Contemporary Music Fund

The objective of the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund is to promote the proliferation and awareness of contemporary classical or "non-pop" music. For the purpose of these guidelines, contemporary music is defined as concert music intended for concentrated listening that has been composed within the last twenty years.

The following genres of music are not eligible for funding through the Contemporary Music Fund: jazz, music theater, and new age.

The Fund provides project support for five purposes: commission of new works, training of musicians, performances, recordings and broadcasting. The Fund does not provide general operating support or general season funding. Proposals should be for a specifically defined project and must include a detailed budget for the project.  




Criteria

Commission of New Works
Commissions resulting in a performance.

Training
Residencies or masterclasses by experienced composers or performers of contemporary music.

Performance
Preference will be given to performances of exclusively contemporary music. For support of performances of existing literature, the work must have been composed in the last twenty years.

Recording
Live or studio recordings. For support of recordings of existing literature, the work must have been composed in the last twenty years. Preference will be given to professionally produced recordings and those with some prospect of relatively wide distribution (either through a commercial distributor or via some other channel, such as the organization's website).

Broadcasting
Available to cover related costs of a project that will be broadcast on television or radio.

Eligibility
Grants can only be awarded to 501(c)(3) public charities or schools. Fiscal sponsors are not permitted.

Organizations are eligible for one grant approval from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund every other year. Projects that received previous CMF support must be complete before the organization may apply again.

Funding Provisions
Grant amounts range from $1,000 to $25,000. Funds can be used for all expenses related to the specific project, with the exception of fundraising. The fund does not provide support for past activities and when possible seeks to leverage other sources of support. If approved for a CMF grant, funds will be released once the remainder of the project budget has been secured.

Grants $10,000 and above will not exceed 50% of the project budget. To receive a grant of $10,000 or above, the organization must have at least one other funder for the project at the $7,500 or above level.

For grants less than $10,000, Argosy will fund up to 75% of the specific project budget.

Application **
Applications are accepted and reviewed two times per year. Completed applications must be submitted by the following deadlines: March 1 and September 1. All applications may consist of only one project and must be submitted online. CMF is the only area in which Argosy accepts these "unsolicited" applications.

Applicants will be notified of funding decisions within ten weeks after each deadline, and will receive the funds once the remaining project budget has been raised.

If you feel that your organization meets the above guidelines, please submit your proposal online via the link below. An application template is also available for download.


** Like many organizations in the present financially challenged environment, the Argosy Foundation has experienced constraints on its ability to maintain funding levels. 

A March 1st, 2011 deadline will depend on many factors between now and then, but we will annouce the status of that deadline here by February 1st. Unfortunately there will not be a September 1, 2010 deadline.

We encourage you to visit the Contemporary Music Fund Facebook page to discuss with similar organizations ideas for maintaining programming during challenging times. We hope this might be a time for increased collaboration and joint commitment to projects of mutual interest. We hope the Facebook site will help to initiate and solidify these opportunities and connections.

Please contact us with any questions.