The Sphinx Organization has awarded two grants of $100,000 and one grant of $97,500 for 3 projects that meet the Sphinx Venture Fund’s mission to support initiatives designed to solve a challenge or an issue related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in classical music.
Sphinx is a social justice organization with a mission to “transform lives through the power of diversity in the arts.” The Sphinx Venture Fund launched in 2020 with the goal of investing $1.5 million over five years. The 2022 recipients are the third cohort to receive grants. The awardees are:
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Pianist and President and Artistic Director of the Art of the Piano Festival & Foundation Awadagin Pratt and the inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition to be presented in partnership with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati ($100k).
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Manhattan School of Music’s Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President for Special Initiatives Alexa Smith and the inaugural New York City Opera’s Duncan-Williams Voice Competition ($97.5k).
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Dean of the Preparatory Division at The Juilliard School Weston Sprott for Composing Inclusion, a partnership between The Juilliard School, the New York Philharmonic, and American Composers Forum that will commission, premiere, and publish nine new works with flexible orchestration by Black and Latinx composers to be performed side-by-side by musicians of varying skill levels ($100k).
More information on each of the 2022 Sphinx Venture Fund Recipient projects can be found here.