The Paterson Prize provides funding for arts organizations to celebrate the music of American composer Robert Paterson. This prize creates relationships and partnerships between individuals, ensembles, and arts organizations to collaborate and perform Paterson’s music worldwide. Winners receive funding that may be used toward performances, commissions, recordings, video, or even to help offset sheet music rental/purchase of Paterson’s music—proposals are welcome. Proof of concept is required, and the proposals must come to fruition within two years of winning the award.

About Robert Paterson

Image Credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker in all its diversity—born and raised in Buffalo, New York, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces everything from the environment to goddesses and online dating to mathematics. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson won the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poems, Dark Mountains and Triple Concerto, regularly air on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with the Nashville Opera, then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and across the United States. The Oratorio Society of New York, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Musica Sacra, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Austin Symphony and ensembles worldwide perform his music.

Paterson is a lifelong vegan and environmentalist, celebrating the natural world with seminal works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

Robert Paterson is a lifetime leader and champion of new music, having given back to the world of classical music with Mostly Modern Projects since its inception in 2005. Through MMP, thousands of works by composers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels have been performed. MMP’s mission is to celebrate living composers and to bring modern music to audiences worldwide. MMP includes international festivals, concerts, recordings, and outreach programs, with the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Mostly Modern The Netherlands.

Award Amounts

Awards range from $500 to $5,000, depending on the proposal's scope, project, and category. Half of the funding is awarded within six months before the project date(s), and the balance is granted within two months after the actual date(s).

Deadlines & Fees

Applications open August 1st

Early Deadline: January 15th
Application $65

Regular Deadline: February 1st
Application $75

Late Deadline: February 15th
Application $125

Awards are announced by May 1.

Categories

  • Opera

  • Orchestra

  • Ballet & Modern Dance

  • Choral

  • Chamber

  • Other: Art and galleries, outreach, combinations, and other proposals welcome

Eligibility 

  • Live Performance(s)

  • Professional Videos

  • Professional Audio

  • Commissions

Proposed Examples

  • To cover sheet music rental and/or to purchase Paterson’s existing catalog

  • To cover touring and multi-performance plans and cost outlays

  • To cover artist fees

  • Recording projects

  • To commission a brand-new work as a matching grant

  • Retreats/rehearsals towards performance or recording

  • Travel/meals/housing costs 

  • Videography

  • Documentary

  • Biographical book

  • Venue costs

  • PR/advertising

  • Other budget line items, ideas, and pitches welcome

    Final Report

    Awardees required to submit a final report within six weeks of the project’s completion date. Depending on the project, this may include a program PDF, video/audio links, images, and a general run-of-show report.