The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to announce a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and a $5,000 Vermont Humanities award, in support of its September and October 2022 concerts. 

These concerts feature world premieres of new compositions by Dr. Matthew Evan Taylor (from despair .. Light!), and by Daniel Bernard Roumain (Riots and Prayers). For the NEA, the VSO’s project is among 1,125 projects across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies.”

For the Vermont Humanities grant, the goals are to profile new, full orchestra musical works by two BIPOC composers that have the human voice, narratives, and dialogue at their core.  The VSO is honored to receive these generous grants from our national and state arts and culture agencies.