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Project Support Main Round

Project Support Program
2026 Main Round Guidelines

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All applicants wishing to apply for support through the Project Support Program must first submit an application to the Preliminary Round. Applications for the Main Round will only be accepted from organizations that have submitted a preliminary application and have been invited to apply to the Main Round. No other applications will be considered. 

About the Program

The Project Support Program provides funding for special projects and initiatives of exceptional importance to contemporary American concert music, jazz, or both. Restricted grants through this program are available for performing ensembles, presenters, music service organizations, and record companies for discrete, standalone activities that encourage and improve public knowledge and appreciation of contemporary concert music and contemporary jazz by American composers.

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Eligibility

Only applicants who applied to the Preliminary Round and were invited by the Fund to submit a full proposal in the Main Round are eligible to apply in the Main Round. For more information about the Preliminary Round application and deadlines, please see the Project Support Program Preliminary Round Guidelines.

Funding Provisions

In general, grants will range between $2,000 and $20,000, although larger grants may be awarded to larger organizations with an extraordinary commitment to contemporary American concert music, jazz, or both. The Fund does not award grants larger than the amount requested by the applicant.

Applicants should be aware that support in one year does not imply continuation of that support in subsequent years.

How to Apply

Log in to your user account here. If you are a member of multiple organizations, select the organization for which you wish to begin an application. Then click on the "Apply Now" button at the top of this page to begin the online application process.

Please note that the Main Round application is separate from the preliminary application; you will not be able to edit a previously submitted application.

The Application

Please note: It is not necessary to complete the application in one session. The system will periodically save a draft of your application, however, please save your work often using the save button to avoid potential loss of progress.

The following is a description of the application. Fields are presented in the order in which they appear in the application form with instructions and advice for each item.

Type of organization

Select the organization type that best describes your organization from the dropdown list. The options are as follows:

  • Ballet/dance
  • Chamber Ensemble
  • Chamber Orchestra
  • Choral or Vocal
  • Festival
  • Jazz Ensemble
  • Library/archive
  • Music service organization
  • Opera
  • Orchestra
  • Presenter
  • Professional Development
  • Radio/TV
  • Record company
Requested amount

Enter the amount of funding requested for the project, in US Dollars. In general, the Fund does not recommend that organizations ask for more than 30% of their project expenses.

Total cost of project

Enter the total expenses for the project, in US Dollars.

Application checkboxes

Check all statements that apply to your application.

  • The proposed project includes live music
  • The proposed project is a commercial recording
  • The proposed project includes staged or other visual elements
  • The majority of proposed project activities include contemporary jazz
  • The proposed project includes touring
  • The proposed project includes work with composers that are new to the applicant
  • The proposed project includes premieres
Proposal narrative

Provide a description of your project and any other significant points to make your case for support, including how your proposal aligns with the Fund’s priorities and overall mission. (2,500 characters maximum)

  • If your organization does not have a strong history of contemporary music programming, please address how this project fits within your organization’s mission and other programming.
  • Incorporation of bullet points, white space, or other formatting for ease of reading on a screen is highly recommended.
Project budget

Upload a budget for the project in PDF format. This document should include a detailed breakdown of expenses and income for the project.

  • Please indicate pending sources of income with an asterisk (*).
  • Please do not include indirect costs or in-kind contributions; any in-kind contributions should be explained at the bottom of the document.
  • If your project income and expenses do not match, please include an explanation at the bottom of the document.
Plans and timetable

Provide a detailed timeline for your project, including rehearsals, production, marketing/promotion, live programming dates, and/or distribution, as applicable. (1,000 characters maximum)

Bullet points or similar formatting are highly recommended.

Number of concerts or other primary activity

This section of the application contains three fields: one for the previous year, one for the current year, and one for the support year. Enter the number of concerts or other primary activity for each year and identify the type of activity. For example:

  • 24 concerts
  • 40 albums
  • 20 workshops
  • 3 conferences

Please only provide information related to your organization’s primary activity. Please do not combine activities to achieve a higher number or list multiple types of activity in these fields.

Support season activity highlights

List your most compelling activity highlights for the upcoming season. (1,500 characters maximum)

  • Please include titles of works, composers, and location(s) related to the listed performances and/or programmatic activity, as applicable.
  • As much as possible, please prioritize activity that involves contemporary American concert music and/or jazz.
  • Bullet points or similar formatting are highly recommended.
Past two season highlights

List your most compelling activity highlights from the current and previous year’s seasons. (1,500 characters maximum)

  • Please include titles of works, composers, location(s), and audience data related to the listed performances and/or programmatic activity, as applicable.
  • As much as possible, please prioritize activity that involves contemporary American concert music and/or jazz.
  • Bullet points or similar formatting are highly recommended.
Key artistic personnel and leadership

List your organization’s key artistic personnel and leadership. (2,000 characters maximum)

  • Artistic personnel can be ensemble members and/or key administrative or artistic directors in the case of presenting organizations.
  • Please provide titles and brief bios for each listed person, as well as links to websites and/or full bios as available.
  • Bullet points or similar formatting are highly recommended.
Community partnerships

Provide information about planned community partnerships and key leads for the project, if any, including: (2,000 characters maximum)

  • The scope and nature of the partnership(s).
  • How the partnership(s) align with your organization’s artistic and/or program goals.
  • Who will lead or oversee the partnership activities.
Audiences

Describe the constituencies or audiences for your project, including size, demographics, and geographic regions. Please also provide information about how your organization plans to reach its intended audience and any plans to engage them before or after your programming. (2,000 characters maximum)

Impact and success

Describe how your organization will measure the success and impact of the proposed project, including anticipated outcomes. (2,000 characters maximum)

Miscellaneous Remarks

This field should only be used for information crucial to your application that will not be captured elsewhere, or as otherwise directed by our Grants Team. (750 characters maximum)

  • If your application includes password-protected materials (ex. Vimeo videos), please include password(s) in this field.
  • Please do not use this field for cover letters, overflow from other fields, or any information not explicitly requested in the application or by our Grants Team.
Foundation, corporate, and government funding support

List foundation, corporate, and government support with award amounts for the support year, the current year, and the previous year. (1,000 characters maximum)

  • This should amount to three consecutive years of support information.
  • Bullet points, table, or similar formatting are highly recommended.
Board of directors

List the members of your organization’s Board of Directors (or equivalent) and their principal affiliations. (1,000 characters maximum)

  • Bullet points or similar formatting are highly recommended.
Organizational budget

Using the provided budget template, upload a PDF with budget information for the preceding year, the current year, and the support year. 

  • Please provide actual budget information for the preceding year, actual or projected for the current year (as appropriate), and projected for the support year.
  • For organizations whose performance season and fiscal year do not coincide, please indicate this in the notes section of the budget template.
  • Download the budget template here.
Financial statements

Upload your organization’s most recent audited financial statement as a PDF.

  • Not every applicant will have an audited financial statement, but if one is available for any of the past three fiscal years, the latest one must be submitted.
Three years of financial information

Input your income and expenses for the support year, the current year, and the previous year, in US Dollars.

Additional materials for organizations with live music projects:

Audio samples

Upload 3 recordings in MP3 format and input the title of the work, name of the composer and performers, and date of the performance for each. Audio samples should meet the following requirements:

  • Each recording should be of contemporary American works performed by the performer(s) or ensemble(s) featured in your proposed project.
  • Each recording should be between 3 and 5 minutes in length. An excerpt of a larger work is acceptable.
  • All recordings should be from within the two seasons immediately prior to the application date.
  • Audio samples should demonstrate the performance quality of the members of the ensemble playing together, rather than feature extended soloistic passages.

If you do not have audio samples that meet these requirements, please contact our Grants Team for advice.

Composer sample

For projects featuring the work of a particular composer or composers, upload a recording of their recent work if not already represented in your audio samples.

  • This recording should be from within the two seasons immediately prior to the application date or otherwise be as recent as possible.
  • If a recording by performers involved in your project is not available, you may submit a recording by other performers.
Score sample

For 1 of the 3 submitted audio samples, include a score in PDF format marked at the point at which listening is to begin.

  • Please only include the pages of the score that relate to the audio sample.
  • Non-traditional scores, such as graphic notation, written instructions, etc., are acceptable.

If no score sample for any of your audio samples is available, please contact our Grants Team for advice.

Additional materials for organizations with commercial recording projects:

Total duration

Indicate the total duration of music to be recorded.

Works to be recorded

For each work to be recorded as part of this project, provide the following information:

  • Composer Name
  • Title of Work
  • Performer(s)
  • Duration (MM:SS)
  • Year of Composition
Audio samples

Submit a minimum of three 3-5-minute audio samples (MP3 format) for a total of no more than 15 minutes of music. All audio examples must be continuous, uncut excerpts.

Audio excerpts should be one of the following, in descending order of preference:

  1. The final master of the proposed work
  2. A recording of the proposed work other than the final master (such as a live performance or rough edit), performed by the same performers as proposed for the project
  3. A recording of the proposed work performed by different performers than proposed for the project
  4. A demo of the proposed work (such as a MIDI realization or a performance of the piano reduction)
  5. A recording of another work by the composer(s) in a similar style to the proposed work.

For each recording, indicate the following:

  • Composer
  • Performer(s)
  • Type of excerpt
  • Title of Work
  • Bar Numbers: indicate start and end measures of the excerpt, as applicable
Score sample

For one of the submitted audio samples, include a score in PDF format marked at the point at which listening is to begin.

  • Please only include the pages of the score that relate to the audio sample.
  • Non-traditional scores, such as graphic notation, written instructions, etc., are acceptable.

If no score sample for any of your audio samples is available, please contact our Grants Team for advice.

Additional materials for organizations with staged or other visual projects:

Video samples

Submit up to three links to video work samples of the company, performers, choreographers, directors, and/or other key personnel in addition to any required MP3 audio samples described above.

  • Video samples for live music projects should involve live performances of contemporary music.
  • Video samples for recording projects should either be the final master or other representative video of what is to be recorded, including proposed work and/or performers.
  • Please do not submit video samples of traditional concert performances, album trailers, or publicity reels.

If a video work sample is not available due to legal or contractual obligations, please briefly explain the circumstances in the Miscellaneous Remarks field.

IMPORTANT: You are responsible for complying with all legal and contractual requirements that may apply to the creation of your materials. The Copland Fund hereby disclaims all legal responsibility in connection with your submissions. In case of questions, consult your legal advisor.

Review Procedures

Applications are reviewed by panels of independent peers from the contemporary American music field. Panelists are engaged to review applications that align with their area of expertise. In order to ensure a fair review process, the Fund does not release the names of current or past panelists.

The following criteria will be evaluated in main round proposals:

  • Quality of the repertoire and creativity of the project programming
  • Artistic quality of artistic personnel, partners, and leadership and anticipated level of execution of the project
  • Feasibility of the project
  • Context of the project within the season and organization history
  • Geographic location of the organization and/or project activity
  • Audience engagement and development
  • Impact and success of potential grant

Application Cycle & Deadlines

The Project Support Program Main Round application deadline is:

November 12, 2026 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time

Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by the end of the following February. Please do not contact the Fund to check the status of your application.

Contact & FAQs

For questions about this program, we encourage applicants to first consult our Frequently Asked Questions page. If a question is not answered there, please contact our Grants Team using our contact form or one of the methods below.

Phone: 212-461-6956 (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET) 
E-mail: onlinegrants@coplandfund.org

Updated: October 28, 2025

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