Cantilena Chamber Choir in Lenox has been twice awarded a $1,500 Choral Arts New England Alfred Nash Patterson Grant. Its most recent grant is in support of its upcoming performance of music by Tanglewood Composers on May 14th, 2016. The first grant was for a 2010 performance of music in the galleries of Pittsfield’s Berkshire Museum that was inspired by the art displayed in each gallery. Cantilena is one of 11 New England choruses — four of them in Massachusetts — to be awarded grants totaling $13,000.
“We’ve applied for this grant for several years and we’re delighted, finally, to receive one,” Cantilena’s founding director, Andrea Gooman, said by telephone from her home in Lenox.
“It’s a highly competitive grant that values not only artistic merit, but also creative projects, especially collaborations, that serve the community.”
Founded in 2004, Cantilena Chamber Choir is a 24-member ensemble of experienced, vocally trained community singers.
This year’s Alfred Nash Patterson Grant recipients are from five New England states: four from Massachusetts, three from Connecticut, two from Rhode Island, and one each from New Hampshire and Maine.
The grants were presented at the 32nd annual Alfred Nash Patterson Awards ceremony on a Sunday afternoon in October 2015 at the College Club of Boston.
Admission was by invitation only.
During the ceremonies, An Howard Jones, conductor of Tanglewood’s Boston University Chorus received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually by Choral Arts New England to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to choral singing and its culture within New England.