The Jacobs School of Music Innovation Grants are designed to support innovative ideas in performance or research for musicians, scholars and dancers with projects that are collaborative in nature and embedded in the Bloomington community.
ANNOUNCING 2023-24 INNOVATION GRANT WINNERS
The Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development is pleased to announce winners of the 2023 Innovation Grant Competition, an initiative that supports and showcases creative work by faculty and students in the Jacobs School of Music. Each in their own way are collaborative in nature and build a sense of community within the creative world they engage.
“Innovation is at the core of what make good enterprises great ones,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “The Jacobs School of Music is proud to support the execution of provocative new ideas and initiatives which will move forward the work of the performing arts and scholarly work in new and exciting ways. Jacobs students and faculty are the future of the field, and this is an opportunity to reward creativity and excellence while celebrating them.”
MEET THE 2023-24 WINNERS
FACULTY AWARD: $6,000
A Collaborative Broadcast Platform for the Promotion of Cultural Enrichment & Sustainability
Led by Austin Hartman, Pacifica Quartet, and the graduate Balourdet Quartet
The interactive live-streaming broadcast platform is designed to showcase research and performance while promoting and supporting cultural enrichment of public and private schools, academic institutions of higher education and presenting organizations. The project is planned to include national and international partners as they educate and inspire audiences that vary in age, culture, and socio-economic means. Through a variety of program formats including panel discussions, lecture-demonstration performances, and themed performances, the initiative will interface with curricula of partnering institutions.
STUDENT AWARDS: $2,000
Organic Soundscapes
Led by Robert Hurley (cello) with Anne Liao (composition)
Organic Soundscapes is an art installation that invites audience to consider how they perceive nature in their daily lives through video, baroque cello, improvisation, novel instruments, and audience interaction. By fabricating new electronic instruments using living plants and soil as interfaces, audience members will be invited to play during the performance, fostering a deeper engagement with the installation. A video component allows the project to be iterative, layering performances in different locations highlighting natural and built environments around Indiana. The project will partner with local institutions focused on environmental issues and creative placemaking.
Breaking the Brass Ceiling
Led by Louise Kern-Kensler (brass)
Breaking the Brass Ceiling is a documentary that delves into the lives, stories, struggles, and triumphs of remarkable female brass musicians from diverse backgrounds. Through their personal narratives and artistic journeys, the film aims to explore the systemic challenges and barriers they face, as well as the artistic heights they aspire to achieve. The project aims to inspire, empower, and promote diversity and inclusion within the classical music community. Kern-Kensler is pursuing a dual-degree in Film at the Media School and Trombone Performance at The Jacobs School of Music.
Reimagining Classical Saxophone through Film and Saxophone Ensemble
Led by Wes Taylor (saxophone)
The performance project fosters a connection between classical saxophone and the Bloomington community through the medium of a new saxophone ensemble. In collaboration with the Ryder Film Series, the project will present performances of a 12-member saxophone ensemble alongside three short silent films. The scores will be prepared by current members of the IU Saxophone Ensemble in collaboration with students from the Music Scoring for Visual Media department and the screening will take place at the FAR Center for the Contemporary Arts in downtown Bloomington.
2022-23 GRANT WINNERS
Amanda Draper: The MusiColAbility Project: IU Collaborative Learning Project
Assistant professor of music education
Establish a community outreach program that fosters collaborative music learning and creative music making between IU students and individuals with disabilities.
Eliana Barwinski: The Embodiment of African American Art Song
Doctoral student in voice minoring in music education
Present African American art song, student-embodied choreographic research, and poetry recitation by Ph.D. students from the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.
Aislin Carpenter: Conserve Bloomington
Senior in trumpet performance minoring in ethnomusicology with a certificate in arts administration
A community-integrated environmental education concert program, using creative resources from the Jacobs School of Music and scientific expertise from IU’s biology/ecology department.
Michael Klinberg: Music in Games Society Video Game Music Concert
Master’s student in music education
Create an exciting interdisciplinary platform for students and faculty of IU, as well as Bloomington community members, to express their interests for game sound in a community-centered environment.
Yabing Lyu: MOOD+
Freshman in piano performance
Explore what key factors lead to different musical tastes and how people can be motivated to accept different styles of music through writing English versions of lyrics for popular melodies from Asian countries.