Inspiring Change Makers
Leading Through Collaboration & Community
As a philanthropic music arts organization advancing systems change through creative youth development, The Lewis Prize for Music is excited to announce the 2021 awards. Over $2 million in funding will give young people access to music education, strengthen the well-being of their communities and put music at the center of efforts to establish equity.
Founded in 2018 by philanthropist Daniel R. Lewis, The Lewis Prize for Music believes that young people with access to high-quality music learning, performance and creation opportunities will mature into thriving individuals. Inequitable systems often fail to prioritize music learning in young people’s lives. As a result, too many young people are not supported to express themselves creatively. This stifles young people’s potential to become powerful citizens, who through musical pursuits learn to contribute positively to their communities. By supporting music leaders across the country to continue their great work, The Lewis Prize for Music seeks to inspire others to ensure every young person has the opportunity to access transformative music learning, performance and creation that benefits them and their communities.
“I am inspired by these leaders and organizations for all they do to put music at the center of young people’s personal development,” says Daniel R. Lewis, Founder and Chairman of The Lewis Prize for Music. “Our awardees and the entire Creative Youth Development field have expanded their efforts amidst the challenges of 2020 to meet the creative, material, and well being needs of young people and families. To recognize this unique impact and dedication, we have chosen to expand to four Accelerator Awards.”
“We are deeply grateful to the dozens of music, creative youth development and social change experts who reviewed applications and recommended awardees,” says Dalouge Smith, CEO of The Lewis Prize for Music. “In particular, we appreciate the ten young adults who contributed invaluable insights from their own journeys as maturing musicians and artists to the awards selection.”
Transparency is important in the work we do. Learn more about our process for insight on how we selected the awardees.
To learn more about our current opportunities, please be sure to visit our Current Opportunities Page. You can also follow us on our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, and sign up for updates via email.
Accelerator Awards
$500,000 Each
Accelerator Awards provide multi-year support to enable leaders and organizations to make sustained progress toward ambitious community change initiatives that align with The Lewis Prize for Music’s values and vision.
Celina Miranda and Hyde Square Task Force
Boston, Massachusetts
Hyde Square Task Force was formed in the 1980s by a coalition of neighbors and leaders coming together to address the growing violence and related challenges facing the Hyde/Jackson neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. Now known as Boston’s Latin Quarter, the neighborhood has transformed. Despite the progress, like other urban neighborhoods, many youth and their families have too little access to the educational and financial resources they need. This creates circumstances of disadvantage that include poverty, community violence and low-educational attainment.
Hyde Square Task Force counters these circumstances by artistically training young people in Afro-Latin dance, music and theatre traditions alongside civic engagement. This blending of creativity and activism enables these youth artists to explore and uplift issues affecting them, their peers, families and communities. Through these experiences, they develop leadership, creativity, and collaboration skills.
Celina Miranda and Hyde Square Task Force will use The Lewis Prize for Music to grow the signature Jóvenes en Acción/Youth in Action arts, education and youth organizing program.
The organization’s Executive Director is Celina Miranda (she/her/hers). Learn more at https://www.hydesquare.org
DeLashea Strawder and Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Founded by Rick Sperling in 1992 to address gaps in Metro Detroit arts education, Mosaic seeks to empower young people to create positive changes in their lives and communities by helping them develop patterns of cooperation, disciplined work habits and effective problem-solving skills through the creation of high-quality, professional-level performances of theatre and music. By highlighting the immense talent of young Detroiters, Mosaic helps to create positive peer role models and young people who can view a more positive future for themselves and for their community.
The Mosaic Singers program is a high intensity school-year ensemble experience that includes summer employment opportunities. Like all of Mosaic’s offerings, including its theatre ensembles, technical theatre training, school residencies, summer programs, and playwriting competition, Mosaic Singers blends creativity, youth leadership and performance to grow the talents and agency of young people.
DeLashea Strawder and Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit will use The Lewis Prize for Music to offer increased mentorship and training by professional artists as well as increased access and transportation support.
The organization’s Artistic and Executive Director is DeLashea Strawder (she/her/hers). Learn more at https://mosaicdetroit.org
Matthew Kerr, Christopher Thornton and Beyond the Bars
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Beyond The Bars was co-founded by Matthew Kerr and Christopher Thornton in 2015. It is a student driven music and career skills program that is dedicated to interrupting the cycles of violence and incarceration while helping students recognize their immense potential and bright futures through the power of music. Whether it is witnessing traumatic events, experiencing underfunded schools and a lack of readily apparent opportunities, being the victim of physical, emotional or sexual violence or having endured the incarceration system in any capacity, students in the Beyond the Bars program have overcome many different obstacles to be the compassionate people they are.
The organization currently offers six different programs throughout Philadelphia using two main models: their Student Driven Music Academy and Practical Producers Program. These programs are offered throughout North, West and Northeast Philadelphia and serve students with instrument lessons, performance opportunities, career planning, audio engineering lessons, songwriting instruction, and band based instruction amongst others.
Beyond the Bars will use The Lewis Prize for Music to expand its programs and strengthen its administrative capacity to manage and sustain this expansion.
The organization’s Co-Executive Directors are Matthew Kerr and Christopher Thornton (both he/him/his). Learn more at https://beyondthebarsmusic.com
Susan Colangelo and Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective
SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective is composed of professional artists and African American and BIPOC youth ages 16-24, working together to create social change with a focus on gun violence prevention. Stitchers collect stories, reframe and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy. Projects create a platform for community engagement through an artistic lens and with it the Saint Louis Story Stitchers work to shift perceptions and realities and bring hope to the Saint Louis community.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers and its partners provide young people with platforms for turning their creative efforts into personal strengths and community transformations. Whether performing at neighborhood festivals, participating in mural and creative placemaking initiatives or podcasting from its Stitchcast Studio, the young artists of Saint Louis Story Stitchers translate the complexities of what they experience into accessible and affirming narratives.
Susan Colangelo and Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective will use The Lewis Prize for Music to build toward the establishment of a youth music and technology center by growing its administrative and fundraising capacity.
The organization’s Executive Director is Susan Colangelo (she/her/hers). Learn more at https://storystitchers.org
Infusion Awards
$50,000 Each
Infusion Awards provide single year support to leaders and programs creating new musical platforms and pathways in their communities. All 2021 Infusion Awardees are receiving their first award from The Lewis Prize.
Dantes Rameau and Atlanta Music Project
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project (AMP) provides intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth right in their neighborhood. AMP believes the pursuit of musical excellence leads to the development of confidence, creativity and ambition, thus sparking positive social change in individuals and their communities. Operating from its Center for Education and Performance, newly opened in 2019 and located in the Capitol View neighborhood, AMP partners with city recreation centers and schools to offer vocal and instrumental programs to elementary through high school students.
In support of their belief that all children are musical, AMP does not hold entrance auditions or require students to have any musical experience. The only thing required for a student to be in AMP is a commitment to attending all classes. The Atlanta Music Project provides instruments, classes, world-class teaching artists, and numerous performance opportunities for all of its students. AMP classes include orchestra, choir, musicianship, ear training, music theory, African drum and dance, and group lessons in violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, voice, piano and guitar.
The organization’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer is Dantes Rameau (he/him/his). Learn more at https://www.atlantamusicproject.org.
Dave W. Christopher Sr. and Academy of Music Production Education and Development (AMPED)
Louisville, Kentucky
AMPED is a free music program founded in 2014 that uses music and technology as a catalyst to empower youth and their families to work as a team, learn how to express themselves effectively, and develop into healthy, productive members of the community and the world. Through the power of music, over 1,700 young people from ages 8-18 are supported annually by AMPED throughout the Kentuckiana area. The program offers classes in music production, instrumental studies, vocal performance, creative writing, music history, and videography at no costs to students.
From its two locations in West Louisville, AMPED reaches young people in schools, community centers and juvenile justice settings. Along with direct music instruction, AMPED’s “Level Up: Mentoring with Music” program merges the reading and analysis of novels with the self expression of music making. Recognizing that young people need stable households to thrive, AMPED provides technology training to parents and assists with job placements.
The organization’s Founder and Executive Director is Dave W. Christopher Sr. (he/him/his). Learn more at https://ampedlouisville.org
Terri Winston and Women’s Audio Mission
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) is a San Francisco/Oakland-based nonprofit organization launched in 2003 that uses music and media to amplify and celebrate the voices of systematically under-resourced women, girls, and gender expansive individuals and empowers them to become the innovators of tomorrow. WAM has created a revolutionary approach to changing the face of sound by providing training in music production and the recording arts to over 4,000 girls/women/gender expansive individuals every year in the only professional recording studios in the world built and run entirely by women and gender expansive individuals.
Girls on the Mic is WAM’s groundbreaking and award-winning after-school program that trains and mentors over 3,000 Northern California girls and gender-expansive youth aged 11-18 who face systemic barriers to music and creative development opportunities. WAM partners with over 50 Northern California schools and community organizations to provide free hands-on music production and performance experiences, in addition to critical work experience, career counseling, and job placement in the music and media industries.
The organization’s Founder and Executive Director is Terri Winston (she/her/hers). Learn more at: https://womensaudiomission.org
Catalyst Award
$25,000
Catalyst Awards provide single year support to leaders and programs with impressive impact and reach. The 2021 Catalyst Awardee is receiving its second award from The Lewis Prize after receiving an Infusion Award in 2020.
Michael Reyes, Elizabeth Stone and We Are Culture Creators
Detroit, Michigan
We are Culture Creators (WACC) and its members pride themselves for being more than music makers. WACC provides high quality arts/entrepreneurship education to young people of color in Detroit with an emphasis on professional development, strategic goal setting, aesthetics, and artistic integrity. This education is held in a space that reflects their community and their culture, and is built on a foundation of family, inclusion, safety, access and love.
Founders Michael Reyes and Elizabeth Stone started with a simple idea: provide a loving and encouraging space for up and coming youth creatives and fill that space with the professional equipment and the necessary training to allow those young people to actualize their abilities, talents, goals, and dreams. They furthered that idea by providing workshops, practical training and discussions in financial literacy, artist management, community organizing, entrepreneurship and business. WACC has established itself as a growing and expanding program, providing young people with opportunities in both the fields of business and community. Participants are the next generation of Detroit entertainers and entrepreneurs.
The organization’s Co-Founders and Co-Directors are Michael Reyes and Elizabeth Stone. Learn more at https://www.weareculturecreators.com/new-youth