For Immediate Release - February 14, 2022 - (New York, NY) - Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) has been awarded a $485,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the development of BMP: Producer Academy. Growing from BMP’s mission of cultivating the next generation of artists and arts administrators, BMP: Producer Academy was introduced at the height of the pandemic with the purpose of identifying and mentoring the next generation of creative producers and administrators, and has served over 900 students in 17 different countries in its first season.

Said BMP founder Beth Morrison on receiving the grant: “In the devastating wake of the pandemic, now, more than ever,  it is imperative to create the infrastructure to empower the next generation of visionaries. With this generous grant, we will be able to exponentially expand our reach, and help the future leaders of our industry realize their full potential.”

The grant will allow BMP to establish three Fellowships for BMP: Producer Academy alumni that extend learning for the fellows through a year of practical training and mentorship. Also, BMP can now fully fund the engagement of a part-time program coordinator for the Academy. Lastly, it will allow BMP to offer a nine-week cycle of BMP: Producer Academy with full scholarships for 25 students in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and a total of three year-long salaried Fellowships at BMP during 2023 and 2024.

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) is one of the foremost creators and producers of new opera-theatre and music theatre, with a fierce commitment to leading the industry into the future, cultivating a new generation of talent, and telling the stories of our time. 

Founded by “contemporary opera mastermind” (LA Times) Beth Morrison, who was honored as one of Musical America’s Artists of the Year/Agents of Change in 2020, BMP has grown into “a driving force behind America’s thriving opera scene” (Financial Times), with Opera News declaring that the company, “more than any other… has helped propel the art form into the twenty-first century.” 

Operating across the US and internationally, with offices in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, BMP’s unique model offers living composers the support, guidance, and freedom to experiment, allowing them to create singularly innovative and impactful projects. Since forming in 2006, the company has commissioned, developed, produced and toured over 50 works in 14 countries around the world, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning chamber operas Angel’s Bone and p r i s m. 
 

In 2013, BMP co-founded the PROTOTYPE Festival with HERE Arts Center, which has been called “utterly essential” (The New York Times), “indispensable” (The New Yorker), and “one of the world’s top festivals of contemporary opera and theater” (Associated Press).