Susan Feder Appointed Program Officer for the Performing Arts The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Susan Feder Appointed Program Officer for the Performing Arts The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

NEW YORK, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has appointed Susan Feder to the position of Program Officer for the Performing Arts, effective January 1, 2007. For the past 20 years, Ms. Feder has served as vice president of G. Schirmer, Inc., where she developed the careers of many leading composers in America, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Previously she was editorial coordinator of The New Grove Dictionary of American Music and program editor at the San Francisco Symphony. Ms. Feder is also vice president of the Amphion Foundation. Ms. Feder succeeds Catherine Maciariello, who served as Program Officer from 1996 to 2006.

A graduate of Princeton University, Ms. Feder serves on the University's Music Department Advisory Council and the Alumni Schools Committee. Ms. Feder also received an MA in the History and Literature of Music from the University of California, Berkeley.

Says Ms. Feder, "I am honored to be joining the Mellon Foundation, a visionary organization with the capacity to make transformative grants to performing arts organizations, libraries and museums, and institutions of higher education, areas of longstanding professional and personal interest to me. It is difficult to imagine another position that would have tempted me away from the stimulation of working with the composers at Schirmer and the international Music Sales Group and hearing their music created and sustained by the world's finest performers. With a great sense of anticipation, I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues, and with the field's leaders and innovators, to help ensure that the performing arts continue to thrive."

Ms. Feder has served on the boards of the American Music Center, Music Publishers Association, and Charles Ives Society, as well as the Symphonic and Concert Committee at ASCAP and the Strategic Planning Committee of the American Symphony Orchestra League. Her program notes, liner notes, and music criticism have appeared in a variety of publications, and she is a frequent speaker on issues related to music publishing. Her honors include ASCAP's Concert Music Award (2001), where she was described as "Publisher, Advisor, Friend, and Champion," an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for her program notes for the American Composers Orchestra, and the dedication of John Corigliano's Pulitzer-Prize winning Symphony No. 2.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a private philanthropic institution, with assets of approximately $5 billion, that makes grants on a selective basis to institutions of higher education, independent libraries, centers for advanced study, museums, art conservation, and performing arts organizations.

The Foundation's Performing Arts Program focuses on achieving long-term results by providing multi-year grants to leading organizations in the disciplines of music, theater, dance, and opera. These grants, which are awarded on the basis of artistic merit and leadership in the field, seek to strengthen institutional artistic and administrative capacity; encourage the development and performance of new work; identify and train new generations of arts leaders; reinforce the role of individual artists within institutions; and expand research, learning, and scholarship in the performing arts. Annual giving in the area of performing arts has averaged $20 million since 2000.

Two months after September 11, 2001, when New York City arts institutions were faced with a dramatic decrease in audiences, contributions and earned income, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation announced the creation of a special $50 million fund to assist museums, performing arts organizations, cultural institutions and individual artists directly affected by these events. Emergency support was given to a total of 47 museums and 50 performing arts organizations, including 3 regranting institutions that distributed funds to 306 organizations and 190 individual artists.

In 2004, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: jc@mellon.org

Source: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

CONTACT: Michele S. Warman of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
+1-212-838-8400

Web site: http://www.mellon.org/

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