2022 SEED MONEY GRANT RECIPIENTS
Presenting the winners of our 2022 Seed Money Grants! We have awarded seven grants, two foreign (Belgium and Argentina) and five domestic (one of these is actually both, a concert in New York to be repeated in Tokyo, Japan). One grant is in a disseminated format, and the rest are focused grants. One concert will initially be streamed online, with subsequent performances being planned. Additionally, some of the other concerts will be either streamed or available later on YouTube and Instagram or other such platforms. All the projects will include open calls for some or all the NYWC composers to be represented.
The winners are listed alphabetically:
Donna Weng Friedman, pianist: Ms. Friedman will present a two-part concert event called “Five Composers and a Pianist.” The first portion will be a 50-minute concert of works by NYWC composers, three of whom (Beata Moon, Kim Sherman, and Stefania De Kenessey) have been chosen, with an additional two composers to be selected through an open call. The second portion of the event will be a 30-40-minute panel discussion with the composers. The venue will be in New York City, with Steinway Hall and the National Arts Club under consideration. The target date for this event will be March, 2023. Her website is here: (https://www.newschool.edu/mannes/faculty/Donna-Weng-Friedman)
Javier Oviedo, saxophonist: Mr. Oviedo, Executive Director of the Classical Saxophone Project, will present a 90-minute solo recital at the National Opera Center’s Scorca Hall accompanied by Dr. Suk Hee Hong entitled “New York Faces.” The live concert will be supplemented by a videotaping that will be available to view on the Saxophone Project’s YouTube and Instagram platforms. More information about the Classical Saxophone Project is available on their website, www.classicalsaxproject.org.
Milica Paranosic, composer (project with NYWC composers Lynn Bechtold and Ann Warren): This unique concert in coordination with Ms. Paranosic’s “Secret City” art projects will be in four parts, with compositions by Lynn Bechtold (played by Miolina, her violin duo with NYWC member Mioi Takeda), Ann Warren, and Ms. Paranosic, along with a fourth composer chosen through an open call. Each segment will include a mini “set design” created out of abandoned or discarded objects, be co-coordinated by Paracademia, and be performed either at Gallery MC or The Bernie Wohl Center/Goddard Riverside’s. Ms. Paranosic’s multi-faceted website is https://milicaparanosic.com/
Thomas Piercy, clarinetist and hichiriki player: Mr. Piercy, along with pianist Tengfu Irfan and a cellist, will perform twin 90-minute concerts in New York and Tokyo, including the works of Tokyo-based composers Kyoko Hirai, Miho Sasaki, Yu Kuwabara, already selected NYWC composers Elisenda Fabregas, Nina Siniakova, and Lora Al-Ahmad, as well as two more NYWC composers to be selected from an open call. His website is here: http://www.thomaspiercy.com/ and his project information is here:
http://www.tonadaproductions.com/tokyo-to-new-york-home.html
Sergio Puccini, guitarist: Mr. Puccini, whose celebrated career spans 45 years, will present a concert in Rosario, Argentina at the Museo Castagnino or similar venue which will also be streamed live. The concert is tentatively scheduled to take place in October 2022. He will be choosing his repertoire for the concert through an open call. His website is currently undergoing maintenance, but here is a substitute for now: https://ppsites.wixsite.com/sergiopuccini
Françoise Vanhecke, soprano: Ms. Vanhecke’s project is an online streamed concert for the coming season at toitoiDROME http://drome.wtf/, an artist-run media space and collective based in Zendelingenstraat 38 A – 2140 Borgerhout (Antwerp, Belgium), consisting a physical space and headspace for experimentation and critical thinking, with additional plans to repeat the concert in a series of live concerts in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Brazil, and the U.S. The instrumentation will consist of voice, either solo works or with the addition of piano and electronics, to be chosen through an open call. Her website is http://www.francoisevanhecke.com
Alexander Wu, pianist and chamber ensemble director: Mr. Wu, who is a pianist and the Co-Founder/Artistic Director of the Millennium Chamber Players, will curate a disseminated series of concerts from this summer through spring of 2023 called “Made in America – Music Then and Now,” including the works of five NYWC members that his group has not previously performed. The project essays the evolution of America’s musical roots, tradition, and popular culture of the past three centuries, up to and including current compositions. His group’s website is https://www.millenniumchamberplayers.org/