New Music Solidarity Fund raises over $370,000 to Support Freelance Performing Artists impacted by COVID-19

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Where your funds go: 100% of these funds will go to freelance artists in the new/creative/improvised music community who have lost income due to cancelations and work stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is emergency funding to assist musicians with rent, food, utilities, and medical needs.

For those to apply the grant, applications open March 31 at 12 noon EST on NewMusic USA.

The New Music Solidarity Fund, an initiative announced last week that aims to grant emergency funding to musicians impacted by COVID-19, has raised over $370,000. Due to the generosity of artists, arts leaders, professors, and foundations, the fund has doubled in the week since it was announced. The New Music Solidarity Fund will be administered through New Music USA, and all donations are fully tax-deductible through New Music USA’s 501c3 status. The fund is accessible here and will run until April 30.

The New Music Solidarity Fund will distribute at least 540 $500 emergency assistance grants. Any musician who has had a project involving a living composer canceled because of the pandemic is invited to apply. The New Music Solidarity Fund opens to applicants today, and will run until April 30. Grants will be available on a first-come, first-served basis as funds last.

The New Music Solidarity Fund was made possible through the collective organizational efforts of

Marcos Balter, Julia Bullock, Claire Chase, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Du Yun, Judd Greenstein, Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, Andrew Norman, Christian Reif, Christopher Rountree, Caroline Shaw, Conrad Tao, and Seth Parker Woods. These artists, along with other artistic and administrative colleagues in the field, sought to extend help to less-secure individuals within their community. Beyond this emergency bridge fund, the organizers and contributors hope to lay the grounds for a new financial and cultural framework that ensures the stability of musicians in the new music scene.

The New Music Solidarity Fund is designed to help new/creative/improvised music freelancers whose livelihood has been threatened as a result of performances which have been canceled during the COVID-19 crisis. The Fund was started by a group of musicians in the new music community who have raised over $130,000 in a week, primarily from fellow musicians, composers, and music professionals. Our hope is that the Solidarity Fund will continue to grow in the coming weeks, so that we can assist and bolster more people in need of emergency relief. For now, at least two hundred and sixty, $500 emergency assistance grants will be made available to applicants who meet the below criteria.

We are grateful to New Music USA for donating their time and services to help us run the Fund. Most importantly, we are immensely grateful to you, freelance artists who have risked so much in service of the music of our time. We stand in solidarity with you, and we are committed to helping you as much as we can.

In solidarity,

New Music Solidarity Fund Collective