Weesner Named Pew Fellow in the Arts
Assistant Professor of Music Anna Weesner has received a highly competitive Pew Fellowship in the Arts (PFA) grant. In announcing the award, the PFA says that Professor Weesner “reveals classical music’s continuing importance and engagement in western culture.”
A prize-winning composer, Professor Weesner’s work has been commissioned by the Cypress String Quartet, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Network for New Music, and Sequitur. Her latest composition, Still Things Move, received its New York premiere by the American Composers Orchestra this past fall. Professor Weesner’s honors include a Bunting Fellowship, the Brian Israel Prize from the Society for New Music in Syracuse, and the Young Composer’s Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. She received both her M.F.A. and D.M.A. from Cornell University after earning a B.A. at Yale University.
PFA grants are awarded to Philadelphia artists in various performing, visual, and literary disciplines in order to provide them with the economic freedom to further explore and develop their work. Established by the Pew Charitable Trusts in 1991, these fellowships are the largest such grants in the country for which artists can apply.