Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
30-0084912
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Libor
Ondras
219 E. Lake Street, Petoskey, MI 49770
Address:
Email:
813.468.7252
Phone Number:
Project Name:
Women Composers Night
Project start and end dates:
Friday, September 22, 2023
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
1000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
Over 100 women and young women have been served by this project. That includes pre-concert talk attendees, members in the audience including local students, female orchestra musicians, soloist Karisa Chiu, a young Asian-America violinist and a student of the Cleveland Institute of Music who was the GLCO guest artist performing Amanda Maijer Concerto and Jessie Montgomery, African-American living composer whose work was purchased and performed at the concert.
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
We believe the concert created an impact for girls and women in a myriad of ways. It featured music of women composers, including living composers, whose voice and works are under-valued and under-programmed in the classical music industry. By purchasing their works, we contributed financially and helped raise awareness of their music. The concert provided a platform for young talented female artist to be featured as a soloist with professional orchestra, that helped her to learn, to grow as an artist, and to boost her self confidence. It created an opportunity for young aspiring musicians in the audience to meet with the soloist after the concert and to talk to her about her journey and about her experiences in the field they are considering. Classical music is still strongly male-dominated field and we hope that this experiences served as an inspiration for all girls and women involved in this project not to fear pursuing their dreams and aspirations in any field they are interested in.
One barrier we experienced was a slightly lower attendance than anticipated. This was due to 2 other major events in the community. Our goal is to work with other organizations to avoid conflicts
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
We had students from the local school districts and string program in the audience who were able to meet the soloist Karisa Chiu after the concert and talk to her about her journey. It was a different opportunity for young people because Karisa was their peer and the students could better relate to her experiences.
Karisa and her parents who attended the concert were very grateful for the opportunity to perform with the GLCO. This was Karisa's first experience working with the professional orchestra and she was touched by the warm welcome and fostering environment created by our music director and all the musicians. Experiences like these are essential for the pre-professional musicians as they provide a different level of pressure and skill they need to learn how to navigate. GLCO has helped to launch career of several young rising musicians who now have a professional career, some of them under the professional management.
Jessie Montgomery, the Grammy-winning composer whose work was featured at the concert, personally reached out to the GLCO music director to thank him for featuring her work and she proudly announced the concert on her professional website.
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
While the theme Women Composers' Night will not be presented in the same manner in near future, GLCO will continue to create projects that help promote equal opportunities for female artists and aspiring young musicians in classical music industry by showcasing their work and providing them with platform to share their talents.
In the last 10 years, GLCO under the direction of Libor Ondras has featured over 50 women soloists in leading roles. In 2017, the organization created a female composer-in-residence program with Dr. Gwyneth Walker and commissioned her new composition inspired by our beautiful Great Lakes, which had a world premiere in April 2023. Our October 2023 concert featured the winner of the GLCO Young Artist Concerto Competition--a 14-year violinist Eeva Rintala from Boyne City High School as a soloist. 6 out of 7 mainstage concerts in 2024 will feature women soloists. The upcoming April concert will feature Nancy Stagnitta, an award-winning flute soloist in a concert presenting music inspired by cultures and traditions of faraway lands. The concert is dedicated to fostering cultural diversity through music.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
The generous support from Hestia was recognized in the concert program book, at the concert during the stage remarks made by GLCO Music Director, in electronic newsletters, on our website, in the annual review sent to the GLCO membership.
Summary Comments
We are very grateful to Hestia members for their support of this project. Because of the generosity of our partners and supporters like Hestia Giving Circle, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra as well as other organizations in our community, with equally important missions, are able to make a difference for girls and women in myriad of ways. We are grateful that we can contribute and make impact right here at home. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Grant Final Budget Form
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