Kurt Weill Foundation Grants Program

• Completed application form
• Detailed project description
• Itemized budget

Who is eligible?

• Eligible applicants can include individuals, not-for-profit organizations, professional opera companies, theater companies, dance companies, orchestras, ensembles, other concert groups, colleges, universities, amateur performing arts organizations, authors, not-for-profit publishers, researchers, and doctoral candidates, depending on the category selected. Professional performance grants are intended for organizations presenting works by Weill or Blitzstein. College/university and amateur performance grants are for educational institutions and amateur performing arts groups presenting eligible stage or concert works. Research and travel support is for researchers working on relevant topics, including visits to the Weill-Lenya Research Center or other primary-source locations. Publication assistance is for authors and qualifying publishers, while the dissertation fellowship is for doctoral candidates whose dissertation work is tied to Weill, Lenya, or Blitzstein.

Who is not eligible

Applicants are not a good fit if the project has no meaningful connection to Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, or Marc Blitzstein, or if the proposal does not match one of the Foundation's grant categories. Retroactive projects or performances are not accepted. The Foundation also identifies several project types that may be ineligible or disfavored, including compilation properties or concerts made up only of individual Weill or Blitzstein songs, musical adaptations where the music is merely incidental or background, new translations or adaptations of dramatic works, indirect costs, administrative expenses, and institutional overhead. A commercial or for-profit applicant should review the relevant category carefully because many categories are built around not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, researchers, authors, or individual scholars rather than general business activity.

Eligible expenses

• Honoraria and travel expenses
• Preparation and printing of supporting materials
• General production expenses
• Musical expenses connected to performances
• Editing, indexing, design, and reproduction fees

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Retroactive funding of projects or performances
• Compilation properties or concerts consisting of individual Weill or Blitzstein songs
• Musical adaptations where music serves only in an incidental or background capacity
• New translations or adaptations of dramatic works
• Indirect costs, administrative expenses, and institutional overhead

Eligible geographic areas

• Worldwide

• Quality of the project and potential for excellence
• Relevance to the Foundation’s goals and current priorities
• Applicant’s prior record of achievement, commitment, and ability to carry out the project successfully
• Diversity of the personnel involved, on stage and off
• Potential reach and potential impact of the project

• Applications are reviewed by Foundation staff and then by an independent review or advisory panel.
• The panel makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees.
• Applicants may be asked for additional support materials or information.
• Applicants are notified of the Board’s decision approximately 6 to 8 weeks after the deadline.
• Funds are disbursed after project completion and after grant agreement stipulations are satisfied.

• Applications are reviewed by an independent advisory panel.
• Applicants are encouraged to contact Brady Sansone before submission.
• Notification is typically sent within 6 to 8 weeks after the application deadline.