Chicago Sinfonietta recipient of NEA Grant for the Arts

Chicago Sinfonietta
Recipient of $15,000 Grant for Arts from National Endowment for the Arts
for March 2024 “Sinfonietta Homecoming” Atlanta, Georgia Concert

Another NEA Grant, awarded to Cedille Records, will support the recording Black Being by Flutronix with the Sinfonietta

CHICAGO, IL - Chicago Sinfonietta is honored to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $15,000 in support of the culminating concert of the Sinfonietta’s first tour to Atlanta, Georgia, under Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, titled, “Sinfonietta Homecoming: A Celebration of Historically Black Colleges & Universities.”

Renowned for its innovative approach to symphonic music performances and educational programming, for being a leader in the field in the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and a champion of BIPOC and women composers, Chicago Sinfonietta’s “Sinfonietta Homecoming” concert will highlight the work of talented Black composers from today and yesteryear, including works by Scott Joplin, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Michael R. Dudley Jr., and Jessie Montgomery. An expansion of the Sinfonietta’s work in its home base of Chicago and the surrounding area, the tour, which takes place this March 4 and 5, 2024 at Atlanta’s historic Spelman College campus, will also include education programs.

Further, Chicago Sinfonietta is pleased for Cedille Records, which was also awarded a NEA Grant for the Arts for the Sinfonietta’s forthcoming album, a collaboration with Flutronix to be recorded during the 2024-25 season, and is set for release in 2025.

“Embracing innovation and excellence in music, Chicago Sinfonietta stands as a vibrant tapestry reflecting the interconnectedness among our 77 neighborhoods in Chicago and resonates across the entire country through arts and culture,” said Chicago Sinfonietta President and Chief Executive Officer Blake-Anthony Johnson. “This grant fortifies our ability to extend our artistic reach and foster a meaningful relationship with the broader CS community through our 'Sinfonietta Homecoming' concerts, spotlighting the rich contributions of Black composers & Historically Black Colleges & Universities to our field & country.

“Additionally, we are delighted that Cedille Records has received support from the NEA for our eleventh album with the label, Black Being, a work co-composed and performed with Flutronix that explores themes of strength, sacrifice, beauty, fear, and survival, offering a musical lens into the diaspora and complexities of Black womanhood.”

“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to Chicago Sinfonietta, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”

Black Being, a contemporary work in four “chapters” co-composed and performed by acclaimed duo Flutronix (Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull), received its orchestral premiere under the Sinfonietta’s Maestra Chen with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in April 2022. Fanfare Magazine has described the work as a “thrumming electroacoustic soundscape and an epic, evocative text by North Carolina poet laureate Jaki Shelton Green.” The piece is an expansion of Flutronix’s original duo version, premiered at The Arts Club of Chicago in fall of 2021.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news and arts.gov/news/press-releases

CEDILLE RECORDS
Launched in November 1989 by James Ginsburg, Grammy Award-winning Cedille Records (pronounced say-DEE) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the most noteworthy classical artists in and from the Chicago area. A nonprofit record label, Cedille’s mission is to produce and disseminate audiophile recordings presenting the finest classical music performers and composers in and from Chicago. The recordings further the careers and legacies of these Chicago artists as Cedille invests in not only the recordings but in the artists represented on them. The label’s catalog of more than 200 front-line albums brims with attractive, off-the-beaten-path repertoire from the Baroque era to the present day, including world premieres of ore than 400 classical compositions. Works from the classical canon, when they do appear, are usually heard in particularly imaginative pairings. Cedille never removes albums from its catalog and each recording is a permanent documentation of the artist’s work. With more than 180 Chicago artists and ensembles, over 80 making their professional recording debuts on the label, Cedille brings the area’s most significant classical music artists to a worldwide listening public. Cedille recordings are available on CD, as MP3 and hi-resolution FLAC downloads, and on all major streaming platforms.

CHICAGO SINFONIETTA
A tenured orchestra and acclaimed cultural leader that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion by creating community through curated symphonicexperiences, Chicago Sinfonietta is a source of community through music, ensuring and inspiring a continued investment in diversity and inclusivity in the genre of classical music to promote fairness and equity. Recognized as ground-breaking, dynamic, and daring, with core values built around being culturally responsive and advocates of inclusivity in all aspects of the 36-year-old organization’s work, Chicago Sinfonietta’s unrelenting commitment to being at the forefront of innovation drives its high standard of symphonic experiences. CS takes pride in leading by example with immersive audience engagement activities, impactful career development, education, and extensive community outreach programs. Learn more about upcoming Sinfonietta events, including the early March 2024 Homecoming tour to Atlanta, Georgia, and the March 15/ 16 ECHO Chicagoland concerts celebrating women at www.chicagosinfonietta.org

Press Contact:
Laura Grant, Grant Communications
1.917.359.7319
Laura@grant-communications.com
Lgrant@chicagosinfonietta.org