Grantees were awarded at the FAB Grants Awards Presentation on May 2, 2019

South Florida Chamber Ensemble

Changing Our World (More)
$4,000

We are requesting funding for three concerts in our 2019-2020 season taking place February 2020-May 2020. “Prison Reform” is a partnership with the Innocence Project of Florida. This program features music by composers who were imprisoned as well as music about wrongful imprisonment. “Disability Rights” is a partnership with Arts4All Florida, an organization dedicated to providing arts education and arts integration programs to people with disabilities, taking place on World Poetry Day, March 21, 2020. Broward County School students with disabilities in grades k-12 will submit poems to us and with the help of Arts4All Florida we will select up to ten poems to be read by their authors and set to music by the South Florida Chamber Ensemble. The rest of the concert will include music by composers with disabilities. “The Pied Pipers of Clean Water” is a partnership with Water Aid USA and focuses on clean water and sanitation across the globe as well as on Water Aid’s Female Plumbers Program. The program includes The Moldau from Smetana’s Ma Vlast followed by music by female composers including: By the Still Waters by Amy Beach, Troubled Water by Margaret Bonds, Water Sprites by Cecile Chaminade and Rebecca Clarke’s To an Isle in the water. In addition, we are commissioning a new work by living American female composer Bethany Trainor to be paired with a new film from Water Aid about the Female Plumber’s Project.

Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir

All Sounds Colorful!
$5,000

The ‘ALL SOUNDS COLORFUL!’ Project is the Florida Singing Sons culminating outlet of artistic and professional achievement for the year that will introduce the culturally underserved children and adults in the Miramar / South Broward region to a varied musical program of selections drawn from the ancient Boychoir tradition, popular movie themes, and pop music. The program is a metaphor reflective of the diversity of the audience, and the choristers themselves. This kaleidoscopic extravaganza will be a vibrant visual experience of musical styles exploring our world through color, thus ensuring a broad appeal. In addition to songs focusing on colors, the program will celebrate the role color plays in life, as well as the role of the artist “capturing life and love with color”.

Brazilian Voices Inc.

Brazilian Jazz Ensemble at Tour de Broward
$5,000

The Tour De Broward Concert project is a cornerstone element of Brazilian Voices’ ongoing Arts & Healing Program at Miramar Memorial and Joe DiMaggio to complement our small-group musical interventions at bedside. “Brazilian Ensemble at Tour de Broward” will be a lively, inspirational one-hour concert performed by 15-20 multinational female singers accompanied by live music played by noted international musicians. There will also be an “Audience Engagement” segment in the concert, during which our two Musical Directors will teach everyone present a few simple Portuguese lyrics and Brazilian rhythms, easy and accessible for all ages and abilities.

Chopin Foundation of the United States, Inc.

Chopin for All Free Concerts
$5,000 

For its 2020 Chopin for All Free Concert Series, the Chopin Foundation of the U.S. will present the new winners of the 10th National Chopin Piano Competition. The Chopin for All concerts have been held annually in Broward County since 1998 and are presented in collaboration with the Broward County Main Library. Held at the Library’s lovely 300 seat auditorium, the concerts are free and open to everyone. True to the organization’s mission, the concerts typically feature young American pianists who are on the verge of becoming professional concert artists capable of achieving international careers. These concerts are very popular with the Broward community, especially families, seniors and individuals who might not otherwise be able to afford the ever rising cost of a comparable program at one of the area’s concert halls.

Patrons of Exceptional Artists

2020 Miami International Piano Festival
$5,500

The 2020 Miami International Piano Festival and Academy will be presented in partnership with Nova Southeastern University for the sixth consecutive year and for the second year will include the addition of a string program attracting violinists and violists from all over the world. The Academy is the offspring of the Miami International Piano Festival which has taken place annually since 1997, and it expands upon the Festival’s mission to discover and present the next generation of great pianists. The concerts are marketed to the general public who may purchase tickets for $35.00.

South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble

2020 Guest Musician Series
$6,000

The nationally recognized artists of the 2020 Guest Artist Series have been specifically curated for their high standards of musicianship, pedagogical experience, and their love of community music programs. Maestra Sebrina María Alfonso will expose the SFPWE to new ideas of phrasing, articulation, balance, and dynamics to our community musicians, most of whom have never performed with an orchestra. This challenge to improve will be increased exponentially as internationally renowned concert pianist Dr. Ross Salvosa will perform the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor accompanied by the SFPWE under Maestra Alfonso’s baton. Michael Markowski, though young, has already published more works than many composers will in a lifetime. This award-winning composer of music orchestra, wind ensemble, stage and screen will expose 90 South Florida high school musicians to modern literature, challenging them with new concepts of meter, rhythm, melody and harmonics. Brian Worsdale, one of New York’s most respected conductors and educators brings his experience to challenge the musicians.

 

Master Chorale of South Florida, Inc.

Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”
$7,500

Master Chorale of South FL will present four self-produced concert series, as well as collaborative performances with Andrea Bocelli and Lynn University Philharmonia, for its 2019-20 Season. The proposed project for FAB funding will be the grand finale of the season – Felix Mendelssohn’s monumental oratorio, Elijah. “Elijah” depicts significant events in the life of the Biblical prophet through several different scenes that are set in dramatic, romantic fashion typical of large-scale works from the 19th Century. Among these scenes are the resurrection of a young boy who falls ill, a contest of Gods between Elijah and the followers of Baal, and the the gift of rain to a drought-ridden Israel. Scored for eight vocal soloists, full symphony orchestra, and a massive chorus, Elijah reaches its crescendo during the final scene, in which the favored son and prophet of God ascends to heaven on a fiery chariot.

Old Dillard Foundation

2019 Destination Sistrunk / Cannonball Celebrations
$8,000

Destination Sistrunk is the collaboration of several entities to transform the historic Sistrunk Corridor into an Arts District and Heritage Trail. Lead partners are the Cultural Division, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB), Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale (HACFL) and Old Dillard Foundation (ODF) and others. This proposal is for concerts, exhibitions, and performing arts programs that will be presented by ODF in locations in the Destination Sistrunk corridor. We will work with multi-discipline artists and scholars to create entertaining and inspiring presentations of African American, Caribbean, and African Culture.

All Florida Youth Orchestra, Inc.

Family Spotlight Concert 2020 – Made in America
$9,000

The Florida Youth Orchestra will present its annual Family Spotlight Concert themed “Made in America”, at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts.It’s time to celebrate the music that was MADE IN AMERICA, with a tribute to our too-often-ignored national composers! Dr. Claudio Jaffé, Brian Mirsky, Stephanie Firdman, and Dr. Laura Joella, will lead 145 young musicians in FYO’s Symphony and Repertory String Orchestra’s and soloists on a unique and transformative approach to classical music through a performance of selections composed by American born classical composers.

Gold Coast Jazz Society, Inc.

2020 Jazz Project
$10,000

In our 28th year of jazz presentation, the Gold Coast Jazz Society will provide the 2020 Jazz Project which includes five jazz performances including (4) four exciting mainstage jazz concerts featuring internationally and nationally renowned jazz artists and one free jazz outreach performance. Artists for this project will include the Grammy nominated jazz pianist/arranger/producer and Dean of the UM Frost School of Music, Shelly Berg with his Trio & a Special Guest artist on January 8, 2020, the renowned guitarist and vocalist, John Pizzarelli with his Trio on February 12, 2020, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter, Terell Stafford with his Quintet on March 11, 2020, and the ever popular jazz vocalist and pianist, Tony DeSare on April 8, 2020.

 

Florida Grand Opera, Inc.

Rigoletto and SongFest Broward
$12,000

Verdi’s Rigoletto will be performed at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The timeless story of betrayal, dashed dreams and mistaken identity is worthy of the best cinematic thriller. A beloved favorite the world over, the opera follows the conquests of the rakish Duke, who survives revenge plots and schemes along the way. Gilda, whom he has betrayed and abandoned, saves him in the final scene of the opera. Desperate to save him, she sacrifices her life, leaving her own father broken and alone. The glamorous melodies, including “La donna è mobile”, a favorite of every star tenor, the sweeping story and the intense emotions, are sure to delight opera aficionados and newcomers alike.

Symphony of the Americas, Inc.

Musical Evolution
$13,000

“Beethoven to Bluegrass” March 10, 2020. This unique presentation of what seems two vastly different styles of music, will be presented in one concert, following the “evolution” of the style/structure of music of Beethoven, to the style/structure of music that one would not think could be a match or “partner” with the easily enjoyed style and magnificence of Beethoven – that of Bluegrass!
The Lubben Brothers, guest artists, are triplet-brothers, all classically trained at a young age – equally as comfortable on stage with the classical masters as they are in their modern song-writing style, incorporating folk roots and complex ideas using a unique blend of folk instruments. “Sound Evolution ~ Four Pianos, Four Concertos” April 7, 2020
The very essence of this “Evolution of Sound” project is featured in a first-time event at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts: multiple pianos featured and “growing” on stage, with four featured soloists and the full Symphony of the Americas. Listeners experience first-hand the balance and growth of sound, through integration with the orchestra, and how it affects the performance impact. Guest artists for this event feature the Salani Piano Duo of Italy, joined by Russian American pianist Irena Kaufman (currently Chair in residence at FAU), and one additional pianist.

 

Seraphic Fire, Inc.

Broward County Programs January – May, 2020
$13,000

GRAMMY® nominated professional vocal ensemble, Seraphic Fire, will present:

1- Gems from Imperial Russia: The billowing angelic sounds of the Russian choral tradition come to life under the baton of acclaimed Russian conductor Elena Sharkova.

2- The Enlightenment Festival: A celebration of the music of some of this world’s greatest minds, Seraphic Fire’s Enlightenment Festival focuses in on the music that Handel, Haydn, and Bach wrote for public performance.

3- Northern Lights: Music of Scandinavia: The chill of ice and the radiance of the northern lights are palpable in this concert of choral music from Scandinavia conducted by San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Ragnar Bolin.

4- Messiah, by George Frederic Handel: For the first time since 2004, Seraphic Fire and Patrick Dupré Quigley perform the complete Messiah. 5- Brothers, Sing On! : Seraphic Fire performs Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria” and explores the tradition of music for men’s choirs that inspired this singular work.

 

Broward Performing Arts Foundation

Black Violin
$14,000

The Broward Performing Arts Foundation presents Black Violin in two dynamic performances, on Friday, February 21, 2020. Black Violin combines music styles and influences that include jazz, hip-hop, funk and classical. Black Violin is composed of two classically-trained violinists, Kev Marcus and Wil B, who first met playing violin in the Dillard High School Orchestra in Broward County. They have since become a highly acclaimed touring duo, performing an average of 200 shows a year in 49 states and 36 countries and helping to keep classical music in the forefront for the younger generation. The Broward Performing Arts Foundation is excited to once again present these hometown heroes on the stage of the Au-Rene Theater. In addition to an evening performance open to the general public, Black Violin will also take the stage for a matinee performance offered at no charge for more than 2,500 Broward County K-12 public school students.

Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida, Inc.

Ballet Dr. Ouch!
$6,000

On March 15, 2020, the company will perform the beautiful ballet Dr. Ouch! With music of Nicolai Morozov and based on the poems by Kornei Chukovsky and Choreography by Vladimir Issaev across at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. This enchanting production is a Ballet in two acts based on children poems about a doctor that cures animals and goes to Africa to save the ill monkeys. If there are hospitals for people, then why shouldn’t there be hospitals for animals? And in every hospital there must be a doctor. Who will prescribe eyeglasses for an owl or sew a new wing on a Flamingo? The good old Doctor Ouch, of course!

Miami City Ballet, Inc.

I’m Old Fashioned by Choreographer Jerome Robbins
$12,500

With a nod to South Florida’s history of illustrious, old-world glamour, Miami City Ballet’s 34th Season will premiere I’m Old Fashioned by renowned choreographer, Jerome Robbins. In a carefully constructed tribute to Fred Astaire, one of the most influential dancers in history, Robbins utilizes scenes from the classic 1942 film, You Were Never Lovelier, to classicize the elegant partnership between Astaire and Rita Hayworth. Originally choreographed in 1983, the premiere of this work during the upcoming 2019/20 season will mark the first time the work is performed outside of New York City Ballet. Accompanied by a refreshed classical score by Broadway composer, Morton Gould, Robbins’ I’m Old Fashioned opens by paying homage to You Were Never Lovelier, showcasing video of the original duet as it was meant to be seen—on the big screen. Drawing upon themes of the original choreography, Robbins “…invite[s] us into a formal analysis of the I’m Old Fashioned duet…

City Theatre, Inc.

2020 She Shorts
$5,000

SHE SHORTS will present work by local and national playwrights of varied self-identifications whose plays will offer a range of female identifying stories and storytelling. It builds on the success of Shorts Gone Wild, a groundbreaking, award-winning program of short plays relevant to the LGBT community that City Theatre successfully produced for six years in Broward County in collaboration with Island City Stage. SHE SHORTS provides an opportunity for a strong shift artistically with a new partnership with Thinking Cap Theatre. The production will highlight a diversity of playwrights with a program that will include up to eight plays. The production will be directed by City Theatre Artistic Director Margaret M. Ledford and Thinking Cap Theatre Artistic Director Nicole Stoddard.

Island City Stage

“Suddenly, Last Summer” by Tennessee Williams
$7,500

In this adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play, young socialite Catherine Holly is traumatized and committed after witnessing her cousin’s violent death on a trip to Europe. Her aunt, Violet Venable, wants to hide the events of her son’s death and attempts to bribe young surgeon Dr. John Cukrowicz to perform a lobotomy on Catherine. But John vows to find out the truth about Catherine’s state before taking any action.

New City Players Inc.

Water by the Spoonful
$8,000

Addiction doesn’t discriminate. Sobriety is harrowing, but possible. Forgiveness can happen. These ideas best sum up Quiara Alegria Hudes’ 2012 Pulitzer prize for drama winner, Water by the Spoonful. Water by the Spoonful is a dramatic work that looks at addiction head on and is honest about the relational, familial, and psychological hardship that comes with drug addiction. Simultaneously, it is a work that deeply honors and elevates the human spirit and the power of forgiveness, love, and community. In June of 2020, New City Players will host twelve performances over a period of three weeks.

Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre Inc.

Spring 2020 Teen Repertory and Family Series Productions
$8,000

FLCT will produce two full-scale theatrical productions including one show featuring our Teen Repertory Company (grades 7-12) and one Family Series production featuring performers in grades 2-12. Titles will be announced on or about May 30, 2019 at FLCT’s annual Theatrefest celebration or similar announcement event. The FAB! funded productions in 2019 are Legally Blonde (Teen Rep) and Disney’s Tarzan (Family Series). Past FAB! funded titles include Ragtime, Honk, Side Show, James and The Giant Peach and many others.

Fantasy Theatre Factory, Inc.

Lorali, Get Happy, and Comedy With a Twist of Lemon
$10,000

Fantasy Theatre Factory proposes the following three (3) unique theatre programs:

Program 1: Broward County Premiere of Lorali.
Time to save the kingdom! In Lorali, a brand new play by Todd Kessler, groundbreaking creator of the hit Nickelodeon show Blues Clues, children in the audience play an important part of the story.

Program 2: Get HAPPY at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
Fantasy Theatre’s Healing Arts Program for Youth (HAPPY) will serve hospitalized children, families and staff at Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital. FTF’s innovative program featuring door to door, floor to floor character interactions with patients, parents and visitors, will lighten the serious side of hospitalization, give creative support, add laughter to elevate the spirit, and provide moments of healing through art.

Program 3: Comedy With a Twist of Lemon.
Barnabus B. Lemon and his talented Lemon Family bring a special twist of fun, laughter and comedy to this vaudeville-style performance. Each show contains magical feats of wonder and amazement. Juggling, puppetry, magic, and comic routines are highlighted by colorful sets, props and costumes.

Slow Burn Theatre Company

“Footloose: The Musical”
$14,500

Join the cast of Slow Burn Theatre (Slow Burn) as they perform a live version of the 80s classic, Footloose: The Musical, for twelve performances during the OFF SEASON period between June 5 through ­ 21, 2020!
Footloose: The Musical tells the story of city boy Ren, who has to move to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks out as Ren breaks loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet. Featuring classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and the unforgettable title track, Footloose: The Musical will take Broward County by storm once again, bursting with youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music. Slow Burn’s production will live up to your expectations, delivering the toe­-tapping, shoulder­-wiggling, screw-­it-­all­lets-­get-­up-­and-­dance-­in-­the-­aisles performance people have come for.

Stonewall Library & Archives

Voices of the LGBTQ Community
$6,000

November 15, 2019 – February 16, 2020: First Comes Love 2: Transcending Love
Photographer Barbara Proud began the First Comes Love Project, to open hearts and minds about accepting LGBT relationships. This new series, “Transcending Love”, Proud photographs transgender couples across the country to show trans and non-binary couples come from every state, economic strata, ethnicity, city, town and maybe every family.

February 21, 2020 – May 24, 2020: South Florida Pride: LGBTQ History in the Sunshine State:South Florida has a long history in the LGBTQ rights movement, and many events that happened here in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties gained national attention and affected the greater evolution toward equality and human rights.

May 29, 2020 – August 23, 2020: VOICES: The Contributions of LGBTQ People of Color through American History : Thirty-nine percent of LGBTQ adults identify as people of color. This is more diverse than the overall U.S. adult population yet the contributions of African-American and Latin people are often overlooked or not chronicled in our history.

August 28, 2020 – November 15, 2020: What We Wear: LGBTQ Expressions through Fashion: Throughout the twentieth century, clothing has been used by LGBTQ people as a means of self-identity and of signaling one another. This show examines everything from gender dress, drag, leather, color-signals, and the effect on the global fashion industry.

Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Inc.

OUTshine Film Festival – 12th Annual Fort Lauderdale Edition
$7,500

The OUTshine Film Festival – 12th Annual Fort Lauderdale Edition will continue the tradition of LGBT-oriented film festivals which was begun by our organization in April 1999 with a Miami festival. The program will offer 35 screenings encompassing roughly 54 high-quality features, documentaries, and shorts compilations, culled from an estimated 300 submissions to be received. Our titles are drawn from major domestic and international independent producers and distributors, such as Samuel Goldwyn Films, IFC Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Strand Releasing, Wolfe Releasing, Regent Releasing, The Film Collaborative, and many more, as well as emerging local, national and international talent. The films emanate from countries around the world such as France, Germany, the U.K., Canada, Portugal, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Israel, Poland, Taiwan, South Korea, and, of course, the United States.

Hollywood Art and Culture Center, Inc.

Drawing on Likeness
$13,000

“Drawing on Likeness” is a site-specific gallery exhibition curated by Saul Ostrow of new and recent works by transnational U.S.-based artists Ivelisse Jimenez, Gustavo Prado, and Lidija Slavkovic. It is the first such group show by the three artists, each of whom has worked extensively with Ostrow, a New York-based critic and curator. The Center’s Curator of Exhibitions, Laura Marsh, will partner with Ostrow in the curatorial process. Artworks will reflect an array of media, including installation, painting, drawing, video, photography, and sculpture, all unified by the common theme of abstraction and cross-cultural fragmentation. Ostrow will document the project with a 32-page digital catalog.

Young At Art of Broward, Inc.

Wonder Walls
$13,000

Young At Art Museum (YAA) will curate an original exhibition entitled WONDER WALLS, featuring the work of Broward and New York-based contemporary mural artists Peter Symons and Kiik Create. By fusing mural art with the technology of DMX color changing lights, WONDER WALLS plays with perspective, tricking the viewer into thinking they are seeing a static painting in motion. WONDER WALLS will create a magical environment where color and patterns collide. Visitors will be able to modulate the lights and stand in different positions around the murals to see them “move.” They will hear and learn from the artists themselves through a Summer Guest Artist Series featuring Symons, Madera and Edgerton. In Art Stations throughout the gallery, visitors will create their own mini moving murals both independently and collaboratively, using materials attached to the walls with Velcro. They will create flip books whose images “move” as the pages are turned. They will experiment with mixing colors and understand how the psychology of color manipulates our emotions as art does the same.