First Nations Composer Initiative Announces Grantees

First Nations Composer Initiative Announces Grantees

The funding will support activities that boost traditional and contemporary Indigenous creative musicians, such as commissions, residencies, performance and production, travel/study, and outreach.

Written By

NewMusicBox Staff

The First Nations Composer Initiative, a community program of the American Composers Forum, has announced the fifth round grantees in its Common Ground funding initiative. The goal of Common Ground is to support activities that boost traditional and contemporary Indigenous creative musicians, such as commissions, residencies, performance and production, travel/study, and outreach.

The grantees are:

  • North American Indian Cello Project CD: Dawn Avery (Mohawk descendent)
  • Brent Michael Davids (Mohican)
  • Grand Canyon Music Festival: Michael Begay (Dine)
  • Mesa Media Inc,: Anita Poleahla (Hopi)
  • Trevor Reed (Hopi)
  • Jennifer M. Stevens (Oneida/Lakota)

Panelists for this round were Conrad Brown (Meskwaki), Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), and Gabriel Yaiva (Dine [Navajo]). (—Condensed from the press release)