Launched in 2018 to pair top-tier mentors with exceptional women and members of other equity-seeking groups in the arts, Turn The Spotlight today announces three prizes, awarded to outstanding Fellows from the most recent cohort in recognition of the groundbreaking projects developed over the course of their 2020/21 fellowships.
The awards were granted by the Spotlight Team of two dozen arts professionals, including industry luminaries Julia Bullock, Jamie Barton, Aubrey Bergauer, Afa Dworkin, Kamala Sankaram, Monica Yunus, and Camille Zamora. Each Spotlight Fellow formed a partnership with a mentor from the Spotlight Team and conceived an 18-month project designed to strengthen their communities and pursue social justice through the arts.
“This cohort had barely begun when the pandemic hit,” said Spotlight Founder Beth Stewart, a classical music publicist based in Chicago. “With so much in flux, we expected that many of our fellows might opt to defer their Spotlight Projects. Instead, they persevered through extremely trying circumstances, creating tangible results that will positively impact our industry – and people around the world.”
The $5,000 Hedwig Holbrook Prize, named in honor of the late soprano Jennifer Holbrook, has been awarded to trans and nonbinary writer Aiden K. Feltkamp. Through their mentorship with pianist and coach Kathleen Kelly, Feltkamp conceived and curated the Anthology of New Music: Trans & Nonbinary Voices, Vol. 1, published by NewMusicShelf. It is the first vocal anthology to center transgender and nonbinary voices, offering 21st-century art songs, opera arias, and musical theater pieces created by and for trans and nonbinary artists. The anthology serves vocal teachers searching for new repertoire for their studios, presenters expanding the diversity of their programming, and singers of any gender seeking out new works. To ensure accessibility across vocal ranges, Feltkamp has offered anthology users the option to request transpositions of included works into any key. Photo by Aumna Iqbal
A $2,500 Spotlight Prize has been awarded to composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh, who created Another Birth, the first composition residency at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. Working with mentor Afa Dworkin, President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, Nourbakhsh sought to establish a pathway to nurture, document, and celebrate female composers in Afghanistan, who historically have not been recognized in their nation or abroad. Nourbakhsh mentored seven young female instrumentalists in Kabul to compose solo and chamber pieces for members of the Zohra Orchestra. When Kabul fell days before their long-planned premiere concert in August 2021, Nourbakhsh shifted her focus immediately, working tirelessly with activists across the globe to secure safe passage out of Afghanistan for all seven young women. The concert has now been compiled digitally and all premieres will soon be available to stream via the New Music USA website. Photo by Michael Yu
A $1,500 Spotlight Prize has been awarded to conductor Alexandra Enyart, who created Witness, an exploration of transgender identity intended to help reduce the staggering percentage of trans people who attempt suicide. Working with her mentor, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, Enyart realized early on that she would not be able to collaborate with an orchestra as she had envisioned pre-pandemic. She pivoted to a more intimate realization of her vision, composing and performing a collection of solo pieces that has now been premiered through the Taking Imperfect Action Concert Series, staged and performed with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble, and recorded for release on all major streaming platforms.
L-R: Chelsea Gallo, Briana Hunter, Jennifer Kronenberg, Morgan Middleton, brin solomon
The 20/21 Turn The Spotlight cohort also includes Chelsea Gallo, a Conducting Fellow with Dallas Opera's Hart Institute for Women Conductors; New York-based mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter, who recently made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Fire Shut Up in My Bones; Jennifer Kronenberg, a former principal ballerina who is now Artistic Director of Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami; Chicago-based arts entrepreneur Morgan Middleton, who just announced the launch of her creative production company, Morganacity; and composer brin solomon, who recently released the first phase of the Inclusive Siddur Project, using a third-gender Hebrew system. These fellows were mentored, respectively, by conductor Nicole Paiement, Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle in San Francisco; New York-based designer Jessica Jahn, winner of a 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design; Melissa Wegner, Executive Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera; Atlanta-based mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, winner of a 2021 International Opera Award; and composer Kamala Sankaram, whose vocal work Rise will be premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., this March.
“These arts activists are powerful ambassadors for their intersectional communities,” said Spotlight Team member Camille Zamora, Co-Founder of Sing for Hope. “They also beautifully represent the broader community of creative practitioners exploring the arts as drivers of social justice. Aiden, Niloufar, and Alexandra demonstrate the nimbleness required by our industry right now, finding new ways to honor the essence and integrity of their creative missions. They remind us that now is always the right time to create the change we wish to see in the world.”
At Turn The Spotlight, we believe systemic change is crucial. We also believe that one-on-one mentoring can have real impact in an industry where so many professionals are freelancers working outside an established institutional framework. Our mission is to identify, nurture, and empower leaders – and in turn, to illuminate the path to a more equitable future in the arts. We offer mentorship by and for exceptional women, people of color, and members of other equity-seeking groups, with a particular interest in supporting artists who are using their talents and skills to strengthen their communities and pursue social justice.
The Turn The Spotlight Team currently comprises filmmaker Kristin Atwell Ford, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, arts consultant Aubrey Bergauer, soprano Julia Bullock, journalist Clemency Burton-Hill, arts administrator Afa Dworkin, communications strategist Mary Lou Falcone, journalist Celeste Headlee, designer Jessica Jahn, pianist and coach Kathleen Kelly, arts administrator Alysia Lee, women’s rights advocate Amanda Mejia, soprano Heidi Melton, writer Anne Midgette, conductor Nicole Paiement, composer Kamala Sankaram, classical music publicist Beth Stewart, arts administrators Melissa Wegner and Avery Willis Hoffmann, soprano Corinne Winters, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, soprano and arts advocate Monica Yunus, director Francesca Zambello, and soprano and arts advocate Camille Zamora.
Turn The Spotlight welcomed members of the 20/21 cohort in New York City in January 2020.