Andrew W. Mellon News

In what is believed to be one of the largest awards made to support poetry in the United States by a philanthropic institution, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has made two grants to the Academy of American Poets totaling $2.2 million. The funds will enable the work of several poets serving in civic Poets Laureate positions, and of more than 20 poetry organizations who comprise a national Poetry Coalition.

The service organization Dance/NYC has announced recipients of the New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program. Administered by Dance/NYC and made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the program offers support over a 36-month period to 15 NYC-based organizations in order to provide subsidized rates for dance rehearsal space.

McCarter Theatre Center has announced three new works as part of its 2019 Spotlight New Play Festival. These intimate play readings showcase the core of the McCarter LAB's mission to support new voices with creative insight from dramaturgs, directors, and actors to help guide and shape their plays. Additionally, real-time reactions of audience members play an active role in the creative development process, assisting playwrights in the elevation of their artistic endeavors.

The Bushwick Starr is thrilled to collaborate with Ma-Yi Theater Company in presenting the world premiere of Suicide Forest by award-winning playwright and performer Kristine Haruna Lee (Memory Retrograde at The Public Theater with Under the Radar and Ars Nova, War Lesbian at Dixon Place), directed by Aya Ogawa (Ludic Proxy produced by The Play Company at Walker Space, The Nosebleed at The Public Theater with Under the Radar).

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) are pleased to announce programming for the fourth annual TILT (March 2-31), a festival for kids, families, and adults showcasing lyrical and thought-provoking multidisciplinary international projects and new commissions from musicians, theater makers, visual artists, and philosophers. Co-curated for the first time by Laurent Clavel, Cultural Attache of the French Embassy, and FIAF Artistic Director Courtney Geraghty, this year's TILT engages leading French, Francophone, and American artists. Their works-many of which emphasize the theme of acceptance-nurture both imagination and social consciousness as they speak to the next generation of engaged citizens. Most of the events are free; for ticketed events, please visit www.tiltkidsfestival.org.

Renowned pianist and pedagogue Leon Fleisher has updated the program for his celebratory 90th birthday recital at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall to include works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart, along with two selections by Leon Kirchner. Joining Mr. Fleisher on stage are notable friends and colleagues, Jonathan Biss and Yefim Bronfman, whom Mr. Fleisher has mentored throughout his illustrious career. Mr. Fleisher will also be joined by special guests the Dover Quartet and Rachel Calin on bass. The evening's revised program reflects the repertoire that Mr. Fleisher wished to put forth for this celebratory occasion. Full program information is listed below.

The League of American Orchestras announced today the launch of The Catalyst Fund, a three-year pilot program of annual grants to adult and youth orchestras that aims to advance their understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and to foster effective EDI practices. The Catalyst Fund is supported by a three-year, $2.1 million grant to the League from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Drama League presents DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing, now in its 35th year. The festival will include six fully-staged productions, a showcase evening of a new musical, discussion forums, and conversations with notable American directors. DirectorFest will take place at various locations around NYC: New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thompson Avenue, Long Island City), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available at www.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced casting for DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing. DirectorFest takes place at various locations around NYC: New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thompson Avenue, Long Island City), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available at www.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

New York's PROTOTYPE OperaTheatreNow Festival returns for its seventh season from January 5 to the 13th and the one thing that you can't ask about it is “What's new?” That's not because there's nothing to answer. On the contrary--there's too much, in style, in content, in the sizes of its venues: This year's Festival is larger than ever, with a dozen works, 24 composerlibrettists and over 150 collaborators.

The Sol Project (Jacob G. Padron, Artistic Director), the national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying Latinx voices and building a body of work for the new American theater, is proud to announce that founding member and artistic producer David Mendizabal will become the Associate Artistic Director, beginning immediately. Rebecca Martinez and Julian Ramirez will also join the company as members of the artistic collective.

New York Live Arts, under the artistic leadership of world renowned choreographer, National Medal of Arts, MacArthur "Genius" Award and Kennedy Center Honors recipient Bill T. Jones and Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong, announced Raja Feather Kelly as the 2019-20 Randjelovi/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist (RCA). The award is one of the most substantial awards for a choreographer in the United States and a significant vehicle for midcareer artists.

Victory Gardens Theater announces Tanuja Jagernauth as the 2019 Marcelle McVay Management Fellow for 2019. Victory Gardens Next Generation Fellowships provide comprehensive mentorship, requisite training, and experience for these future leaders of color, preparing them to helm arts institutions or departments on the national and local level. The 2019 Macelle McVay Management Fellowship is made possible by support from the Weiss Grosshandler Charitable Fund.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces the Spring 2019 season of dance, theater, music, and multimedia presentations, running January 30 through May 30. Tickets for BAC Presents performances are on sale now, and can be purchased at bacnyc.org and 866 811 4111. A complete lineup of BAC Residencies-to be announced in January-will provide residencies to artists across disciplines to create new works of dance, theater, music, and multimedia.  

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) announces their spring 2019 season concerts. Engagements this spring include performances of Tyshawn Sorey's Perle Noire: Meditations For Josephine featuring rising soprano Julia Bullock at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miller Theatre Composer Portraits of Wang Lu and Tyshawn Sorey, three performances at the 2019 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, and Silent Voices: Lovestate with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at The New Victory Theater in NYC. The Ensemble also continues its partnerships with the New York Public Library and Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology throughout the spring.

The service organization Dance/NYC is pleased to announce the release of Immigrants. Dance. Arts.: Data on NYC Dance, prepared in collaboration with the Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Task Force.

First Nations Dialogues Lenapehoking/New York is an initiative that provides unprecedented exposure and a focus on Indigenous performing arts and artists based in Canada, the U.S., and Australia in partnership with multiple contemporary live performance platforms across New York City, January 5–12, 2019. First Nations Dialogues also kick-starts the development of the groundbreaking Global First Nations Performance Network (GFNPN), a pilot initiative focused on cultural change through the commissiong, touring, and presenting of Indigenous performance and building demand and capacity for the same within the presenting sector.

Four new works for the stage, with a global cohort of theatremakers, have gathered for development at the two-week Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), convening December 2-16, 2018, including a public performance on December 7. The Labs process, rigorous and generative, is founded on concentrated and abundant time and resources; projects are cast individually and rehearsed daily.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) has announced the theater directors chosen to develop new plays and musicals as part of the 2019 Drama League Artist Residency Program. Public work-in-progress presentations of each residency will be held periodically throughout the year at The Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas, in Tribeca. Schedules for the presentations, which are open to the public, will be available throughout 2019 at www.dramaleague.org or by calling (212) 244-9494.

A new exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art will launch the tour of the first major thematic group exhibition in the U.S. to examine the radical impact of internet culture on visual art.