NEA Institute for Classical Music and Opera Journalists

The NEA's annual classical music institute is coming up. Read an interesting take on it here at Joe Horowitz's blog for ArtsJournal.

And here below is the the press release with more information about this great workshop for mid-career arts journalists. I had the opportunity to participate in 2006. A unforgettable experience:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts:
NEA: Victoria Hutter, (202) 682-5692, hutterv@arts.gov
Columbia University: Clare Oh, (212)-854-5479, clare.oh@columbia.edu
Program Contact: Anya Grundmann, nea.institute@gmail.com

National Endowment for the Arts Launches Seventh Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

New York City, (May 13, 2010) — The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University today announced the seventh NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera. The institute takes place October 9 -19 at Columbia University, and is part of a series of NEA-funded programs across the country that focus on improving arts criticism in classical music, opera, theater and dance.

The application deadline for this October’s institute is July 20, 2010.

The NEA Arts Journalism Institutes are helping to establish the importance of professional training in the coverage of the arts through lectures and seminars with leaders in higher education, the arts and journalism. The programs are designed for journalists located primarily outside the largest media markets, where professional development opportunities are limited, but a limited number of positions will be considered for applicants from major media markets as well. Institutes for dance critics are also being hosted by the American Dance Festival at Duke University, for theater critics at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication, and for visual arts critics at American University. The programs cover most of the participants’ expenses.

“We are grateful to the NEA for giving Columbia University’s Journalism School the opportunity to deepen its service to the profession,” said Nicholas Lemann, dean of the school. “The NEA’s grant makes it possible to provide journalists from all over the country with a wonderful means of learning more about classical music and opera. The institute provides a rich learning immersion experience that often makes a significant difference in the work of the journalists who take part in it.”


Andras Szanto, former head of the National Arts Journalism Program, will direct the institute at Columbia with co-director Anya Grundmann, executive producer for NPR Music, and artistic director Joseph Horowitz, the nationally recognized classical music historian and critic.

“The NEA Institute has evolved with the times. Beyond training in the history and principles of classical music and opera, it prepares writers and editors for a digital future in which journalists work across media, often as freelancers,” said Szanto. “At the Journalism School, they can explore every facet of their fast-changing field. Now as ever, participants benefit from the vibrancy of New York’s extraordinary music scene and the community of some 150 past Institute alumni.”

The attendees – who include critics, reporters and editors in traditional, broadcast and digital journalism media – will work with senior journalists and faculty members to improve their viewing, analytical and writing skills. Participants will have the unique opportunity to take advantage of the rich cultural offerings in New York City and attend performances that cover a wide variety of genres, as well as rehearsals and behind-the-scenes meetings with artists and administrators of several leading classical music presenting organizations.

Invited faculty and speakers include classical music critics Justin Davidson, Anne Midgette, James Oestreich, classical music reporter Dan Wakin, arts critic and blogger Terry Teachout; music professors Michael Beckerman, Karen Hanson and Elaine Sisman, and the pianist Jeremy Denk. Participants will meet members of the senior staff of Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the American Symphony Orchestra League, the New York Philharmonic, WNYC Radio, and other leading institutions. Recently added components of the institute include sessions analyzing the new landscape of online and broadcast cultural journalism and how music writers can take advantage of broadcast and digital interactive media. The journalists develop a firsthand understanding of artistic creation through meetings with performing artists and a physical learning component, notably, a choral voice coaching session by Judith Clurman.

This year’s group will attend a daily schedule of concerts, including these important events on New York’s classical music calendar:
• Valery Gergiev conducts a new production of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Metropolitan Opera
• New York Philharmonic performs at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall
• Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, featuring pianist Jeremy Denk

For more information, visit www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/nea/ or http://www.arts.gov/national/aji/index.html

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About the Graduate School of Journalism
For almost a century, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has been preparing journalists in a program that stresses academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry, and professional practice. Founded with a gift from Joseph Pulitzer in 1903, the school offers master of science, master of arts, and doctor of philosophy degrees. For more on the Graduate School of Journalism, visit www.journalism.columbia.edu.

About Columbia University
A leading academic and research university, Columbia continually seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex issues of our time. Columbia’s extensive cultural collaborations and community partnerships help define the University’s underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. For more information about Columbia, visit www.columbia.edu.

About the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts -- both new and established -- by bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov