Daniel W. Dietrich II Young Alumni Fund

Please write to [email protected] with questions. A Curtis staff member will respond in a timely manner.

This year there is $100,000 in total funding available. Grant amounts range from $1,000 to $10,000. The Young Alumni Fund review panel has the discretion to distribute the funding in different amounts depending on the submissions received.

Applicants may submit proposals for any project or need. The following are suggested areas of focus.

• Launching a new venture (for-profit or not-for-profit)
• Professional development (in an area inside or outside of music)
• Audience development—engaging audiences around classical music in an innovative way
• Marketing and promotional support to amplify an existing project or performance
• Community engagement in your local community
• Seeking management or professional representation
• Teaching an online course or seminar
• Commissioning or championing works by underrepresented composers (e.g., performing, recording)
• Audition or competition preparation (for an individual or ensemble)
• Advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in classical music
• Thought leadership or scholarship
• Funding towards the purchase of an instrument or equipment
• A project that combines music and technology

Planning for the Young Alumni Fund began with a workshop led by design thinking consultant Ramy Nassar at 1000 Days Out and co-facilitated by management consultant Kristan Cybriwsky (Flute ’90) and Shea Scruggs (Oboe ’04) in his capacity as Director of Institutional Research and Musician Experience/Chief of Enrollment Officer at Curtis. The workshop included twelve alumni from a broad range of class years. The objective was to understand the challenges and needs of young alumni while incorporating a diverse range of alumni perspectives into planning. Review workshop materials online:

Workshop slides
Group discussion notes
Workshop report

Due to a generous grant, Curtis will be able to distribute $50,000 this year and up to $100,000 annually in future years.

The panel will evaluate the proposals on the following basis.

• Overall strength of the proposal
• Expressed impact that the funding will have on the project’s success
• Perceived potential for the applicant to meet the milestones of the project

All alumni who graduated from Curtis in 2014 or later are eligible to apply. Applicants may reside anywhere in the world.

The following alumni are excluded from eligibility: (a) current part- or full-time employees of the Curtis Institute of Music, including current faculty, (b) any graduate of a Curtis program who is currently enrolled in another Curtis program, and (c) any alumni serving on the review panel.

Alumni can apply by visiting curtisinstitute.grantplatform.com which is Curtis’s page on a third-party website called Good Grants (formerly called Award Force). If you’ve used Good Grants or Award Force before and have an existing account, you will need to enter your login credentials. If this is your first time using Good Grants, you will need to create a new account. If you have any technical issues on Good Grants, such as questions related to password retrieval, confirming receipt of applications, or revising submitted applications, please contact [email protected].

Applicants will be asked to provide the following information.

1. Personal information to verify alumni status (name, name while at Curtis, date of birth)
2. Name of co-applicant(s), if applicable
3. Contact information and preferences (mailing address, e-mail, phone)
4. Optional demographic information for internal reporting
5. Country of citizenship
6. Statement (500 words or less) that answers the following questions:
   • What are the goals of your project or activity?
   • How will the grant help you realize your project or activity?
   • Why are you qualified to lead this project or activity?
7. Request for funding at the proposed levels of $10,000 (ten thousand US dollars), $5,000 (five thousand US dollars) or $1,000 (one thousand US dollars). The review panel has the discretion to distribute funding in different amounts depending on the submissions received. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
8. Details
   • Timeline: Please outline concisely the key milestones of your project or activity.
   • Impact (150 words or less): How might you measure or demonstrate the impact?
   • Key partners (150 words or less): If applicable, who will help you or collaborate with you?
   • Mentor (150 words or less): How might a mentor assist you in the success of this project or activity and who might that mentor be?
   • Budget: Please provide an expense budget and any other sources of funding for your project or activity. Download budget template.
9. Disclosure of relationships (if any) with any officers or trustees of the Curtis Institute of Music. Disclosure is required by the IRS and the presence of relationships does not disqualify applicants from receiving grants.

The review of applications will take place as follows.

• Determination of eligibility: A member of the Institutional Research department of Curtis will verify your alumni status and review that you have completed all of the steps in the application.
• Review of applications: All eligible proposals will be reviewed by a diverse panel of reviewers drawn primarily from the Curtis alumni community. The evaluation process is double-blind. The names of the review panel will not be made public during the evaluation process and the names of the applicants will not be disclosed to the review panel.

Curtis alumni who do not receive funding through Young Alumni Fund may reapply in the next grant cycle, as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

Yes. Please write to [email protected] to express interest and coordinate.

Yes. A digital application allows the review panel and supporting administration at Curtis to review applications in a timely manner.

Yes. We are aware that some individuals with worthy projects may not have regular internet or computer access. If you wish to submit an application on behalf of another person with their consent, you will need to create a Good Grants account for them and be sure to fill out the application with their information.

As an applicant, your data will be viewed by staff in the Institutional Research team of Curtis so that it can be anonymized and provided to the review panel. Individual applicant data (including name) will not be shared, duplicated, or distributed publicly. Additionally, aggregated applicant data will be collected, summarized, and shared in reports to funders and/or the public, without disclosing any personal information. No information provided in the personal statement in Good Grants will be co-mingled with or imported to Curtis Institute of Music databases.

Good Grants operates with industry-standard security certificates and features for data collection and storage. More information is available here.

Curtis will ask grantees for their permission to reveal the names of the grant recipients and their projects.

Yes. As per IRS guidelines, all grantees will be required to report back to Curtis on how the funds were used within sixty (60) days of receiving the funds. Curtis will provide instructions to all relevant recipients about how to submit the report to Curtis.

If the review panel chooses to award a grant, you will be asked through Good Grants to electronically sign a grant agreement and confirm details for the electronic transfer of the award funds to your bank account. Because grant funds are taxable, you will be asked through Good Grants to provide a signed W9, including a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) before the grant is distributed. Curtis may be required to withhold 30% of award amounts for non-U.S. citizens without a federal tax ID number. View Good Grants’ privacy policy here.