Santa Rosa Symphony to receive second $10,000 NEA grant

National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $27 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019. Included in this announcement is a Challenge America grant of $10,000 to the Santa Rosa Symphony for the sixth concert program of the 2018–2019 season, “American Dreams,” with performances March 16, 17 and 18, and accompanying youth engagement activities by guest violinist Elena Urioste.

Challenge America grants support projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations—those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. This is the first time the Symphony has received two National Endowment for the Arts grants within a single season, having recently been awarded a Challenge America grant in support of its July 29, 2018, free community concert with Mariachi Champaña Nevín.

“The arts enhance our communities and our lives, and we look forward to seeing these projects take place throughout the country, giving Americans opportunities to learn, to create, to heal, and to celebrate,” said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

“This unprecendented second National Endowment for the Arts grant in a single season speaks to the Santa Rosa Symphony’s leading national role as a regional orchestra providing meaningful programming to its community,” said Alan Silow, President & CEO of the Santa Rosa Symphony.

“American Dreams” will feature the world-renowned Urioste performing Barber’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in a program led by beloved Santa Rosa Symphony Conductor Emeritus Jeffrey Kahane at Weill Hall in Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center. With the support of the Challenge America grant, Urioste will lead an engaging masterclass for advanced young musicians and visit the Symphony’s El Sistema-inspired social action after-school program for underserved Roseland youth, Simply Strings, during her time in Sonoma County.

For more information on this National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.