Announcing the Fall 2018 PRJ Center Grantees

The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research at the Eastman School of Music is pleased to announce five projects that have been awarded funding in the Fall 2018 grant cycle. A high quality pool of grant applications was received from around the United States, and the Paul R. Judy Center Grant Committee had the challenging task of awarding a limited number of grants.

The grant winners are:

Megan Steigerwald Ille – St. Louis, MO
Hipster Opera: Research on The Industry
Musicologist Megan Steigerwald Ille will research how new models of operatic production, including digital mediation and site-specificity change the way opera is funded, attended, and perceived in the 21st century United States. This phase of her research, focused on the LA-based experimental opera company The Industry, will be part of her book “Hipster Opera: American Identity, Digital Media, and Experimental Performance.”

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble – Pittsburgh, PA
All Around Us: Developing a 3-D Soundscape Concert Experience
All Around Us is currently in its second phase, with the end goal to create an evening-length, theatrical and musical story that experiments with binaural technology (a three-dimensional soundscape with audience in headphones).

New World Symphony – Miami, FL
Face-Off: A Battle of the Instruments
Three Fellows of the New World Symphony will lead the creation of an interactive family concert modeled after reality TV talent shows. Audience members will be treated to well-known orchestral works that feature six different sections of the orchestra, and audience members will use a mobile app to vote for their favorite instrument.

Transient Canvas – Boston, MA
Exposure, a 1-hour Chamber Opera Adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “The Well-Beloved”
Exposure is an hour-long chamber opera adaptation/updating of Thomas Hardy’s novel The Well- Beloved, with music by Daniel Felsenfeld and a libretto and stage direction by theatrical provocateur Brittany Goodwin. The work will premiere at the Oberon Theater in Cambridge, MA, with additional performances planned at National Sawdust in New York, the Greenlight New Music Festival in Duluth, MN and New Music at the Short North in Columbus, OH.

Nief-Norf – Knoxville, TN
Knoxville Concert Series: Nief-Norf’s First Year-Round Concert Series
An expansion of the Nief-Norf Summer Festival, the Knoxville Concert Series will include a combination of Nief-Norf faculty and student performers bringing new music to venues in Knoxville, TN. Most concerts will be free and open to the public.