Perlman Music Program to Receive Grant from the NEA

[caption id="attachment_58471" align="alignnone" width="800"] Itzhak Perlman performs with students at the Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island. Courtesy of the Perlman Music Program.[/caption]

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA’s first major funding announcement for 2017 fiscal year. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $40,000 to The Perlman Music Program for the Summer Music School.

Forty young string players from all over the world attend The Perlman Music Program’s Summer Music School, a 7-week intensive program for exceptionally gifted students in Shelter Island, New York. A faculty led by Itzhak Perlman guide a daily schedule where students explore solo, chamber music, choral, and orchestral repertoire in a rigorous, yet non-competitive environment. Performance opportunities every week give students the chance to refine their repertoire for audiences where locals and tourists alike are invited to attend dozens of free, public events on PMP’s Shelter Island campus and other locations throughout the East End.

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

The Art Works category focuses 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,” according to the NEA website.

“We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for supporting our mission to nurture the future of classical music,” Toby Perlman, the Founder and Director of The Perlman Music Program said. “Our concerts are attended by thousands of music lovers, whose encouragement enables our Summer Music School students to take artistic risks and develop their own musical voice. We are proud to share our students’ music-making with the public and to be a part of the vibrant arts community on the East End.”

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, please visit arts.gov/news or perlmanmusicprogram.org.