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Mapping Project

Mapping your public value is a way to provide a new picture of the work your orchestra does in the community. The breadth of your orchestra’s engagement is displayed powerfully in a set of maps and accompanying lists that show the number, variety, and geographic spread of the schools, community, and business partners with which you interact. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in the League’s DC office to get started.

• Basic Maps

For all League member orchestras, we offer a PDF of our basic mapping report, which entails a 1-hour call to discuss the data collection process, and 1-hour call to discuss finished map. This basic map from a single database includes 6 maps and accompanying partner lists selecting from these options: best view of all partners; county-level; city-proper; Congressional district; median household income. The mapping process and PDF of the finished product are available from the League free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Basic Sample Map

• Customized Maps

A larger and more customized mapping report is available to all orchestras at a cost of $300 for members; $500 for nonmembers. This report includes up to 12 maps with lists including the basic maps, plus selecting 2-3 from the following options: race; median age; partners by duration; numbers served; supplementary maps based on additional dataset (i.e. employees, vendors). The range of what can be provided will depend on the type of data supplied and require a more detailed consultation with League staff. All customized mapping reports will come with finished PDF and the original Publisher and jpeg files.

Customized Options

Protected Species Travel Tips

A new streamlined process for issuing musical instrument certificates for international travel has been proposed and accepted by 178 nations at a March 13 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). While it will take several months for each country to determine its procedures for issuing and recognizing the new passports, musicians need to know whether their instruments require a permit and how to navigate the somewhat tricky procedures already in place.

On May 14, 2013, the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with the American Federation of Musicians, The Recording Academy, and NAMM, hosted a free, interactive webinar featuring experts from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the agency that implements CITES in the United States. The webinar is the first in what will likely be a three-part series. See below for a developing list of resources and tips:

• Download the free, on-demand webinar with Fish & Wildlife providing an overview of current permitting rules and how to determine whether they apply to your instrument.
• View and save the slide presentation (no audio) of the May 14 webinar.
• Email questions to the Division of Management Authority at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
• Bookmark this Resource Page from Fish & Wildlife specifically created for musical instruments.
• See this Overview Fact Sheet on use of plants and wildlife in musical instruments.
• Always consult CITES Authorities prior to international travel.
• Permit application form 3-200-23: for Pre-Convention, Pre-Act, or antique specimens (animal or animal and plant)
• Permit application form 3-200-32: for plants (CITES) only

It’s extremely important to remember that under the current and newly proposed system, each country may continue to apply additional permitting requirements for complying with additional layers of domestic endangered species rules. Therefore, the CITES passport may not cover all permitting requirements and it is always advisable to contact CITES authorities of the countries you will visit.

Endangered Species and the Traveling Musician

May 2, 2013

Register today to participate in a national webinar providing guidance for musicians traveling internationally! Individual musicians and ensembles worldwide present their artistry across borders, often bringing highly specialized instruments that are essential to the quality of performances.

Special permits are required to travel internationally with certain musical instruments containing protected species, such as ivory, rosewood, tortoise shell, and other material. How can you know whether your instrument requires such permits? The League of American Orchestras, in partnership with the American Federation of Musicians, The Recording Academy, and NAMM, is hosting a webinar, featuring experts from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the agency that implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the United States.

Join us on Tuesday, May 14 at 2:00pm Eastern for a free, interactive webinar that explains how to be compliant with the existing rules, invites your questions, and provides insights into what a new CITES instrument passport might mean for traveling musicians.

Register here >>

Please note: This webinar will also be recorded and available on-demand for those unable to join us on May 14.

For further background on this topic, please visit the League’s summary of recent policy developments related to travel with instruments containing protected species.

NEA Announces Second Round of FY13 Grants

April 25, 2013

Orchestras will serve communities through tours to underserved regions, free concerts, recordings, broadcasts, and music education programs, with the assistance of 34 grants totaling $1,051,500 in essential support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This is the second major round of FY13 grants awarded through the NEA's Art Works program. NEA funding increases access to music in communities of all sizes nationwide, and in addition to providing direct support for local projects, the award of a notably competitive NEA grant also enables grantees to pursue support from other sources like private foundations, corporations, and individual contributors. The NEA requires at least a one-to-one match of federal funds from all grant recipients, and on average, each NEA grant far exceeds that requirement and magnifies the impact of the federal investment by generating at least eight dollars from other state, local, and private sources.

The League submits written testimony to Congress in support of NEA funding every year, provides orchestras with customized tips for applying for an NEA grant, and complies the project descriptions for grants awarded to orchestras and projects related to the orchestra field. Complete lists of grant amounts and project descriptions for awards in all disciplines may be found on the NEA web site in a new state-by-state listing or a discipline/field listing. In addition, the NEA recently launched an online grant search system which allows members of the public to search all of the NEA's grants since 2000 using a variety of attributes to customize search results.

View Complete Orchestra Project Descriptions

FY13 Art Works (Part 2)

Grants to Orchestras

Announced April 23, 2013

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, $40,000
To support Brandenburgs Rediscovered, a national tour of concerts and master classes of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos performed on period instruments. The project includes local performances, tour concerts, master classes, and children's concerts.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, $100,000
To support the OrchKids program, a free choral and instrumental instruction program in four Baltimore City public schools. Professional musicians will provide in-school and after-school instrumental music training to at-risk students in East and West Baltimore, with a focus on influencing social change through the arts in the city's neediest communities.

Berkeley Symphony, $12,500
To support the Music in the Schools initiative. Plans include classroom visits by musicians, school concerts with students playing side-by-side with orchestra musicians, and family concerts.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project, $50,000
To support recordings of orchestral works by American composers. The world premiere recordings of orchestral works by composers Chinary Ung and David Rakowski will be released on two separate discs.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (media arts), $75,000
To support the creation of the CSO Media Portal, a web site through which audiences can listen to concerts, podcasts, commentary and radio broadcasts. Specific content will include live streaming of concerts, Beyond the Score (an educational program with the intent of demystifying classical music), rehearsals, pre-concert lectures, and material from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra archive.

Columbus Symphony Orchestra (OH), $12,500
To support free outdoor video simulcasts of orchestral concerts and a radio broadcast. The opening and closing season concerts in the Ohio Theater, conducted by Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni, will be videotaped live and projected on large video screens to audiences on the Columbus Commons Park.

Des Moines Symphony, $10,000
To support a collaborative community outreach and performance project between Des Moines Symphony Academy and Pointe Academy of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. "The project will feature live chamber music and original dance choreography performed by young musicians and dancers, as well as workshops and informances for students by the artists.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support a touring program. Concerts and educational programs will take place in rural communities in Texas such as Glen Rose, Graham, Killeen, Stephenville, and Waxahachie, all within a 150-mile radius of Fort Worth.

Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, $34,000
To support Growing Up Musical, a series of community music education programs. The project offers opportunities for community and school partners to receive a range of music learning experiences from professional musicians including in-class workshops, schoolwide presentations, an instrument petting zoo, residencies, coaching, and classes in music theory and composition.

The Knights, $20,000
To support touring performances by The Knights. The orchestra will premiere a double concerto for violin, santur (an Iranian hammered dulcimer), and orchestra composed and performed by Artistic Director Colin Jacobsen and santur virtuoso Siamak Aghaei.

Madison Symphony Orchestra, $15,000
To support HeartStrings, an outreach project by an ensemble of the orchestra's string musicians. The Rhapsodie String Quartet, with training and participation of certified therapists, will offer up to 90 residency programs and perform interactive recitals for underserved and special-needs communities.

Mercury, $10,000
To support "8 Seasons," a free outdoor concert in Houston's Hermann Park. The 16-member orchestra, under the direction of Artistic Director Antoine Plante, will perform a concert program that will juxtapose Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (written in 1723) with "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires" suite composed by Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla from 1964-70.

Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, $10,000
To support a string training and orchestral program for underserved youth. Initiated in 2003, the Progressions program provides free music education, private lessons, and performance opportunities for the economically-challenged and underserved children who live in or attend school in the City of Milwaukee.

Minnesota Orchestra, $40,000
To support Symphony for the Cities, free outdoor community concerts. Symphony for the Cities will feature full-orchestra concerts conducted by Assistant Conductor Courtney Lewis and will feature works by composers such as John Philip Sousa, Ludwig van Beethoven, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and John Williams.

New Haven Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support an artist-in-residence project featuring composer Christopher Theofanidis, the world premiere of a new work by the composer, and a technology initiative. The Orchestra and Music Director William Boughton will collaborate with Theofanidis for the premiere performances of the work, Ordo Virtutum (Latin for "Order of the Virtues"), based on Hildegard von Bingen's allegorical morality play of the same name.

The New York Philharmonic, $100,000
To support the New York Philharmonic's School Partnership Program. A standards-based music education program in New York City public schools, the program will include year-long, in-school music residencies, attendance at New York Philharmonic concerts, and professional development in music education for classroom teachers and school administrators.

The New York Philharmonic (media arts), $75,000
To support the production of The New York Philharmonic This Week radio broadcast. Hosted by actor Alec Baldwin, this series marks the 91st year of radio broadcasts for the New York Philharmonic by featuring interviews and insights behind the performances, aimed at enhancing listeners' experiences.

Omaha Symphony, $20,000
To support an educational outreach touring program to communities in Nebraska. The education programs will include youth concerts, in-school ensembles, hands-on workshops, and Carnegie Hall's Communities LinkUP! education program that aims to increase student listening, performing, and creating skills through a series of linked activities that include classroom and interactive orchestra concerts.

Orchestra of St. Luke's, $20,000
To support Orchestra of St. Luke's OSL Subway Series of free chamber music concerts. The orchestra will present ensembles of its musicians in hour-long performances throughout the city, featuring repertoire of traditional and contemporary music by composers from the Renaissance period to living composers.

Orchestra of St. Luke's (media arts), $25,000
To support the production and national distribution of three live broadcasts. Presented from the Orchestra of St. Luke's DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City, these performances will be produced in partnership with American Public Media (APM), which will distribute them via APM's Performance Today program, reaching approximately 16 million listeners via 800 affiliate radio stations across the country.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, $30,000
To support a performance touring project. The programming for the tour will include guest-artists clarinetist Martin Frost, violinists Christian Tetzlaff and Ryu Goto, Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, and jazz pianist Brad Mehldau.

Pacific Symphony, $50,000

To support Rite of Spring Turns 100, a performance and outreach project celebrating the work by composer Igor Stravinsky. Under the direction of Music Director Carl St. Clair and Artistic Advisor Joseph Horowitz, the program will offer performances, a free, outdoor video concert simulcast on a public plaza, an exhibit with digital video, and student programs.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, $50,000
To support Neighborhood Concerts. The orchestra will perform free concerts and conduct ancillary activities in several Philadelphia locations, including the Great Plaza on Penn's Landing and Martin Luther King Jr. High School, reaching underserved audiences.

Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME), $15,000
To support a statewide performance and community outreach tour. The orchestra, with Music Director Robert Moody, will celebrate its 90th anniversary by presenting free community concerts throughout Maine.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra, $15,000
To support the Freedom to Move: The Migration Series project. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the musical work will feature performances of composer Derek Bermel's The Migration Series, a concerto for jazz band and orchestra inspired by the late visual artist Jacob Lawrence's 60-painting-sequence by the same name.

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, $10,000
To support an educational and audience development project. Very First Concerts will be presented for toddlers and very young audiences and their families.

Sarasota Orchestra, $12,500
To support the Sarasota Music Festival, a residential training festival for college-aged music students presented by the Sarasota Orchestra. Plans for the three-week festival include individual and ensemble training; coaching and mentoring from a faculty of more than 40 instructors, scholars, and musicians; and performance opportunities.

Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, $10,000
To support SYSO in the Schools. Students will receive instrumental music instruction in small group lessons, sectional rehearsals, and have the opportunity to perform side-by-side with a full orchestra.

St. Louis Symphony, $60,000
To support the "Peter Grimes Project: A Celebration of the Genius of Benjamin Britten" in St. Louis and at Carnegie Hall in New York. The project, a celebration of the composer's 100th birthday anniversary, will feature concert performances of Britten's opera with the 130-member St. Louis Symphony Chorus, performances of Britten's solo instrumental works, and educational activities for children and young adults.

Stockton Symphony, $25,000
To support Harmony Stockton. Students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades at Marshall Elementary School (a Title I school) will participate in a free after-school music program.

Toledo Symphony Orchestra, $10,000
To support community concerts featuring a new work by American composer Evan Chambers, in a collaboration with the Black Swamp Conservancy. Ensembles of the orchestra will perform seasonally-themed concerts in rural community locations, as well as premiere the new work for chamber orchestra.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra, $15,000
To support a performance touring project in underserved rural communities. The 20th anniversary project, titled Made in Vermont Music Festival Tour, will present orchestral programs and educational outreach activities and include a premiere of a commissioned work by native Vermont composer Andrew Massey.

Virginia Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support a statewide performance and outreach touring project. Programming will include works by Ludwig von Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Adolphus Hailstork, and Antonin Dvorak.

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, $20,000
To support a statewide outreach tour to underserved rural communities. The orchestra, under the leadership of Artistic Director and Conductor Grant Cooper, will introduce orchestral music to new audiences throughout West Virginia, as well as present educational programming in schools by its resident ensemble, the Montclaire String Quartet.

Related Art Works, Part 2 Grants

Charleston Academy of Music, $15,000
To support the Kidzymphony Program. Inspired by Venezuela's “El Sistema” education program, the after-school strings education program will take place five days a week and involve inner-city elementary students taught by academy faculty, members of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and College of Charleston faculty.

Cincinnati May Festival, $25,000
To support travel and related costs associated with a performance by the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony at the Spring for Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. The featured work, conducted by Music Director James Conlon, will be a performance of composer Nathaniel Dett's The Ordering of Moses, which was premiered by the May Festival in 1937 and later reprised in 1956 with soloists that included NEA Opera Honoree Leontyne Price and William Warfield.

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, $45,000
To support Loops and Variations, a series of free concerts pairing new classical music with electronic music. Among others, proposed artists include the International Contemporary Ensemble (I.C.E.) performing a program of works by Edgar Varese, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presenting composer Mason Bates's "Alternative Energy," and Hubbard Street Dance performing "Too Beaucoup," a piece created in collaboration with an electronica deejay.

Classical Recording Foundation, $15,000
To support a recording of orchestral works by composer George Crumb. The works, VOICES FROM THE MORNING OF THE EARTH (2006, from his American Songbook VI) and SUN AND SHADOW (2005), will be performed by Orchestra 2001 under the direction of Music Director James Freeman.

The Colburn School, $12,500
To support the Musical Encounter Program. In the peer-to-peer program, honor students will introduce classical music, jazz, and the vocal arts to underserved students through concert performances and discussions.

Colorado Music Festival & Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts, $15,000
To support the Rediscovered Masters Series. A celebration of works by Jewish composers written before, during, and immediately after World War II, the series will include performances conducted by Music Director Michael Christie.

Forklift Danceworks, $10,000         
To support the creation and presentation of Journeymen by choreographer Allison Orr, in collaboration with the employees of Austin's Municipal Energy Department. The third in a series of large-scale civic spectacles, the event will include original music by Graham Reynolds performed by the Austin Symphony and led by conductor Peter Bay.

From the Top, $30,000
To support educational outreach activities. Selected by audition, approximately 125 musicians that will appear on the weekly classical radio program From the Top will take part in "Arts Leadership" workshops.

From the Top (media arts), $75,000
To support the production of the public radio series From the Top. The weekly, hour-long program features performances by young classical musicians recorded in as many as 20 towns and cities across the country.

Harlem Center for Strings, $20,000
To support the After-School Music Program of the Harlem School of Music. The center will provide after-school sessions that will include private and group lessons, performance opportunities, and community outreach activities for students of all ages from one of New York City's economically challenged neighborhoods.

Mainly Mozart, $10,000
To support the 25th annual festival and outreach activities. Programming will range from orchestral to chamber music repertoire, featuring pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and violinist and concertmaster William Preucil in interactive community performances with guest artists.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, $30,000
To support "Cultural Passport: The Music Team." A partnership with the Cleveland Orchestra, the project will include activities and educational materials for teachers and students from elementary to high school grade levels.

Midori & Friends, $15,000
To support Adventures in Making Music, year-long, in-school residencies that provide instrumental music instruction for public school students. Program components include twice-weekly classes in strings, brass, percussion, guitar, and voice.

Music Haven, $25,000
To support a tuition-free, year-long, after-school music residency of the Haven String Quartet. Program components include twice weekly instrumental music lessons, bi-monthly workshops, community performances and mentoring for at-risk students.

New York Public Radio (aka WNYC Radio) (media arts), $80,000
To support the production of the Carnegie Hall Live radio and web broadcasts. WQXR's series of live radio broadcasts and webcasts of Carnegie Hall concerts by orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo artists are distributed through partnerships with American Public Media and National Public Radio.

Philharmonic Society of Orange County (aka Philharmonic Society), $50,000
To support a multidisciplinary production of Mozart's Acis and Galatea. In collaboration with Cal Performances, the new production will bring together the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, costume designer Isaac Mizrahi, scenic designer Adrianne Lobel, and lighting designer Michael Chybowski.

Ravinia Festival, $15,000
To support "Reach*Teach* Play." The Ravinia Festival Association will continue its partnership with the Lawndale community through community outreach and education programs for children and adults, including music lessons, performances, and master classes.

Renaissance Arts Academy (aka RenArts), $80,000
To support RenArts Conservatory, an after-school and summer arts education program. Professional teaching artists will instruct students in strings, choir, percussion and modern dance.

Sphinx Organization, $60,000
To support a national tour and community engagement project featuring the Sphinx Virtuosi and the Catalyst Quartet. In partnership with the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Inc., of New York, a group of approximately 25 emerging young string players, laureates, and alumni of the national Sphinx Competition (with a focus on African American and Latino musicians) will tour and perform diverse repertoire by composers Heitor Villa-Lobos, George Walker, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Gabriela Lena Frank, Felix Mendelssohn, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

University of California at Berkeley, $15,000
To support the Young Musicians Program Choral Youth Orchestra. Inaugurated in 2011, the Choral Youth Orchestra serves low-income youth in the San Francisco Bay Area.

University Musical Society, $85,000
To support Essential Presentations, a series of music, dance and theater performances. Activities will include performances from featured artists, including Ballet Preljocaj, Apollo's Fire, the San Francisco Symphony, STREB, Theatre for a New Audience, and a collaborative work from Complicite and Setagaya Public Theater.

Young Musicians Foundation, $15,000
To support a community outreach project performed by the foundation's Debut Orchestra. The ensemble, comprising 70 of Los Angeles's most talented young musicians and opera singers, will participate in Together Through Music Series Juntos a traves de la Musica.

Budget, International Travel, and more

April 12, 2013

Nonprofits Defend Charitable Giving Incentives
 As budget debates once again ramp up, the White House and Congress continue to consider imposing limits on charitable giving incentives. The President’s FY14 budget request once again includes a 28% cap on the rate of tax deductibility for charitable donations, and House and Senate budget and tax policy committees are weighing a range of potential limitations, primarily as cost-saving measures. The League has joined a broad array of national nonprofits calling on Washington’s policy makers to take the charitable deduction off the revenue table once and for all. Reducing incentives to give would shrink the resources available to support community needs. The League has submitted testimony to Congress urging protection and expansion of charitable giving incentives and illustrating the public value orchestras contribute in partnership with other community-based nonprofit organizations. Earlier this week, we joined dozens of other national nonprofit groups in sending a letter to President Obama urging protection of tax incentives for charitable giving. Learn more about this important policy area.

NEA Up, Arts Ed Down in White House Budget
NEA Funding: The President's FY14 budget proposes $154.466 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which would nearly restore the agency to FY11 funding levels. Congressional action on the budget process will begin in the coming weeks, and the League of American Orchestras will submit testimony to both the House and Senate explaining the public value of grants to orchestras. Funding debates in D.C. promise to be intense, and orchestras are joining other arts advocates in asking Congress to provide $155 million in NEA funding in FY14.

Arts in Education Funding: For the fifth consecutive year, the President’s budget proposes consolidating the Arts in Education program into a new, broader funding pool titled “Effecting Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education.” This program seeks to combine support for “the arts, health education, foreign languages, civics and government, history, geography, environmental education, economics and financial literacy, and other subjects,” eliminating direct competition and federal leadership for each subject independently. With each year, the proposed total funding for the consolidated “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education” program has decreased and the FY14 request from the White House is a mere $75 million to be shared by all of the subjects. In prior years, the proposal has not been adopted on the Hill, and in spite of the elimination of many other programs, Congress has protected the Arts in Education fund as a distinct program at nearly $25 million. Orchestras are asking Congress to provide $30 million to support the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education.
 

Yo-Yo Ma Makes Case for "Arts for Life's Sake"
With a compelling combination of remarks and performances, Yo-Yo Ma made the case for "Arts for Life's Sake" this week as the featured speaker during national Arts Advocacy Day events in Washington, D.C.. His message and artistry is available to view online.

Endangered Species "Passport" Approved
Musicians traveling internationally with instruments containing endangered species material (such as ivory, rosewood, and tortoise shell) will have access to a new permitting process in the coming months. International rules have long required special permits for entering and exiting each country with instruments containing protected materials. A proposal to create a streamlined “passport” process was approved by 178 nations at a March 13 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The existing permit process is extremely complicated, and confusion abounds about the current rules and what will come with the new passport process. The League continues to partner with the American Federation of Musicians, The Recording Academy, the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers, and others to seek clarity and technical assistance for musicians on how to navigate the evolving rules, and we are encouraging policymakers to ensure that any new permit process is affordable and efficient. Learn more here.

Proof of Visa Goes Paperless
The paper card issued to foreign working artists upon arrival to the U.S. is going electronic. U.S. Customs and Border protection has announced that, beginning April 30 and throughout mid-May, issuance of paper I-94 cards will be phased out at U.S. airports and verification of an individual’s visa status and the length of the approved stay will be accessible online at www.cbp.gov/I94. The new site will be up and running on April 30. While information about a visitor’s visa classification will be stamped into his/her passport and be accessible electronically, the I-94 remains the most important form of legal documentation for visa holders upon arrival in the U.S. We advise printing a hard copy. Learn more about this new development on ArtistsfromAbroad.org.

Early Childhood Education and the Arts
Everyone is talking about Pre-K, which received special attention in the President's State of the Union Address in February as he previewed a new Preschool for All initiative. There's an important role for the arts in early childhood development. Check out next week's webinar with the NEA Interagency Task Force on the Arts & Human Development. The free webinar will be held at 2pm EDT on Wednesday, April 17th. Interested participants can register online or check back at several days later for the archive.

Endangered Species “Passport” Approved

March 15, 2013

Musicians traveling internationally with instruments containing endangered species material (such as ivory, rosewood, and tortoise shell) will have access to a new permitting process in the coming months. International rules have long required special permits for entering and exiting each country with instruments containing protected materials. A proposal to create a streamlined “passport” process was approved by 178 nations at a March 13 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 

• It will take several months for each country to determine their procedures for issuing and recognizing the new passports. 
• Under the new system, each country may also continue to apply additional permitting requirements for complying with their added layers of domestic endangered species rules – so the CITES passport may not cover all permitting requirements.
• Until a new passport system is in place, musicians will be subject to prior permitting requirements and procedures, and are encouraged to contact the management authority for each country through which they travel for further details.  In the United States, U.S. Fish and Wildlife is the permitting authority and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  
• The existing permit process is extremely complicated, and confusion abounds about the current rules and what will come with the new passport process.  Limited information about the current rules is available from U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

The League continues to partner with the American Federation of Musicians, the Grammy Foundation, the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers and others to seek clarity and technical assistance for musicians on how to navigate the evolving rules. Some of the details we are pursuing include clearer information about the endangered species material covered by permitting requirements, guidance on how to access reliable information about the rules for such a wide variety of countries to which musicians travel, and accurate information about the penalties for non-compliance.  We are also encouraging policymakers to ensure that any new permit process is affordable and efficient. Please stay tuned as we make further guidance available and contact League Government Affairs with any questions.   

Join in a National Day of Arts Advocacy on April 9!

April 8, 2013

April 9 is National Arts Advocacy Day – please join with arts advocates across the country in speaking up in support of the arts! The League, a national co-sponsor of Arts Advocacy Day, participates in the legislative planning committee that creates the messages carried by arts advocates in the nation's capital and nationwide. Join us in this special day of united advocacy: it only takes a few minutes to contact your Senators and Representative on the issues that matter most to you!

1) Write to Congress on April 9
Customize any of the letters we have set up for you in a range of advocacy issue areas including protecting charitable giving incentives, strengthening arts in education in our nation's schools, and supporting the capacity for the National Endowment for the Arts to expand public access to performances, preserve great classical works, and nurture the creative endeavors of contemporary classical musicians, composers, and conductors. It pays to personalize our sample letters with a few details from home. Congress wants and needs to hear real stories and examples that tell them of the local impact national policy has! Elected officials regularly ask their staff to track the top issues motivating constituents to call or write, so make sure to keep the arts on your Congress person's radar!

Click here to see the full range of issue areas impacting orchestras and choose one or two that matter the most to you.  

2) Engage with elected officials at home
Advocacy is most powerfully sustained in your own community, so take some time to maintain relationships throughout the year. View our 2013 Calendar of Advocacy Opportunities to see when your representatives will be home, then schedule a meeting and continue communicating with them throughout the spring, summer, and the rest of the year. When members of Congress are home, take advantage of the opportunity to invite them to tour your offices, attend an event, and see powerful community programs in action.

Share your advocacy stories with us and don't hesitate to contact League Government Affairs staff with any questions. Thank you for joining advocates nationwide in support of the arts on Arts Advocacy Day and every day!

Immigration Officials in Dialogue with the League’s Heather Noonan

October 4, 2012

Personnel from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted a rare interview with Heather Noonan, the League’s vice president for advocacy, answering policy questions and sharing their observations about the visa petition process. Claire Nicholson and Christopher Bentley of USCIS headquarters shared their advice and observations in the interview, transcribed and posted online by Musical America as: A Conversation with USCIS. For complete guidance when engaging foreign guest artists, orchestras are reminded to visit our specialize site: www.artistsfromabroad.org.

NEA Announces First Round of FY13 Grants

December 6, 2012

Washington, D.C. – Orchestras in 42 communities will support education and training of young musicians, artist residencies, commissions and premieres of new works, free concerts, community engagement programming, and the celebration of regional and indigenous culture thanks to $1,450,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA’s first round of Art Works grants, announced November 27th, supports projects that encourage and increase access to music in communities nationwide. On December 4th, the NEA also announced that Challenge America grants totaling $240,000 will support 24 orchestra projects that will extend the reach of music, performance discussions, workshops, and master classes to populations whose arts engagement abilities are otherwise limited due to geography, economics, or disability. In addition to providing direct funding, NEA awards, which require a minimum one-to-one match of federal funds, stimulate on average a return of at least seven dollars to one from other state, local, and private sources.

Future FY13 grants will be announced for Art Works (Part Two) in 2013.

The League has compiled the project descriptions for grants to orchestras and grants related to the orchestra field. Complete lists of grant amounts and project descriptions for awards in all disciplines may be found on the NEA web site.

View Complete Orchestra Project Descriptions