Kurt Weill Prize Grant

The Kurt Weill Prize, established by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music in 1994, recognizes outstanding scholarship in music theater since 1900. Awarded biennially, it includes a $5,000 prize for a book and a $2,000 prize for an article. The foundation promotes the legacies of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, encouraging diverse cultural interpretations of their work. Nominations are welcomed from various sources, promoting innovative scholarship in music theater, including multimedia projects.

It encourages broad dissemination and appreciation of Weill’s music through support of performances, productions, recordings, and scholarship, and it fosters understanding of Weill’s and Lenya’s lives and work within diverse cultural contexts.
In September 1994, the Board of Trustees of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music announced the establishment of a Kurt Weill Prize, which is awarded biennially. The purpose of the Kurt Weill Prize is to encourage distinguished scholarship in the disciplines of music, theater, dance, literary criticism and history addressing music theater since 1900 (including opera). Two Prizes are awarded each cycle: to the author of one book ($5,000) and to the author of one article ($2,000).
Weill’s works crossed several genres and his creative life spanned two continents; his Threepenny Opera has entered the musical canon as one of the masterpieces for the musical stage of this century. The idea for establishing this Prize originated from Harold Prince, renowned director of the musical stage and Board member of the Kurt Weill Foundation. Prince suggested the Prize as a means of recognizing excellence in the scholarly domain of music theater in the broadest sense.
The Foundation welcomes nominations for the Kurt Weill Prize for distinguished scholarship in music theater since 1900 (including opera), for works first published in the last two calendar years.

Eligibility

There are no citizenship or language restrictions. Nominations are solicited from individuals, publishers, scholarly societies, and institutions, but self-nominations are encouraged as well.Media may include not only print (book, major scholarly article in a journal, chapter or essay, critical edition), but also audio-recording, video-recording, multi-media projects, and on-line publications, provided there is a significant scholarly component. Single essays from edited multi-author collections may be nominated in the article category.

Ineligibility

Edited multi-author collections of essays are not eligible in the book category.