2025 Alfred Nash Patterson Grant Recipients
Choral Arts New England is delighted to announce the funding of 16 project grants totaling $29,000. Award recipients represent choral organizations from all New England states, and were chosen out of 54 applications.
Award recipients will be honored at our grant ceremony in the fall of 2025, and the projects are described below from excerpts of the applications. In addition, where a recipient received a named grant, is listed next to the recipient’s name.
Congratulations to all our awardees, and please stay tuned for our next application cycle to open for 2026!
BHS Greater Boston Chapter — MA
Singspiration 2025 and Beyond
Barbershop music can be anywhere, requiring only four or more singers capable of singing in close harmony, and it appeals to everyone who thrills to the emotional excitement of live a cappella music. Singspiration 2025 is about exposing everyone in Greater Boston and beyond to the availability of this music by dropping our award-winning chorus singers and quartets into everyday spaces like town sidewalks, public green space, neighborhood centers, shopping plazas, and civic centers.
Burlington Baroque Festival — VT
2025 Burlington Baroque Festival
The Burlington Baroque Festival was founded to respond to audience enthusiasm for a professional ensemble in the region dedicated to the great vocal and instrumental repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. Burlington Baroque brings internationally acclaimed artists to join the Burlington Baroque Festival Singers to perform this rich repertoire which is presented with period instrument orchestra and particular attention to style of the period in which it was composed.
Cantilena, Inc. — MA (Lorna Cooke deVaron Grant)
I Rise: Women in Song
Cantilena, the women’s chorus in Arlington MA will team up with the Worcester Chorus Women's Ensemble (WCWE) in May of 2026 to perform Indian-American composer Reena Esmail’s multi-movement 2016 choral work “I Rise: Women in Song,” The composer’s inspiration is taken from the writings of women reflecting their experiences as women. The chamber version of work, scored for SSAA chorus, string quintet, flute and harp., will be jointly presented to new audiences in Metro-Worcester and Metro-Boston.
Cappella Clausura — MA
Worthy of the Highest Praise: Bembo’s Te Deum and Vivaldi’s Gloria
Cappella Clausura presents a rare, unknown gem - Antonia Bembo’s Te Deum - side-by-side with a classic of the choral literature - Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria. In putting these two pieces in dialogue with each other, we highlight the strength and beauty of Bembo’s compositions and introduce her to a wide audience as a serious composer on par with the likes of Vivaldi. We give you two stellar performances of these pieces, in praise of God and of these two outstanding musicians.
Celebrity Series of Boston — MA
Langston Hughes and Phillis Wheatley: I Dream a World
On April 11, 2026, Celebrity Series of Boston will present a choral festival concert featuring three Boston youth choirs – Boston Children’s Chorus, Boston City Singers, and H&H Chamber Choir – in honor of America’s 250th anniversary. Featuring poetry of Langston Hughes and the writings of Phyllis Wheatley, contemporary choral works and a newly commissioned work by B.E. Boykin will hit the stage in a celebratory concert, alongside educational workshops and rehearsals for the choirs with the composer herself.
CODA Chorus — ME (Saxton Family Grant)
Women's Correctional Center Collaborative Choir, Windham, Maine
Our plan is to bring to the state of Maine, its first ever collaborative choir to the Women's Correctional Center in Windham. It will be a unique joint effort with women inmates, prison staff and CODA Chorus members. Funding will support six joint rehearsals, culminating in two final concerts–one for the prison population, and one for the broader community including the singer’s families.
Concord Women's Chorus, Inc. — MA (Hammond Family Grant)
Still Heard Round the World: A Celebration of Music Written by and for Women -- Recording Project
In 2025-26, Concord Women's Chorus will record three commissioned works by acclaimed women composers: "Concord Fragments" (2010) by Libby Larsen, "The Tree House" (2017) by Beth Denisch, and "Grown Wild" (2021) by Melissa Dunphy. By recording our commissions, we create of legacy of works written by, for, and about women, for this generation and beyond.
Consonare Choral Community — CT (Irving Forbes Centennial Grant)
Dare to Hope
In a time in our history when art is needed most, we embark on a project to invite the community to hope. Through a collaboration between a community choir open to all singers and our local community orchestra, Consonare Community Choir and the Willimantic Orchestra will perform the recently discovered “Song of Hope” by Florence B. Price and “Toward the unknown region” by Ralph Vaughan Williams amid projections of visual art representing hope created by our community.
Coolidge Corner Community Chorus — MA (Richard Coffey Grant)
Revision
The Coolidge Corner Community Chorus of Brookline commissioned "Revision," a new work by composer Jackson E. Alfrey, in honor of our chorus members and new music director, Richard Saber. This piece will be performed by our revitalized chorus, which has been singing to audiences for 26 years.
An Act of Remembrance
A series of free choral performances in April of 2026 celebrating National Poetry Month in collaboration with libraries and retirement communities in locations around Vermont, combining music, poetry, and reflection to look back on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Vermont and to memorialize those lost to the pandemic. The program will include choral elegies from non-Christian and secular traditions by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Hanson, and Holst; works that arose specifically out of the Covid-19 pandemic; readings by local poets; and a new work by Vermont composer Don Jamison commissioned by Counterpoint for these events.
Ensemble Altera — RI (Choral Arts New England Board Chairs' Grant)
Declarations
Declarations is a groundbreaking choral work that reexamines the ideals of the U.S. Declaration of Independence 250 years after its creation. Composed by Piers Connor Kennedy with a libretto curated by William Ashford, the piece weaves together historical texts, American poetry, and newly commissioned writings from diverse voices, using a dual-chronology structure to trace Jefferson’s journey toward 1776 while modern perspectives move backward in time. Premiering in June 2026, Declarations invites audiences to engage critically with America’s founding principles and their evolving significance today.
Community Concert: “Together We Sing/Si Somos Americanos”
In “Together We Sing/Si Somos Americanos,” the 30 voices of the Halalisa Singers will join forces with the award-winning Pan-Latin ensemble Sol y Canto featuring Puerto Rican/Argentine singer and percussionist Rosi Amador and New Mexican guitarist, singer, and composer Brian Amador. The program, which highlights music of the United States and Latin America, will include songs with Sol y Canto joining the chorus and a duo set by Sol y Canto, who will also lead improvisational circle singing with the audience. This vibrant and uplifting event will bring the power of choral music to a multi-generational, multi-cultural Greater Boston audience, showcasing diverse musical traditions and promoting cultural exchange.
Hopkinton Center for the Arts — MA
Jr. Treblemakers - Expanding and enhancing Youth Choral Education and Ensembles
We seek the elevation of choral education through the Jr.Treblemakers at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts. Specifically, expanding ensembles to reach a wider age range, increase visibility and accessibility, and providing students with materials and tools to aid them in their musical development.
Keene State College Music Department (USNH) — NH
"Glass Balloon" Commissioning Project
Dr. Heather Gilligan will set “Glass Balloon,” by Becky Hemsley (2023), for SATB chorus, piano, and a solo instrument. It will be premiered by the Keene State College Concert Choir, student and hired instrumentalists in Spring 2026. In Fall 2026, approximately 150 middle and high school students will collaborate with the KSC Concert Choir to perform the work at the Cantate! High School Choral Festival at Keene State College.
Koleinu, Boston's Jewish Community Chorus — MA (Choral Arts New England Board Grant)
Kol Echad/Eyn Kol/One Voice
A concert of Jewish choral music for the Boston area, featuring Boston's major Jewish-identified choral ensembles: Koleinu, Boston's Jewish Community Chorus; Zamir Chorale of Boston; A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus; and local Jewish youth ensembles.
Providence Singers — RI
Hidden: A new work by Reena Esmail
The Providence Singers has commissioned a new composition by Reena Esmail for SATB chorus, string quartet, and piano. Ms. Esmail and poet Rebecca Gayle Howell will work together in a collaborative process that simultaneously creates and meshes music and lyrics.
List of Choral Arts New England's Named Grants
The Hammond Family grant, instituted by Carrie and Jonathan Hammond, is intended to support a collaborative effort or to celebrate a milestone, preferably in Connecticut.
The Saxton Family grant, instituted by Jonathan Saxton and Barbara Fox, is intended to support a unique, engaging effort in an underserved area or by a non-auditioned choir.
The Irving Forbes Centennial grant is intended to support projects involving community choruses performing large works with orchestra, and/or music that celebrates nature and the outdoors.
The Richard Coffey grant, instituted by friends of the visionary conductor and organist Richard Coffey, seeks to support projects of any kind that are transformative for the funded institution, whether musical, organizational, or experiential. In the event that no worthy project matches these criteria, the grant will be given at the discretion of the Board.
The Lorna Cooke deVaron grant, named in memory of one of the leading women choral conductors of the 20th century, instituted by Joseph & Fiona Horning, is intended to support new music or adventurous programming.
The Choral Arts New England Board grant, sponsored by contributions from the Board members of Choral Arts New England, is intended to advance the priorities of the Board in any given year.
The Choral Arts New England Board Chairs grant is sponsored by contributions from the former Chairs and Vice Chairs of Choral Arts New England.