From the Top receives NEA funding

We are excited and proud to be one of more than 1,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works grant recipients! Please see our press release, below.

DATE: June 15, 2017
CONTACT: Jodi Beznoska
jbeznoska@fromthetop.org
617.437.0707 x117

Boston-based youth music and media organization
From the Top receives National Endowment for the Arts Funding

Boston, Massachusetts—National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects across the country in the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. Included in this announcement are two Art Works awards of $35,000 and $45,000 to From the Top to support the production of NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley, and From the Top’s Center for the Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL), respectively. The NEA received 1,728 Art Works applications and will make 1,029 grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

“The arts reflect the vision, energy, and talent of America’s artists and arts organizations,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support organizations such as From the Top, in serving their communities by providing excellent and accessible arts experiences.”

“We are honored to be among the more than 1,000 recipients of NEA Art Works funding,” said Jennifer Hurley-Wales, co-CEO and executive producer at From the Top. “From the Top showcases the best young classically-trained musicians in America, and gives them the tools to use music in support of their local communities. In their hands, music is a powerful force for positive change.”

The NEA Art Works grants to From the Top will support:

The production of NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley, the most popular weekly one-hour classical music program on public radio, heard by nearly half a million listeners on more than 200 stations nationwide. Recorded live in cities and towns across the country, each broadcast features extraordinary performances along with inspiring interviews. The show also serves as the foundation for From the Top’s diverse digital platforms, including a podcast, streaming audio, online videos, and social media;

From the Top’s Center for the Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL), which empowers young musicians and provides meaningful outreach activities to underserved communities. Through CDAL, all featured performers (ages 8 to 18) on NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley participate in an intensive arts leadership orientation during which they are provided with the tools to be arts ambassadors and instruments of change. They apply what they learn in a variety of settings, working with students in grades 4-12 in schools and at community centers, offering high-quality, music-based, peer-to-peer educational activities to audiences that may not have regular access to live classical music performances.

To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEASpring17. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov. For more information on From the Top, visit www.fromthetop.org.