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

About Robert Paterson

Image Credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Short Bio

American composer, Robert Paterson embodies the diversity and breadth of New York State. Born in Buffalo, NY, he spent over a decade in Rochester and Ithaca, more than twenty years in New York City, 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, 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 cares for and champions new music, having given back to the world of classical music with Mostly Modern Projects since its inception in 2005. Through Mostly Modern, thousands of works by composers of all ages, all backgrounds, and all 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 scope, the proposed project, and the category. Half of the funding is awarded within six months before the actual date(s), and the balance is granted within two months after the actual date(s).

Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis

  • Application Fee $75.00

  • Awards are announced every September

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

Some 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 Sessions

  • 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.