The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has been awarded a grant from Bayer Fund, which will be used to support the orchestra’s IN UNISON programs, including the IN UNISON Church Program, IN UNISON Chorus, and IN UNISON Academy. The grant is in the amount of $160,000.
“We are deeply grateful for Bayer Fund’s visionary and longtime support of IN UNISON programs, which enable the SLSO to connect meaningfully with our community and engage the entire St. Louis region in deepening its appreciation for the performance and preservation of music with African and African-American origins,” said Marie-Hélène Bernard, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra President and CEO The SLSO pioneered this unique program in the country in service to our community thanks to the generous support of Bayer Fund”.
Bayer Fund has supported the SLSO’s IN UNISON activities since the program’s inception in 1992. Over the past 28 years, Bayer Fund has given a total of more than $8 million to support the SLSO and to create and sustain its IN UNISON programs.
The SLSO’s IN UNISON program began in fall 1992 with the support of Bayer Fund and in partnership with the St. Louis Clergy Coalition to broaden connections between the SLSO and the greater St. Louis community through partner churches. What began as a pilot program with five African-American partner churches has grown to 33 partner churches today; launched a groundbreaking chorus dedicated to the performance and preservation of music from African and African-American cultures; and has provided coaching, mentorship, and college assistance to more than 200 youth and young adults. Today, the SLSO’s IN UNISON program serves 15 counties in the bi-state region and impacts more than 11,000 people each year.
League of American Orchestras awards Symphony $19K for equity, diversity and inclusion
The League of American Orchestras has awarded a nearly $19,000 grant to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to strengthen its understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and to help transform organizational culture. Given to 28 orchestras nationwide, the one-year grant comprises the second round of The Catalyst Fund, the League’s three-year, $2.1 million grant-making program, made possible by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.
“Recent events have underscored the deep racial disparities existing in our country, already amplified by the pandemic’s unequal impact on communities of color,” said Jesse Rosen, President and CEO of the League of American Orchestras. “The work orchestras are undertaking with support from the League’s Catalyst Fund highlights the urgency of addressing EDI as orchestras attempt to confront decades of inequity within our field. We must understand and address our personal and organizational roles in systems of inequity.”
The grant will support the SLSO’s ongoing EDI work, including anti-bias and anti-racism training done in collaboration with Rebeccah Bennett and Dr. Kira Banks of Emerging Wisdom, LLC, and Crossroad Antiracism Organizing & Training. In 2015, SLSO President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard led work to create a roadmap for the SLSO to become more invested in EDI work. EDI was included as a key component in the SLSO’s 2016-2021 strategic plan that has since seen the creation of an EDI taskforce and listening sessions.
Catalyst Fund grants support orchestras’ use of EDI practitioners who help implement a range of organizational development activities involving musicians, staff, board, and, in some cases, volunteers and community leaders. These include anti-bias trainings, institutional audits, the creation of formal EDI plans, and work to build consensus and integrate EDI into mission statements and culture. Community building is a key component of the program; The Catalyst Fund Learning Cohort, made possible by the generous support of the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, enables past and present grantees to interact with colleagues through remote and (post-pandemic) in-person convenings as well as dedicated online forum.
