Baltimore Choral Arts Society has been approved for a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts award to support Mozart Requiem Reframed. This project will support a live, collaborative concert in May 2022, featuring the world premiere of a commissioned work by composer and Baltimore-native Jasmine Barnes and a new edition of the Mozart Requiem composed by Music Director Anthony Blake Clark. Baltimore Choral Arts project is among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28,840,000 that were selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category. 

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Baltimore Choral Arts that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Baltimore Choral Arts Society is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.” 

Executive Director Jack A. Fishman stated, “Baltimore Choral Arts is grateful to receive NEA funding, especially for a project that features a new composition that promises to be especially meaningful to Baltimore audiences.” 

In Mozart Requiem Reframed, Baltimore Choral Arts will premiere a commission by Morgan State University alumna Jasmine Barnes. The work pulls inspiration from the Mozart Requiem to reflect on Baltimore today with texts by Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. The performance also premieres Music Director Anthony Blake Clark’s new edition of the Mozart Requiem, joined by The Carter Legacy Singers. This concert will be recorded for a new commercial album, our first in more than a decade. 

Additional support for Mozart Requiem Reframed is provided by: 

J.S. Plank & D.M. DiCarlo Family Foundation 

The James & Mary Miller Charitable Gift Fund 

The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund 

Bozzuto Family Charitable Fund 

Baltimore Choral Arts, under the direction of Music Director Anthony Blake Clark, is one of Maryland’s premier professional cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Chorus, and Chamber Singers perform throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, DC, New York, and Europe. To learn more, visit www.BaltimoreChoralArts.org 

For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.