BMI Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The BMI Foundation supports music and music-related education mostly in the U.S. but has some opportunities also for international music students.
IP TAKE: This is a very transparent and accessible funder. Grant amounts vary by program, and each has its own application procedures and instructions, so new grantseekers will want to read the page for the program in which they are interested carefully. Many programs accept proposals by invitation only.
Most grants are for types of classical music and jazz, but many others support various forms of popular music. Some of the scholarships are region or educational institution specific
PROFILE: Established in 1985, the BMI Foundation is a music-focused philanthropic organization based in New York City. Entertainment executives, musicians and music publishers make up the leadership team for the foundation to further the foundation’s commitment to American music. The foundation is “dedicated to encouraging the creation, performance and study of music.” BMI awards grants, scholarships, fellowships and commissions to individual musicians and nonprofit music and arts organizations all across the U.S. There are some opportunities for international music students as well. Giving interests of the BMI Foundation include classical music, contemporary works, musical theater, inner city youth and musical genre preservation programs.
Grants for Music, Theater, and Arts Education
The primary focus of the BMI Foundation’s grantmaking is music and music education, although several awards support artists or organizations operating at the intersection of music and another artistic genre, such as theater or lyric writing. The number of programs available through the foundation is extensive, some of which are highly specialized and niche while others are broadly defined. Grantseekers will want to read over the programs carefully to find the one that is the best fit for them.
Additionally, several programs are only for participants in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, which is itself a valuable program for those interested in musical theater, and free of charge to admitted applicants.
BMI Founders Internship for Radio Broadcasting is a multi-week paid internship with a major US broadcasting corporation. The internship “is awarded for the best original essay response submitted to the competition and recognizes a student with the potential to become an innovator in the rapidly changing field of broadcast radio.”
BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarships go to a rising jazz performer or composer currently enrolled as a full-time or part-time student of a U.S. college or university. Students accepted to an institution of higher education, but not yet attending, are not eligible.
BMI Student Composer Awards are prizes for student composers of classical music age 27 or younger. The grant money, totaling $20,000, helps fund their ongoing education in vocal, instrumental, and/or electronic composition.
The Carlos Surinach Commissions program funds the creation of new works by former winners of the BMI Student Composer Awards by identifying orchestras, chamber music groups, and classical soloists with a strong record of performing contemporary music which in turn select a composer to write the commissioned work. Applications are by invitation only.
The Charlie Feldman Award, named after the former BMI Creative Vice President, is a prize of $2,000 given to an emerging songwriter in any genre. The award process is invitation only and unsolicited applications are not accepted.
BMI’s Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize is a grant of $3,000, presented annually for the best new work created in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. That work is then premiered at the following year's showcase concert by the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra. Applications are by invitation only; however, the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop is open to any emerging or developing jazz composers and meets regularly in BMI's New York office.
The Chris Trousdale Dream Awards was named after the late performer and composer Chris Trousdale of the band Dream Street. The multifaceted awards fund scholarships to performing arts high schools in New York, California, and Michigan. They also support students of music and musical theater nationwide, via an essay competition, which serves to “provide funding for out-of-town travel and accommodations related to auditions, try-outs or visits to an arts school or summer music or theater program.”
Curtis Mayfield Scholarship is an annual award given for both need and musical merit. It goes to “an exemplary graduating senior at Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) and Dekalb School of the Arts in Atlanta, both public 4-year fine and performing arts schools for artistically gifted youth.” The award gives preference to students intending to pursue college majors in performance, composition, and songwriting.
David N. Baker Jazz Composition Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship presented annually to a full-time junior, senior or graduate Jazz Studies student at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Scholarship "recipients are chosen based on academic and artistic record, with preference given to females and students of color.” Awardess “must demonstrate excellence in writing significant original work in the jazz idiom." Applications are by invitation only.
The Ellen Schwartz Award for Outstanding Literary Merit in Lyric Writing is presented annually to a Second or Third Year participant of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, a Tony-honored program for new writers of musical theatre. This $1,000 award was presented for the first time in 2015. Applications are by invitation only; however, the Musical Theatre Workshop is free of charge to admitted participants. The workshop's application requirements are listed here.
Evelyn Buckstein Scholarship awards two scholarships each year to students working to become professional songwriters, composers, performers, or music teachers and provides full tuition to attend the City College of New York. Applications are by invitation only, and preference is given to women and students of color.
The Jean Banks Award is a $500 award presented annually to the lyricist(s) and composer(s) of the best ten-minute musical created in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, a Tony-honored program for new writers of musical theatre. Applications are by invitation only; however, the Musical Theatre Workshop is free of charge to admitted participants. The workshop's application requirements are listed here.
Jeffrey Cotton Awards supports presenting organizations, who may apply for these grants as a part of their proposal for BMI Foundation's General Grants. They are intended to "defray the cost of rehearsing and presenting in concert the second performance of a chamber or orchestral work by an American composer."
Jerry Bock Musical Theatre Award is a $2,000 award, which is split between the composer and lyricist of a BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop project. Finalists are recommended by the Workshop Steering Committee and winners are selected by the BMI Foundation. Applications are by invitation only; however, the Musical Theatre Workshop is free of charge to admitted participants. The workshop's application requirements are listed here.
Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Awards are awards presented annually to a writer in each of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop groups by the moderator of each group. They vary by year: First Year $500, Second Year $600, Advanced $1000, and Librettist $500. Applications are by invitation only; however, the Musical Theatre Workshop is free of charge to admitted participants. The workshop's application requirements are listed here.
John Lennon Scholarships were established in 1997 by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and BMI. It awards three scholarships annually with prizes totaling $20,000, awarded for the best original songs by U.S. college students between the ages of 17 and 24.
The Kavi Ohri Memorial Scholarship goes to support a New York City High School senior with plans to attend college in a music-related major. Applications are “judged based on student essays, with strong consideration given to applicants who are AAPI-identifying, have a history of mentorship with other students or children, and/or are among the first of the family to pursue a post-secondary education.”
The Lionel Newman Conducting Scholarship is award to support the Music Director and Conductor of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles, "one of the oldest and most distinguished pre-professional training orchestras in the world." It provides the opportunity for a young conductor to plan, rehearse, and conduct an entire orchestra season. Applications are by invitation only.
BMI’s Nashville Songwriting Scholarship is a $5,000 scholarship awarded for the best original song by a U.S. college student between the ages of 17 and 24. The competition is open to student songwriters of country music and related genres, including "Americana, blues, bluegrass, contemporary Christian, folk, and roots."
New Music Grants are given out in order to further the "creation, performance and study of contemporary music." They place an emphasis on "classical, jazz, and the musical theatre genres and a preference for programs which directly involve living American composers." Currently applications are by invitation only.
peermusic Latin Scholarships are $5,000 scholarships, awarded for the best song or instrumental work in any Latin genre to songwriters and composers who are current students at colleges and universities located in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between the ages of 17 and 24 at time of submission. Application instructions can be found here.
Pete Carpenter Fellowship - This fellowship provides a $2,000 stipend for three to four weeks of in-studio mentorship with established composers in Los Angeles for aspiring film, television and video game composers. Fellows must be between the ages of 21 and 35 and pursuing a career in TV, film or video game composition. Currently there is waitlist for the program.
Theodora Zavin Scholarship is a $2,000 scholarship given each year to a graduating senior musician at LaGuardia High School of Music and Art & Performing Arts in New York, and recognizes "outstanding achievement in composition." Applications are by invitation only.
Woody Guthrie Fellowship Program awards up to $5,000 to support scholarly research at the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, OK. One fellowship is given each year for work on a "research topic or theme directly related to Guthrie’s life, work, or contribution to American music and world culture." Application instructions can be found here.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts vary by program, and each has its own application procedures and instructions. Many programs accept proposals by invitation only, so new grantseekers will want to read the page for the program in which they are interested carefully.
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