Robert D. Bielecki Foundation Grant Supports CMS’ 2017 Season Of Concerts And Workshops
Robert D. Bielecki Foundation Grant Supports CMS’ 2017 Season Of Concerts And Workshops
The Creative Music Studio™ has received a grant from the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation. The $11,500 grant will underwrite scholarships for CMS™ workshops and production expenses for performances by the CMS Improvisers Orchestra and smaller ensembles.
“The Creative Music Studio, under the leadership and steadfast commitment of co-founders Karl Berger and Ingrid Sertso, remains as vital to the health of creative music today as it was at its inception nearly 50 years ago,” said Robert D. Bielecki.
CMS will use the funds to support scholarships for aspiring musicians at its upcoming workshops:
- NYC Workshop March 31 – April 2: Nels Cline, Susie Ibarra
- Spring Workshop I: June 12 – 16: Min Xiao Fen, Peter Apfelbaum, Warren Smith, Joe McPhee, plus more
- Spring Workshop II: June 19 – 23: Billy Martin, Cyro Baptista, Mark Guiliana, and more
- Fall Workshop Oct 2 – 6: Mary Halvorson, Omar Tekbilek, Billy Martin, and more
The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation grant will also be used to underwrite production expenses for upcoming ensemble performances CMS is presenting at Greenwich House Music School:
April 10: Richard Teitlebaum, Marilyn Crispell, Miguel Frasconi and Leila Bordreuil
May 13: Karl Berger, Steve Gorn, Ken Filiano, Thomas Ulrich, Jason Hwang, and Sana Nagano
Finally, the grant will support Saturday evening performances by the CMS Improvisers Orchestra at the El Taller Artspace and Community Center in East Harlem: April 29, May 27, June 10, September 30, October 28, November 25 and December 9, 2017. The CMS™ Improvisers Orchestra takes the principles of CMS Workshops to a professional level with extraordinary results. In 90 performances, the CMS™ Improvisers Orchestra has received numerous critical reviews. The Wall Street Journal said the orchestra’s sound “draws on lush harmonies and a well-defined relationship between foreground soloists and background” while noted jazz critic Howard Mandel wrote that the orchestra “can expand on simple themes paying utmost attention to dynamics and each other through ‘intuited communication.’”