OVERVIEW: The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music supports performance, scholarly output and professional development related to the work and lives of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Marc Blitzstein.
IP TAKE: This is a niche music funder that limits its grantmaking to support for performances, research and other programs related to the works of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Marc Blitzstein. Grant seekers who work in this specific area will likely find an ally here. Major productions may also qualify for deeper Collaborative Initiatives involving both funding and hands-on foundation expertise.
Opportunities extend beyond conventional grants. Doctoral candidates and researchers can apply for direct support; performing organizations can request Kurt Weill Mentors; Lenya Competition alumni can receive professional sponsorships; and emerging conductors and directors can participate in fellowship programs. The annual Lenya Competition is open internationally, while the biennial Kurt Weill Prize recognizes scholarship on music theater far beyond Weill himself.
The foundation is accessible and transparent, but eligibility, guidelines and due dates vary by program. Reach out to staff members with questions. Contact information is provided on the foundation’s People page.
PROFILE: Founded in 1962, the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music is named for the famous composer of operas, musical theater, classical music and film scores. According to its mission statement, the foundation “administers, promotes, and perpetuates the legacies of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya.” The foundation also supports the legacy of Marc Blitzstein, a successful composer known for his English translations/adaptations of Weill’s works. In addition to grants, the foundation awards annual prizes and fellowships relating to its goals and the work of Weill, Lenya and Blitzstein.
Grants for Music, Theater, Writing and Scholarships
The Kurt Weill Foundation awards grants in the following categories:
- Professional Performance grants fund music, opera, theater and dance and other relevant performance groups for programs that include the works of Weill and/or Blitzstein.
- Applicants must provide nonprofit status, budgets, artistic biographies, a work sample and evidence of their performance record.
- Recent grantees include Chicago Opera Theater, English National Opera, Orchestra Miami and Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings.
- Grants for College/University and Amateur Performances provide grants of up to $15,000 to support theatrical or musical productions of the works of Weill and/or Blitzstein.
- Recent grantees include Manhattan School of Music, Oklahoma City University, Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oklahoma, the Lotte Lehmann Akademie in Germany and Orchestra of the Music Makers in Singapore
- Media grants provide funding for projects across a broad range of media including film/video, podcasting, etc. that feature the works or document the lives of Weill, Lenya or Blitzstein.
- The foundation awards grants for Scholarly Symposia and Conferences related to Weill, Lenya and/or Blitzstein. Grants may support travel, printing, preparation or other related expenses.
- Grants for Publication Assistance are intended for authors and nonprofit publishers for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly manuscripts and other projects on Weill, Lenya or Blitzstein and their works.
- Funding is also available for Research and Travel expenses related to accessing the Weill-Lenya Research Center at 7 East 20th Street in Manhattan. Yale University Music Library separately houses the Weill-Lenya Papers.
- The Kurt Weill Dissertation Fellowship supports doctoral research related to the work of Weill, Lenya, and/or Blitzstein. Relevant projects typically have strong recommendations of the academic community and “address significant lacunae in Weill, Lenya, and/or Blitzstein research.”
Other Opportunities
The Foundation runs several monied opportunities that don’t qualify as traditional grants programs.
- The Lotte Lenya Competition annually recognizes “talented singing actors of all nationalities, ages 19-32.” The 2026 competition distributed $120,500.
- The Kurt Weill/Lotte Lenya Artists sponsorship program provides support to alumni of the Lotte Lenya Competition.
- The Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellowship is an opportunity for early-career conductors to assist “master conductors” in a production of Weill or Blitzstein works.
- The Harold Prince/Kurt Weill Directing Fellowship is an opportunity for early- or mid-career directors to assist with the production of a Weill and/or Blitzstein Stage work.
Additionally, through Collaborative Initiative Programs, the Foundation “partners in select cases with both professional arts organizations and educational institutions, and consortiums thereof, to realize projects that advance the strategic goals of the Foundation.”
- Recent examples include Opera North’s 2025 Love Life recordings, New York City Center’s 2025-26 Love Life audio recording, Opera North’s 2026 Street Scene recording and the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig’s 2026 Mahagonny project.
The Kurt Weill Mentors program seeks to “enhance the performance of Weill’s or Blitzstein’s stage or concert works; this might, for example, take the form of presentations of workshops, master classes, or coaching sessions.” A mentorship may sometimes be considered even when the underlying performance itself would not qualify under ordinary grant guidelines.
Important Grant Details:
Grants and awards are made in amounts specific to each program and may change from year to year. In a recent year, this funder gave $521,000 in total grants and about $1.5 million in total charitable disbursements.
- This funder’s grants and programs are limited to performers, researchers and groups involved with the musical legacies of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Marc Blitzstein.
- Application guidelines and due dates vary significantly by program.
- Check each program page for up-to-date information.
- The core Grants Program has a largely unified schedule: November 1 annually, plus an additional June 1 round that is intended for college/university performances but is open to all grant categories
- See individual program pages for information about past grantees.
- To keep up with the latest opportunities sign up for the organization’s newsletter at the bottom of the website and follow its social media links.
- Reach out directly to staff members, whose emails and phone numbers are provided on the foundation’s People page.
- The foundation’s phone number is (212) 505-5240.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
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