Summary of Programs
Mission
Weill-Lenya Research Center
Kurt Weill Edition
Grant Program
Lotte Lenya Competition for Singers
Kurt Weill Prize
Kurt Weill Newsletter
Board of Trustees
Mission:
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc., is a not-for-profit, private foundation chartered to preserve and perpetuate the legacies of composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and actress-singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). Based in New York City, it administers the following programs:
The Weill-Lenya Research Center is the principal international repository for research materials related to Weill's and Lenya's lives and careers. As a combination library, manuscript repository, and media center, the Research Center acquires original documents and recordings as well as reproductions of materials held in public or private collections worldwide. Housed in the Foundation's offices, the collections of the WLRC document Weill's and Lenya's achievements during their lifetimes and their influence on the cultural history of the twentieth century. Holdings include music, libretti, letters, personal papers, non-commercial recordings (audio and video), performance history files, and other unique items. The WLRC has produced A Guide to the Weill-Lenya Research Center and collaborated on the third edition of Kurt Weill: A Guide to His Works, both of which are available for sale at the Foundation at nominal cost. The WLRC also has produced illustrated biographies of Weill and Lenya published by Overlook Press (German editions by Ullstein and Könemann, respectively).
The Kurt Weill Edition is in the process of publishing the composer's musical legacy in newly-engraved full scores that uphold the highest scholarly and critical standards while satisfying all the practical requirements of a performance edition. The project makes possible an essential step forward in the study and performance of Weill, since only two of the composer's dozens of stage compositions were previously available in full score and many have never before circulated in any form. The Edition will include works for stage and film, orchestral and chamber music, vocal music, songs and Lieder, and facsimiles (Weill's autograph full score of Die Dreigroschenoper has already appeared). Information on subscriptions can be found here.
Each year, the Foundation's Grant Program gives financial support to individuals and not-for-profit organizations for projects related to Weill or Lenya. Applications are accepted in the following categories: Research and Travel; Publication Assistance; Dissertation Fellowships; Professional and Regional Performance and Production; College and University Performance and Production; Recording Projects; and Broadcasts. Applications must be received by 1 November of the year before the project takes place; recipients are notified in January.
In 1998, on the occasion of Lenya's centenary, the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music established the annual Lotte Lenya Competition for Singers. The competition honors versatile young singer/actors who are musically and dramatically convincing in a wide range of theater music by Kurt Weill and other composers. Finalists from regional auditions compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to appear in a New York City recital.
The Foundation awards the biennial Kurt Weill Prize to recognize distinguished scholarship in twentieth-century music theater, including opera. The Prize Committee accepts submissions of scholarly work in music, theater, dance, literary criticism, and history, or any combination thereof. Books; scholarly articles, chapters, or essays; critical editions; or publications in other media (e.g., CD-ROM) will all be considered. Separate prizes of $2,500 for the winning book and $500 for the winning article are awarded in conjunction with the American Musicological Society, the American Society for Theatre Research, and the Modern Language Association.
Twice a year the Foundation publishes the Kurt Weill Newsletter, which includes news items, feature articles, lists of new publications and upcoming performances, and reviews of books, performances, and recordings. Subscriptions are free, and all issues from 1996 to the present are online. The Foundation also publishes sourcebooks devoted to single works, such as Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Street Scene, and Der Silbersee.
Board of Trustees
Kim H. Kowalke, President
Milton Coleman, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer
Philip Getter, Treasurer
Guy Stern, Secretary
Joanne Hubbard Cossa
Paul Epstein
Susan Feder
Walter Hinderer
Welz Kauffman
Julius Rudel
Harold Prince, Trustee Emeritus
David Drew, Honorary Trustee
Teresa Stratas, Honorary Trustee