Pennsylvania-based performers are touring the globe with support from MAAF’s PennPAT Strategic Opportunity Grant program. Since this pilot program began in June 2006, MAAF has awarded grants totaling almost $20,000 toward international travel for six performing artists/groups.

Philadelphia’s Koresh Dance Company toured Korea while Group Motion Multi Media Dance Theater performed in Tokyo. Pittsburgh blues artist Ernie Hawkins received support for dates in Spain and the Czech Republic, and Harrisburg-based jazz pianist Steve Rudolph just returned from a tour of 8 cities in India – he has already been invited to return. This month, Philadelphia’s world-jazz group Siora is performing at a festival in Quito, Ecuador, and Pittsburgh movement/theater artist Dan Kamin is performing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

These grants enable PennPAT roster artists to take full advantage of opportunities for advancing their careers through international touring. For more information on this program, visit www.pennpat.org.

Photo: Steve Rudolph duo concert at the Bagan Hotel in Bagan, Myanmar (Burma)

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation works with the Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, NY and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, VA to support the work of composers, writers, and visual artists through creative residencies. The Foundation is once again pleased to be sponsoring one-month residencies for artists from the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania at the Millay Colony in 2007. One artist from each of the four jurisdictions is selected annually by the Millay Colony and designated as a MAAF Creative Fellow. The Foundation awards a $3,000 grant, on behalf of each artist, to the Millay Colony. Selected artists for this year include the fiction writer Willett Thomas of Washington, DC; composer Douglas Thompson of Jersey City, NJ; visual artist Marci MacGuffie of Brooklyn, NY; and the non-fiction writer Taha Ebrahimi of Pittsburg, PA.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation received grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Trust for Mutual Understanding towards support of the USArtists International program. A partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, USArtists International demonstrates the excellence, vitality and diversity of the performing arts in the United States to a broad international audience through the support of engagements by American dance and music ensembles at significant festivals in the 27 nations of the European Union, Russia and Ukraine. Support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund will target the engagements of New York City-based ensembles. Funding from the Trust will be used to support engagements in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Slovakia Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Support from these foundations strengthens an important private-public collaboration to promote the creative and professional development of American artists through international cultural exchange.

The MAAF Jazz Touring Network (JTN) meets at least twice a year and recently held a meeting on March 6-7, 2007 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The JTN is currently comprised of Classes 4-6; 10 of 12 presenting organizations attended the meeting. Class composition includes presenters quite new to programming jazz, along with more experienced jazz presenters, from areas underserved by the arts in general, and jazz in particular, throughout the region.

Speaking at the meeting was Yvonne Ervin, Executive Director, Western Jazz Presenters Network (WJPN) who illustrated many of the successes and challenges the WJPN has had regarding touring and collaborative booking. The JTN is in the midst of planning 2007-08 tours, and has completed its planning around multiple engagements in 2006-07 for artists including Cyrus Chestnut, Rachael Price, Ravi Coltrane, and the Preservation Hall Band. Artists under consideration for 2007-08 include the pianist Omar Sosa and guitarist Russell Malone.

Future plans include engaging all of the organizations that have participated in the JTN over the years, in an effort to survey how jazz programming continues to thrive through this program. The next JTN deadline will be in late Summer 2007. Please continue to review the website for updates.

The National Finals for Poetry Out Loud will be held at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on May 1, 2007 from 7:00 - 10:00pm. You are invited to attend! Please call 202.682.5772 for reserved seating. The event is free and open to the public.

Poetry Out Loud was created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, and is administered in partnership with the State Arts Agencies of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. From January through April, state finals are held across the country with the champion receiving a trip to Washington for the National Finals. All 51 champions will compete in a semi-finals event throughout the day on April 30 with the top 12 proceeding the the National Finals on May 1. The National Champion will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

PennPAT Professional Development Workshops For Performing Artists

PennPAT joins forces with Tabula Studio to present a workshop for performing artists entitled Using Your Website to Support Your Performance Career. The workshops, taking place in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will cover how to work with a web designer and how to create a site that achieves your goals and generates business. The sessions will also address how to select a designer, what you should know about the technology involved and cost evaluation. This workshop is a good introduction for performing artists who are developing a website or upgrading an existing site. Click here for workshop dates and times. The cost is $20 ($10 for PennPAT Roster Artists). Please register in advance by calling (215) 496-9424.

PennPAT Roster Application Deadline and Workshops

PennPAT is offering workshops on how to apply for the PennPAT Artist Roster. Click here for workshop dates and times. The deadline for the PennPAT Artist Roster is June 1, 2007. The application is available by clicking here. There is no cost for this workshop, however please register in advance by calling (215) 496-9424.