Download Final Report/Evaluation Materials | Sample Projects

Administered through the Forum’s chapters, the Community Partners Program place composers in collaborative residencies with community, cultural and educational organizations to create new works designed around the needs of their specific communities, many of which are historically underserved by the arts. Whether "community" is defined as residents of a neighborhood, students in a public school, members of a community center, or members of a religious congregation, the program seeks to engage people’s creative and expressive capacities, and to put composers’ skills in service of real and immediate needs. By partnering with cultural, educational and social services organizations, projects reach people who might otherwise have no opportunity or occasion to directly engage the arts, and do so in a context that makes their involvement personally and socially significant. The program is bridging the needless gap that has grown between music and ordinary community life.

Through these projects, the Forum’s chapters have sponsored more than 300 residencies, commissions and performances, engaged scores of educational, cultural and social institutions in the creation and presentation of new music, and elicited growing support from a wide range of local and regional philanthropies.

There is no "typical" Community Partners project: each is tailored to the needs, interests and resources of the partner organizations, their respective constituencies and the participating artists. However, several elements are common to most projects:

A one- to three-month period during which the Chapter Director works with the composer and/or partner organization to design a residency;

Solicitation and selection of participating composers and/or organizations;

A two- to twelve-month period during which the composer engages community participants in a workshop format. These workshops often provide material or inspiration which is the basis for a new work by the composer and/or community member.

The new work is presented in one or more public performances, usually using community-based performance forces along with professional performers.

In the five years since its inception, the Community Partners Program has become a vital and visible part of cultural life in our Chapter areas. Tens of thousands of people have taken part in the program, and, as word of our successful projects spreads, more and more community-based organizations are turning to us as a valuable and unique partner in their educational, cultural and social service programming.

 

FINAL REPORT/EVALUATION MATERIALS

Download the Project Evaluation Form for Community Partners.
Download the Project Evaluation Form for Artist Partners.
Download the Event Demographic Summary Sheet (Attachment A).
(These requireAdobe Acrobat Reader.)