The Presser Foundation

05/14/2026

The Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble has spent 48 years curating programs that surprise and inspire - and their March 6th concert was no exception. Featuring an ensemble of talented musicians, the evening spanned five works: Villa-Lobos's spirited "Jet Whistle," Jessie Montgomery's harmonically rich "Duo for Violin and Cello," Debussy's atmospheric Sonata for flute, viola, and harp, Dohnanyi's whimsical Serenade, and Roussel's layered, shimmering Serenade to close.

Read Graduate Music Fellow Jeremy Jefferson's full reflection of the evening on the blog.

https://presserfoundation.org/blog-post/five-pieces-one-unforgettable-night-a-philadelphia-chamber-ensemble-concert-review/

05/13/2026

What an inspiring night! We loved celebrating 15 years with Play On Philly. ❤️

05/11/2026

Have you enjoyed a live concert from home?

On Sunday, we slowed down between Mother's Day activities to tune into Philadelphia Chamber Music Society's virtual performance of the complete Mozart string quintets - all six works in a single day, performed by the Brentano Quartet with guest violist Hsin-Yun Huang, Violist.

Live-streaming is a growing area of music access for many of our grantees. PCMS offers virtual concerts on a pay-what-you-can basis, continuing their commitment to making world-class chamber music accessible to all. We are glad to support their efforts, and yesterday was a good reminder of its impact.

05/08/2026

Before this Teacher Appreciation Week comes to a close, we want to celebrate our Graduate Research Fellow Erica Breitbarth, who taught music for 14 years and helped build the music program in her hometown. Erica's story is a reminder of what music educators make possible - not just in classrooms, but in communities.

Music teachers are the ones who hand a shy student their first solo, who remember which piece made something click, who turn a room full of nervous beginners into an ensemble with something to say. Their work doesn't end when a lesson does. The confidence, discipline, creativity, and sense of belonging that music education builds carry forward into every part of a young person's life.

We celebrate you, Erica, and every educator who brings music into a young person's world and keeps it there. 🎶

05/07/2026

For Grantees:

Running a nonprofit today means doing a great deal at once - strategy, programs, and financial decisions, all while the landscape keeps shifting.

Nonprofit Finance Fund, The Nonprofit Center, and Center for Leadership Equity are offering Philadelphia-area nonprofit leaders a free 4-part virtual workshop series to help you feel more grounded in your organization's financial picture.

Thanks to support from The William Penn Foundation, there's no cost to participate, and optional 1:1 office hours with NFF consultants are also available. The series kicks off May 20th - register for the first session at the link below.

Photo courtesy of the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

https://nff-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/ayVVBX_3SDKX9djCj99dUQ #/registration

05/05/2026

The penultimate grantee spotlight from Graduate Music Fellow Jeremy Jefferson, as he stayed in Philly to catch a performance by presenter Fire Museum Presents.

"Fire Museum Presents (FMP) curates low-costs and free musical performances for all ages in Philadelphia, finding great artists to present that defy genre boundaries. This performance, they presented Arcx Quartet and Tatsuya Nakatani.

"Arcx Quartet focuses a lot of sound painting, rather than any traditionally formed melody. In other words, there are no melodies, but small motives. There are no defined chords, but tonal areas. This concept of making and writing music is fascinating because of how different it all is from the traditional classical music zeitgeist of what it means to listen to a string ensemble, which presents a clear melody and chords. Some of the sounds presented felt very transformative; when I listen to this type of music, I like to focus on how unique the sounds can get. There was one moment where the basses played these low notes with the cello and it made the moment feel less about the notes itself, but the body of the sound instead.

"Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist, composer, and artist of sound who has been active internationally since the 1990s. His music is focused on the sound of the bowed gong. Bowing a gong creates this ethereal sound that one can recognize in some contexts. Typically, bowed gong, cymbals, timpani, and percussion of that nature is heard in movies to build suspense and create an unnerving feeling; for example, think of the 1989 Batman movie or The Matrix. In contrast, Nakatani’s performance felt very calming and soothing at times. There was one distinct section where he used bows that he carved himself named the Kobo Bow. It creates such a unique sound that one cannot hear from just a regular bowed gong.

"FMP focuses a great deal on finding artists that push the genre of music into another realm of experience. This presentation shows that they pick artists that really demonstrate what contemporary music can do, and at an accessible price for all to experience."

05/04/2026

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Presser Foundation is pleased to announce Capital Support grants totaling $976,500 to 24 music organizations in the Greater Philadelphia area, with $611,500 to be distributed this fiscal year.

These grants support the infrastructure that makes musical life possible - from recording studios giving youth opportunities to produce their own music, to mobile music labs bringing programming to Title I schools, to roof replacements protecting irreplaceable performance spaces. Organizations are building outdoor community venues, expanding rehearsal spaces, updating sound systems, consolidating digital archives, and adopting software tools that help small staffs operate more sustainably.

"The infrastructure of musical life is what makes everything else possible," reflected Chris Rinaldi, Chair of the Capital Support Committee. "The roof that keeps the concert hall dry, the recording studio that gives a student their first professional experience, the software that keeps a two-person staff running - these investments are the foundation on which great music gets made, and on which access to music depends."

Our grantees are stewards of the spaces where residents enjoy, perform, and learn music. Each grant represents their vision to expand, modernize, and renew those spaces.

Learn more:

The Presser Foundation gives $976,500 for varying capital projects through its Capital Support grantmaking area.

04/30/2026

Happy , which marks the conclusion of !

To celebrate, read about Graduate Music Fellow Jeremy Jefferson's recent foray into jazz - the Dylan Band Quartet, presented by Jazz Bridge at Chris' Jazz Cafe.

"There’s something so meditative about jazz. It has to do with the collection of minds that come together to improv over different songs and chords, which requires thoughtfulness and creativity. This idea was fortified at Chris’ Jazz Cafe, where Foundation grantee Jazz Bridge presented the Dylan Band Quartet.

"Jazz Bridge seeks to assist Jazz and Blues musicians living in the Greater Philadelphia Metro area who face financial, health, housing, and similar crises. They also support by providing paid performance opportunities to jazz artists. In other words, it aims to help artists keep doing what they want to do: perform music.

"The two sets featured works by Dylan Band, which each had a story behind them. Those stories helped build this sense of commonality with feelings of everyday life. Whether it be general woes of an undergraduate student, or arguments between friends, Band illustrates how these concepts can be integrated in the stories told by music.

"The opening hymn was very meditative. It featured the soprano saxophone, which Dylan Band plays well. The music felt spiritual in nature – I disappeared into the melody. The theme was simple but endlessly deep. It felt like staring at a sunrise despite the actual setting sun.

"My favorite piece was Untitled No. 6. Dylan Band spoke about how new the piece was (under a week old), and how he has been unable to think of a name that sticks for the work – although he did ask the audience to help him come up with one! I love the use of whole tone scales in this piece. They leave room for interpretation and allow for the soloist to pick wherever they want to go next. Sound wise, I would describe the result as hollow, open, and deep.

"Jazz Bridge’s presentation of the Dylan Band Quartet was refreshing and a great way to spend a Wednesday night. Jazz Bridge picked well, and the Dylan Band Quartet demonstrated a refreshing, new spin to jazz."

04/28/2026

Germantown was grooving this past weekend, with jazz performances organized by Germantown Jazz Festival capping off the final weekend of Philly Jazz Month.

On Saturday, Philadelphia-born bassist, composer, and educator Lee W. Smith (pictured) led a master class and joined Presser Trustee and internationally acclaimed trumpeter Terell Stafford for an evening concert at the Germantown Branch of Settlement Music School.

Over a career spanning four decades, Smith has performed with legends including Mongo Santamaria, Odean Pope, and Sonny Fortune… and he's also the proud father of bass great Christian McBride.

Philadelphia is rich with music: Generations of jazz, living legends, historic venues.

Philly Jazz Month isn't over yet: you can still catch a show this week. Learn more: https://www.phillyjazzmonth.com

04/24/2026

In March, 50 grantees and trustees joined us for a Next Movement Idea Forum to discuss what barriers keep students, audiences, and musicians from accessing music.

Drawing on research and 168 grantee surveys, we explored five primary barriers and heard grantees share solutions already in action - from Chamber Music Lehigh Valley bringing Curtis and Juilliard musicians to libraries, to Community Music School - Lehigh Valley & Berks launching sensory-friendly performances, to the Delaware Symphony Orchestra distributing complimentary tickets to social service organizations and college students.

One truth emerged: barrier removal is not free and never finished. Every effort requires resources and commitment organizations make again and again.

Read the full summary: https://presserfoundation.org/blog-post/next-movement-idea-forum-research-on-barriers-to-music-access/

04/22/2026

I Dare Look Up. Inside the sanctuary at The First Presbyterian Church In Germantown on Sunday, the program name was also an invitation.

Hosted by Germantown Oratorio Choir, the concert of American music moved through works by Florence Price, Adolphus Hailstork, Aaron Copland, and Romeo Cascarino -- a Philadelphian whose Prayer for Philadelphia, originally commissioned by grantee Singing City Choir, carried particular weight. The score was on loan from his wife, Dolores Cascarino, and the DiNardo family. Dolores was in the audience, and experiencing the performance with her was especially moving.

The afternoon opened with Kile Smith's arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, performed by Elena Kauffman on cello. In his program notes, Smith writes, “Of all the national anthems, 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is the only one that's a question" -- an invitation to hear the familiar lyrics anew.

One of many Philadelphia musical tributes timed to the country's 250th anniversary, the concert was a reminder of how much these works reward revisiting. Have you heard something familiar anew this season?