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Heifetz Institute receives December grants from the NEA, Rosenberg Foundation

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heifetzThe Heifetz International Music Institute today announced two major competitive grant awards given this month in support of the Institute’s training program for exceptional young musicians, held every summer on the campus of Mary Baldwin University in the Shenandoah Valley town of Staunton.

The grants, totaling $55,000 will go to support the Institute’s unique, cross-disciplinary Heifetz Performance & Communication Training © curriculum innovated by Founder and Artistic Director Daniel Heifetz. The unique “Communication Training” initiative is a hallmark of the Heifetz Institute’s summer program and Festival of Concerts, which this year celebrated its 20th Anniversary.

The first grant, for $25,000, is part of more than $30 million in grants to arts organizations across America announced yesterday by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu. The Institute’s award is in the “Art Works” category of grants that focuses, according to the Endowment’s criteria, on “the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.”

In announcing the award, NEA chairman Chu said, “The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as the Heifetz International Music Institute, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts. Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer.”

The second grant is a $30,000 award given over a two-year period from the Baltimore-based Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation. In addition to support of the summer Institute, the award will also support the Heifetz Institute’s annual “Rosenberg Stars of Tomorrow” Holiday Concert, featuring outstanding Heifetz Institute alumni in performance of seasonal favorites from many traditions.  This year’s concert will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7:00 pm at the sparkling new Linehan Concert Hall on the campus of UMBC – the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  The concert is part of a “Heifetz Holiday Tour” that also features performances in Washington, DC, and Staunton, VA.

Heifetz Institute Executive Director Benjamin K. Roe noted, “As we mark the Heifetz Institute’s 20th anniversary, we are honored that these two major organization with a deep commitment to supporting artistic excellence have recognized both the unique value and the demonstrated results of the Heifetz Performance and Communication Training© method pioneered by Daniel Heifetz. More than ever, we believe that for a young artist to fully realize their creative potential, they will need to go beyond technical agility and beautiful playing into creating pathways for communicating the emotive power of the music.”

The NEA award will support the Institute’s training modules, designed to help foster the expressive and creative potential of every performer, with an emphasis in the areas of Voice, Public Speaking, Drama, Movement, Health & Wellness, and Freedom of Expression. Performances, both during the Festival of Concerts in the summer, and Heifetz on Tour throughout the year, take place in concert halls as well as in such less traditional venues as schools, community centers, churches, clubs, and even brewpubs and rural general stores.  These diverse venues enable students to hone their skills and develop confidence while learning to adapt to a range of audiences and settings.

More information about the Institute’s December performances and its summer program may be found at www.heifetzinstitute.org.  The Heifetz International Music Institute’s 2017 summer program and Festival of Concerts will run from June 22 – August 5, 2017.

 

About The Heifetz International Music Institute

Founded in 1996, The Heifetz International Music Institute is held on the campus of Mary Baldwin College located inStaunton, Va., for six weeks each summer. The Institute is highly selective, as hundreds of the most brilliant and deserving young string players (violin, viola, and cello) from all over the globe apply to the Institute for only 80 openings.  The Heifetz Institute is unique in the music world, with a stated mission to develop the expressive potential of every performer. Through the innovative and cross-disciplinary Heifetz Performance & Communication Training ©, the Institute teaches musicians to communicate the emotion of music, beyond mere technical agility and beautiful playing to explore their creative potential, and to redefine the concert experience. As an experiential program, students then put their training in both areas on display via the Institute’s 40-plus “Festival of Concerts,” average one public concert per day from the end of June to the middle of August each summer, including such popular programs as its “Celebrity Series,” “Stars ofTomorrow” and multi-genre “Heifetz Hootenannies.”  The Heifetz Institute National Program of Outreach and Career Development, Heifetz on Tour, consists of year-round concerts and residencies throughout the country, forming partnerships with cultural institutions in both major cites and rural areas, such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Jamestown, RI Arts Center.

 

About Daniel Heifetz

Violinist Daniel Heifetz is the Founder & Artistic Director of the Heifetz International Music Institute. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Heifetz is acclaimed on five continents for his extraordinary virtuosity, profound artistry, and charismatic stage presence. As an educator, Daniel Heifetz has dedicated himself to the art of communication in performance.

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