Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music
- Abstract:
- The Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music Records contain applications, including scores and audio/video recordings, submitted by individuals and organizations for grants from the Trust.
- Extent:
- 94 boxes
- Language:
- Collection material in English.
Background
- Scope and Content:
The Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music Records consist predominantly of the applications submitted by individuals and organizations. There is also some correspondence between the trust and applicants.
Funding Category I applications include the following:
- Short Biography
- Two letters of recommendation, to be sent separately by referees [Not available to the public]
- Detailed proposal of study, including a budget
- Academic transcripts if applying for tuition assistance at educational institutions [Removed]
- Acceptance letter from proposed instructor if applying for private study
- Recording, not to exceed 20 minutes in length, of representative 20th century solo repertoire from performers, or of representative compositions from composers.
Supporting materials were returned upon request when self-addressed stamped envelopes were included. Correspondence between applicant and trust may also be included, including follow up materials.
Funding Category II applications include the following:
- Short Biography
- Two letters of recommendation, to be sent separately by referees [Not available to the public]
- Detailed proposal, including a budget
- Recording, not to exceed 20 minutes in length, of representative 20th century solo repertoire from performers, or of representative compositions from composers. (scores were not sent unless requested)
Supporting materials were returned upon request when self-addressed stamped envelopes were included. Correspondence between applicant and trust may also be included, including follow up materials. Some include samples of press materials.
Funding Category III applications include the following:
- History of the organization, including documentation of at least three years of existence as a not-for-profit organization [501©)(3)] or foreign equivalent [tax documentation removed]
- Detailed proposal including budget
- Representative printed programs, brochures and/or schedules. Organizations did not send recordings unless asked to do so
- Recording, not to exceed 20 minutes in length, of representative 20th century repertoire- ensembles only [Added in 1996 guidelines]
Correspondence between applicant and trust may also be included, including follow up materials. Some include samples of press materials.
Beginning in 2008, the records consist of the applications submitted by pianists and composers for the Pianist/Composer Commissioning Project.
The pianist applications include the following:
- A one-page biography
- A list of solo piano pieces and concertos in the pianist's repertoire composed since 1950
- A demonstration CD with performances by the pianist of a total of three pieces chosen from the repertoire list
- Copies of three programs of past solo piano recitals
- A CD or DVD documenting one of the above recital programs
- A proposal for the premiere of the commissioned piece, including a letter of agreement with the presenting organization for a concert to take place between January 1 and September 1 of the following year
Correspondence between applicant and trust may also be included, including follow up materials. Some include samples of press materials.
The composer applications include the following:
- A one-page biography
- A representative list of works and performances
- A signed letter of commitment to the project, stating his/her agreement to compose the piece in the time frame outlined and to attend the premiere
- A CD of three recent compositions
- A score of a solo piano work, if included on the recording
Correspondence between applicant and trust may also be included, including follow up materials. Some include samples of press materials.
Note that starting in 2013 all applications and accompanying materials were received in electronic form. These files are currently stored with other Trust files on the local Y drive as well as in the local instance of Box.
- Biographical / Historical:
- Historical Note
The Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music was created in 1994 by the estate of the late American pianist Yvar Mikhashoff to support composers and performers of new music. The first year that the trust accepted applications was 1996. (The year reflects the year the applications were received, not the year that the award was given.)
Between 1996 and 2005, the competition guidelines were as such:
Funding Category I: Tuition Assistance for Student: Tuition assistance for students of composition or performance of New Music at appropriate educational institutes or with individual instructors in the United States or abroad.
Funding Category II: Fellowships, Grants and Awards: Fellowships, grants and awards for young professionals who will not have achieved their 30th birthday by the application deadline of December 1. Projects for career-advancing research or documentation (e.g. seminar/ workshop study, travel or recording) will be considered.
Funding Category III: Grants: Grants to music ensembles, presenting organizations, music festivals and recording companies which are devoted primarily to public presentations and/ or recording of New Music anywhere in the world.
There are no records for 2006 or 2007. The trust did not solicit applications in 2006. In 2007, the trust began using the year to reflect what year the awards were given as opposed to the year that the applications were received, therefore "skipping" 2007.
The trust modified the competition guidelines for the 2008 cycle. It became the Yvar Mikhashoff Pianist/Composer Commissioning Project. The goal of the competition is to encourage the composition and performance of new works for solo piano reflecting and continuing the legacy of the distinguished American pianist.
Biographical NoteYvar Mikhashoff was born Ronald MacKay in Troy near Albany, New York in 1941. He began piano studies with Betty Weir and Stanley Hummel in Albany. At the Eastman School of Music in 1959, he first took a major in composition and cello, then changed to piano studies with Armand Basile. In the 1961 academic year, he studied piano at the Juilliard School in New York City. He also had a career as a ballroom dancer from 1962-1965.
In 1964 Mikhashoff entered the University of Houston for studies in piano with Albert Hirsh. He earned a B.M. in 1967 and continued with graduate study in composition with Elmer Schoettle and obtained his M.M. in 1968. It was during this period that MacKay adopted his grandfather's name, Mikhashoff.
Receiving a Fulbright scholarship, he studied the music of the French Impressionists with Nadia Boulanger. After his return to the United States, Mikhashoff entered the University of Texas at Austin as a doctoral candidate in composition and studied with Hunter Johnson, Kent Kennan, Janet McGaughey and Karl Korte. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a major in composition and a minor in literature in August 1973 and founded the Cambiata Soloists ensemble. In the Fall of 1973 Mikhashoff was appointed Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Based in Buffalo until his death in 1993, Mikhashoff had an international performing career which led him to promote new music and American music around the world.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the estate of Yvar Mikhashoff, 1996.
- Arrangement:
A new series is created for every year, with subseries based on the application guidelines.
- I. Administration
- II. 1996
- III. 1997
- IV. 1998
- V. 1999
- VI. 2000
- VII. 2001
- VIII. 2002
- IX. 2003
- X. 2004
- XI. 2005
- XII. 2008
- XIII. 2009
- XIV. 2010
- XV. 2011
- XVI. 2012-2017
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard ).
Indexed Terms
Access
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
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716-645-2924