National Endowment for the Arts Announces Grant to the TSO
November 23, 2010—Toledo, OH—Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, today announced that The Toledo Symphony has been approved for a grant of $20,000 to support its 2011 Carnegie Hall debut. The Toledo Symphony is one of 1,057 not-for-profit organizations recommended for a grant as part of the federal agency’s first round of fiscal year 2011 grants. In total, the Arts Endowment will distribute $26.68 million to support projects nationwide.
An independent agency of the federal government, the National Endowment for the Arts advances artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said, “I continue to be impressed with the creative, innovative, and excellent projects brought forward by arts organizations across the country. Our grantees are not only furthering their art forms but also enhancing their neighborhoods by making them more vibrant, livable, and fun.”
The Toledo Symphony, northwest Ohio’s premier orchestra, will make its New York debut at Carnegie Hall on May 7, 2011. The orchestra was selected from a pool of 65 applicants as one of only seven orchestras who will perform at the prestigious new “Spring for Music” festival. The TSO was selected by virtue of its innovative programming and artistic profile and shares this honor with six other orchestras (Dallas, Atlanta and Montreal, among others).
“It is thrilling for the entire community that the Symphony has this once-in-a-lifetime debut opportunity. To be recognized again at the national level means so much to the greater Toledo region,” says Toledo Symphony President and CEO, Kathleen Carroll.
The festival will feature one orchestra per day from May 6 to 14, 2011, and the Toledo Symphony has a coveted Saturday evening performance date.
Though program details cannot be released until mid-February, the Toledo Symphony was chosen for this award, because of the unique and collaborative nature of the Carnegie Hall program.
The Toledo Symphony
For the 67th consecutive season, the Toledo Symphony will bring music to the regions of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. In 2010-2011 it will continue its mission of service and quality and present over 300 performances to nearly 300,000 music listeners. Performances take place in classrooms, concert halls, churches, auditoriums, senior centers and theaters in nearly 100 communities in Ohio and Michigan and Indiana. In its commitment to provide excellent music to the largest possible audience, the Toledo Symphony remains an essential force in the quality of life throughout the region.
Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs eighty professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer and Toledo their home.
The Ohio Arts Council helped fund the Toledo Symphony with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government that has awarded more than $4 billion on projects of artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the National Endowment for the Arts at arts.gov.
Press Release Contact Name: Kristen Celek
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Organization Name: Toledo Symphony Orchestra