October 2021
Sound American
$7,000 Underwriting Support
Underwriting support for Sound American’s omnibus print edition of volumes 1–20, scheduled to be released May/June 2022
Website: Sound American
October 2021
Catalytic Sound Festival
$5,000 Underwriting Support
Underwriting support for the Catalytic Sound Festival at Fridman Gallery NYC on October 23rd and October 24th.
Website: Catalytic Sound Festival
October 2021
Edgefest
$5,000 Underwriting Support
Underwriting support for the 25th Anniversary of Edgefest in Ann Arbor Michigan
Website: Edgefest
October 2021
Hat Hut Records
$3,500 Grant
Grant for the Hat Hut Records release of New York Contemporary Five Consequences Revisited
Website: Hat Hut
October 2021
William Parker
$2,500 Performance Support
Support for William Parker’s Trail of Tears performance at the Sons D’Hiver Festival on February 18, 2022.
Website: William Parker
Website: Sons D’Hiver Festival
Photo: Jimmy Katz
October 2021
Jazz Gallery
$2,000 Concert Sponsorships
$1,000 each for Immanuel Wilkins / Jason Moran on October 25, 2021 and for Webber / Morris Big Band on November 4, 2021
Website: Immanuel Wilkins / Jason Moran at the Jazz Gallery
Website: Webber / Morris Big Band at the Jazz Gallery
August 2021
Henry Threadgill
$20,000 Project Grant
Support for “Migration and the Return of the Cheap Suit,” a multi-media project. Premieres at Roulette, May 2022.
Website: Henry Threadgill
August 2021
Artists Space
$10,000 Exhibition/Performance Grant
Support for “Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency” Exhibition and Performance Series. Premieres at Artists Space, October 2021.
Website: Artists Space / Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency
Website: Milford Graves
August 2021
Avreeayl Ra
$5,000 Unrestricted Grant
Avreeayl’s history is steeped in the Chicago jazz culture — his father, Arthur ‘Swinglee’ O’Neil, was a prominent tenor saxophone player in Chicago. Avreeayl is considered to be one of the foremost torchbearers of the Chicago improvised jazz tradition. In 2018, Avreeayl was chosen to be the first ever recipient of the Elastic Arts Foundation Achievement Award, honoring his lifetime dedication to music in Chicago as a practitioner and mentor.
August 2021
Sun Ra House Part 2
$4,000 Additional Repairs / Restoration
This second restoration grant on the Sun Ra House builds on the foundation’s April gift. See story in earlier grant below.
August 2021
Nick Mazzarella, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Avreeayl Ra
$1,000 Recording Grant
Support for a forthcoming recording on Astral Spirits.
Website: Astral Spirits
August 2021
Phyllis Chen
$500 Composition Commission
Support for “Tone Grove,” a piece for two music boxes based on the weavings of Bauhaus artist Anni Albers (in collaboration with LigoranoReese).
Website: Phyllis Chen
Website: LigoranoReese Editions
August 2021
Jazz Gallery
$1,000 Concert Sponsorship
Support for The Unknowable: Dave Liebman, Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey at the Jazz Gallery on September 30th, 2021.
Previous sponsorships include Angelica Sanchez (June 18), Fujiwara/Halvorson/Bynum (June 19), Peter Evans’ Being & Becoming (June 24), Kris Davis (June 25)
Website: Jazz Gallery / The Unknowable
April 2021
Ingrid Laubrock
$10,000 Composition Commission / Tuition Assistance
Toward a masters degree in music composition from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Website: Ingrid Laubrock
April 2021
Sun Ra House
$6,500 Repairs / Restoration
The Sun Ra Arkestra house in Philadelphia is getting a second life after partially collapsing. The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation’s support (in conjunction with Ars Nova Workshop, PA) is helping to save the house as well as the Sun Ra legacy. Read the story.
“It is sad and outrageous that Marshall Allen and some Arkestra members are living in these conditions. Sun Ra’s legacy, the Arkestra, and the house are American Treasures and deserve to be treated as such.”
— Robert D. Bielecki
April 2021
Bang on a Can
$8,000 in Commissions to Bang on a Can
• Matana Roberts
• Rudresh Mahanthappa
• Fred Frith (2 compositions 2021/2022)
Website: Bang on a Can Marathon
April 2021
Yarn / Wire
$7,000 Recording and Performance Fees
Support for the forthcoming Black Truffle release of Annea Lockwood’s “Into the Vanishing Point” / Nate Wooley’s “Becoming Air.”
Website: Yarn / Wire
April 2021
Louth Contemporary Music Society
$5,250 Underwriting Support
In support of the forthcoming release:
Jürg Frey’s I Listened to the Wind Again (2016/2017)
Soprano, clarinet, string trio, percussion
Hélène Fauchère, Carol Robinson, Sylvian Lemêtre, Agnès Vesterman, Garth Knox
Website: Louth Contemporary Music Society
Website: Jürg Frey
