The Lewis Prize for Music has announced grants totaling more than $2 million in support of efforts to provide young people with music education, strengthen their communities, and put music at the center of efforts to advance racial equity.

As part of its five-year, $20 million commitment to creative youth development organizations, the Lewis Prize for Music awarded Accelerator Awards of $500,000 each — multiyear support to enable leaders and organizations to make sustained progress toward ambitious community change initiatives — to We Are Culture Creators (Detroit), the Heartbeat Music Project (Crownpoint, New Mexico), RYSE Youth Center (Richmond, California), and INTEMPO (Stamford, Connecticut).

The foundation also awarded Infusion Awards of $50,000 each, which provide single-year support to leaders and programs creating new musical platforms and pathways in their communities, to White Hall Arts Academy (Los Angeles) and The Roots of Music (New Orleans). In addition, Catalyst Awards of $25,000 each, which provide single-year support to leaders and programs with impressive impact and reach, were awarded to Totem Star (Seattle) and Media Rhythm Institute (Baltimore).

“Despite the trials of COVID and longstanding racial inequities, our awardees show us that building trusted relationships through music with young people gives them the confidence and tools to pursue the full lives they deserve,” said Lewis Prize for Music CEO Dalouge Smith. “We look forward to our new partnership with these awardees who have proven, before and during the pandemic, the necessity of providing equitable access to music opportunities and direct service supports for young people.”

(Photo credit: Unsplash/Josh Sorenson)