State of the Arts Blog

SPCO receives $1 million from Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is giving the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra a four-year, $1 million grant to support artistic and digital media initiatives.

According to a release from the SPCO, the grant will "provide creative capital for artistic development, including projects such as major commissions, an annual composer in residence, and collaborations with artists and institutions outside the realm of classical music."

The grant also funds the hiring of artistic advisors and producers who will work to support the development of multi-media activities, humanities projects, and other new programming. To that end the SPCO has engaged Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean of The Juilliard School and former Senior Director and Artistic Advisor at Carnegie Hall, as Senior Advisor for this work.

In addition, the grant will fund the creation of a staff position responsible for producing digital content and funding mobile applications.