95, '96), executive director and CEO, and bass-baritone Derrell Acon ('09), Director of Engagement & Equity of Long Beach Opera.

All 7,000-plus Music Academy alumni are eligible to apply for the Award. Project proposals were vetted by members of the Music Academy Board of Directors, National Advisory Council, and administration, including President and CEO Scott Reed. Representing the Board were former executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Exelon and past chair of the Joffrey Ballet and Ravinia Festival Pamela Strobel, and Director, Strategy & Business Development for Disney Theatrical Group Clive Chang.

"The quality and creativity of the Award proposals were inspiring. Alumni continue to lead us to new thinking about how music is presented and how to reach new audiences."

- Music Academy President & CEO Scott Reed

"Each winner participates in our Innovation Residential to expand their professional networks and to develop their approach to entrepreneurship and strategic application. Our overarching goal is to give as many of our fellows and alumni the tools they need to help launch their careers."

- Director of Innovation and Program Development Kevin Kwan Loucks

About the Innovation Residential

Taught by leading industry professionals, the Music Academy Innovation Residential supplies Award-winners with the tools to sharpen their business skills and workshop their business plans. Hosted at the Music Academy in March 2020, it is the only intensive of its kind offered by a top-tier performing arts organization. Curriculum will include:

· Design Thinking and Organizational Behavior

· Developing a Successful Business Model

· Strategy for Growth and Performance

· Industry and Competitor Analysis

· Innovation and Entrepreneurship ·

· Marketing and Brand Management

· Organizational Management

· Partnerships and Networking

About the 2020 Award-Winning Projects

Bernardo Bermudez tenor ('11)

Award: $20,000
Musical Make Believe

The founder of the educational non-profit organization Opera4Kids will launch the Musical Make Believe digital program; using classical music, guest musicians, characters, puppetry, and animation to tell stories about music, musical instruments, and the performing arts with the potential to reach millions. The first 10 episodes of programming will be streaming online via YouTube. Musical Make Believe will also promote The Enchanted Tail and other Opera4Kids productions, encouraging kids and their families to attend live performances. LEARN MORE

Andy Zimmerman tenor ('19)
Award: $20,000
Opera Jukebox

An opera jukebox musical will showcase opera's greatest hits in a medium better suited to the 21st century audience. A new musical will be created with the greatest hits of opera. 60 minutes of music with a nine-piece band will be presented at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. While the famous melodies will be taken from opera classics, the lyrics will be in English and the arrangements will be brand-new. All cast members are leaders in their respective industries of Broadway, modern dance, and opera. Andy Zimmermann will be hosting the evening to help guide the audience through a new musical experience. LEARN MORE

Clara Lyon violin ('03, '04)

Doyle Armbrust viola ('01, '03)

Award: $20,000
Enigma

Spektral Quartet will record and release an immersive, 360-degree format visual album of Enigma by composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir and video artist Sigurdur Gudjonsson. A 360-degree dome video will be adapted for personal viewing devices such as a VR headset, released in November 2020 as a visual album, corresponding with a New York City premiere featuring this work. LEARN MORE

John Popham cello ('05, '06)

Award: $5,000
States of Listening

The production of five pilot episodes of States of Listening, a music podcast that offers a guided listening experience through mindfulness practices, each featuring a musical work conducive to a specific mindfulness practice. An introductory conversation between a musician and a meditation, spirituality, or music therapy expert will prepare the listener to experience the musical work in full, guiding their engagement through listening strategies and mindfulness practices. The musical content and guests featured on States of Listening will be curated by Longleash, a critically acclaimed trio with expertise in progressive yet accessible programming. LEARN MORE

Innovation Awards

Sasha Launer flute ('11)

Award: $2,500

Sasha Launer is a co-founder of One Found Sound (OFS), a conductorless, collaborative chamber orchestra on a mission to revolutionize live classical music performances. Focused on building strong, inspired communities, OFS is on a mission to harness the unifying power of classical music by cultivating modern and relatable performance environments. OFS performs standing up, without a stage, and in unconventional open-plan venues where listeners are invited to sit or stand without any barriers to the music. They encourage the use of smartphones and audience vocalization and invite guests to chat with members after each performance. Their workshop series, OFS Presents, provides community members with unique interdisciplinary events that relate classical music with yoga, mindfulness, meditation, psychology, and neuroscience. LEARN MORE

Jennifer Rivera soprano ('95, '96)

Derrell Acon
bass baritone ('09)

Award: $2,500

Executive Director and CEO Jennifer Rivera and Derrell Acon, Director of Engagement & Equity, Long Beach Opera, are creating a series of Community Engagement events that will present art as a catalyst for connecting communities through both conversation and performance. The series will focus on relevant topics featuring community leaders, activists, artists and change-makers, catalyzed by artistic performances that will be incorporated into the event. These conversations will address topics from the operas Long Beach Opera will perform as they relate to a contemporary audience - issues like immigration, equity and diversity in the arts, female empowerment, and artists as purveyors of social change. The conversations will conclude with a Q & A between the speakers, panelists, artists, and audience members.

ABOUT THE ALUMNI ENTERPRISE AWARDS

The Alumni Enterprise Awards, now in its third year, is open to all alumni of the Academy's Summer Festival, and funds innovative ideas in areas including artistic expression, audience development, education, community engagement, social justice, and technology. The Music Academy has now invested a total of $220,000 in our alumni-innovated projects since 2018.

The winners were selected by the Academy's senior management and members of the Board of Directors in collaboration with its distinguished National Advisory Council.