American Composers Orchestra Announces Inaugural Sorel Award Fellowship Recipient

Along with the American Composers Forum, ACO will commission composer Andreia Pinto Correia

The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and American Composers Forum (ACF) have instituted a new three-year fellowship that will create opportunities for a mid-career woman composer to workshop and premiere a newly-commissioned orchestral work, as well as receive personalized professional development and support with booking new opportunities.

Titled the Sorel Fellowship, the award will be offered every three years, and is funded by the Elizabeth and Michael Sorel Charitable Foundation. It has been created in response to feedback from ACO and ACF composers, who identified mid-career female composers as having a particular need for grant funding.

Andreia Pinto Correia has been named as the fellowship's inaugural recipient. Her recent works include Cortejo, an L.A. Philharmonic commission with generous support from the Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Os pássaros da noite (The Birds of Night), a NY Philharmonic commission, both led by Gustavo Dudamel.

She holds an Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and the DSCH Shostakovich Award for her "contribution to the excellence of Portuguese classical music" from the Ministry of Culture of Portugal.

"Over the last few years, I've been asking, 'What does a woman composer need to advance her career, to have more opportunities for recognition and creative success? And how can The Sorel Organization help?'" said Wende Persons, Managing Director of The Sorel Organization. "The answer, over and over, is that composers need advocates. Someone looking out for them. This award is truly unique. Two powerhouse new music organizations will be focusing together, combining the strengths of each organization as a mighty force — as advocates — for The Sorel Award recipient throughout her three-year term."

"There is nothing like this in the field."

"The Sorel Award is an exciting and unique opportunity to deepen my relationship with the daring musicians of ACO," said Pinto Correia. "I very much look forward to working with American Composers Forum and other esteemed artistic partners over the next three years."