photo: GretjenHelene.com Serving and supporting early music professionals and enthusiasts since 1985.
photo: GretjenHelene.com what ema does OUR MISSION Early Music America (EMA) serves and strengthens the early music community in North America including professionals, amateurs, and enthusiasts and raises public awareness of early music. OUR VISION EMA envisions a world where early music flourishes as an integral part of musical culture and reaches a large and diverse audience; where people understand what early music is and are engaged with it throughout their lives as listeners or performers; and where early music professionals are fairly paid, early music organizations are financially stable, and philanthropists see the early music world as a valuable place in which to invest. OUR VALUES EMA believes that early music provides a meaningful way to understand history and human culture; that historicallyinformed performances provide important musical insights and experiences; and that early music fosters creativity. WHAT DOES EMA DO TO FURTHER ITS MISSION AND VISION? We publish a highly regarded quarterly magazine. Our best known and most utilized product, Early Music America magazine serves as a professional and educational resource for our members. We maintain a large informational website including: A publicly accessible library of members music files. A national concert calendar promoting our members concerts, festivals, and workshops. A database of early music auditions, administrative jobs, and competition opportunities. We give three awards annually to recognize distinguished service to the field of early music. We have a growing scholarship and grant program. Last year, we awarded ten annual workshop scholarships, three annual outreach grants, and six annual college-level ensemble grants. We maintain a Membership Directory, which serves as a networking tool for our members. We produce competitions. We ve held three Medieval/Renaissance performance competitions, two Naxos recording competitions, and one Baroque performance competition. Our goal with competitions is to discover and promote rising stars of early music. We currently host a competition every other year. We present the Young Performers Festival. The future of early music rests in the hands of today s young performers and the institutions that shape them. Traditionally, EMA has held its Young Performers Festival as a part of either the Boston Early Music Festival or the Berkeley Music Festival.
photo: GretjenHelene.com what do donations to ema support Since 1985, EMA has been striving to expand awareness of, and interest in, the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods. With a membership of over 3,000 professional performers, ensembles, presenters, instrument makers, amateur musicians, and audience members, Early Music America serves as an advocate for the field throughout the continent. Early Music America relies on the generous support of individuals, foundations, and corporations to further its mission. Support from our members and donors helps fund: ANNUAL FUND The annual fund supports the infrastructure of Early Music America, its daily operations, and all media relations as we steward Early Music America into the 21st century. SERVICE AND ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS We honor distinguished service to the field of early music through three awards given annually -- one for outstanding achievement by the director of a university or college collegium musicum; one for lifetime achievement in the field of early music; and one recognizes outstanding achievement in outreach and/or educational projects by early music artists. COMPETITIONS EMA has held three Medieval/Renaissance performance competitions, two Naxos recording competitions, and one Baroque performance competition since 2003. We currently host a competition every other year, each with an operating budget of approximately $20,000. Competition winners receive a cash prize and set tour dates, along with a lot of promotion and public relations assistance. Support for the competitions helps fund the prizes, travel expenses of the artists, all marketing and public relations for the artists and the competition, and the operating costs of producing the competition. OUTREACH GRANTS EMA s Outreach Grants support outreach and/or educational projects for children or adults by early music artists. EMA awards three to six $1,000 grants each year. EMA is constantly working to increase the amount of these awards in order to expand our reach and have the greatest impact. COLLEGE-LEVEL ENSEMBLE GRANTS Always seeking to foster the future of the field, Early Music America offers grants of $1,000 each to college or university early music ensembles for the purpose of supporting a specific project or event that will enrich or broaden the educational experience of the students, and/or help to elevate the profile of the ensembles on campus, in their community, or nationally.
SCHOLARSHIPS Since 1998, EMA has awarded scholarships to students over the age of 15 attending early music workshops in North America. Summer scholarships have long lasting effects on the careers of the recipients and, by extension, help to secure the future of the field of early music. We firmly believe these are the stars, future music educators, audience members, and donors of tomorrow. EMA currently awards ten scholarships of $750 each and hopes to expand the program in the near future. WEBSITE/DATABASE EMA is in the process of remodeling its website and database and is seeking financial support for these endeavors. By updating our website s visual presentation and its functional capabilities, we will be better able to serve and support the growing early music industry in North America by providing our constituents professional and serious amateur musicians, university faculty, students and others - with the information and networking opportunities they need to further their careers and interests. YOUNG PERFORMERS FESTIVAL Recognized by the New York Times* as an opportunity to catch up with some young, rising stars in the field, EMA s Young Performers Festival brings together students and ensembles from colleges, universities and conservatories throughout North America to interact, discuss, study, and perform a series of concerts. Ensembles apply and are selected by a jury to be a part of the Festival. Of those selected, EMA awards a small number of travel grants to subsidize their travel to the Festival. Our goal is to foster future professionals, audience members, and donors for the field of early music. We currently award travel grants of $1,000 each to six of the selected Festival ensembles. *From Echoes of Folly at Early Music Fringe Events, June 15, 2013, New York Times Watch and discover EMA s Young Performers Festival Visit EMA on YouTube at youtube.com/emaearlymusicamerica to watch a documentary about the Young Performers Festival as well as selected performances. Or, scan the QR code to the right to link directly to the documentary.
photo: GretjenHelene.com how ema has helped musicians Early Music America has provided scholarships, grants, and financial assistance to early musicians over the years. Below is a sampling showing how EMA s support has helped musicians. To have the backing of a major organization like EMA gave me more professional legitimacy, I was able to meet fellow upcoming professionals, and make connections that I m sure will continue for a long time. It gave me the chance to connect (and re-connect) with a large body of colleagues. It also provided me with a wealth of opportunities to learn from and be inspired by some of the best and most varied early music-making in the country. -Testimonials from Young Performers Festival Participants Thank you so much to EMA for offering these scholarships in support of young and aspiring performers and scholars of Early Music. It is wonderful for us to have the support and encouragement from such an organization, and I am very grateful, not only as a recent recipient, but as a student of early music, knowing this support is made available to applicants every year. For me, this scholarship made a huge difference. -Fiona Gillespie who received a scholarship to attend the International Baroque Institute at Longy The publicity from winning the EMA competition was the key element in the viability of the ensemble, which is currently spread out on two continents, making organization difficult at its best. -Ensemble LaRota, Past EMA Medieval/Renaissance Competition Winner Our ensemble might never have come together if not for the EMA Medieval/ Renaissance competition and the occasion it provided to focus on Renaissance music and perform for a new audience. Thanks to the publicity surrounding our win, we have a high-profile concerts scheduled in five cities nationwide... and have been invited to perform at the Regensburg festival. -Plaine & Easie, Past EMA Medieval/Renaissance Competition Winner