Fellowships and Grants

The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards invites applications for small grants to support research by members of the Cornell graduate student community relating to the history and culture of keyboard instruments. Projects may combine research interests in history, performance, composition, improvisation, and technology, from the medieval organ to the latest digital keyed instruments, and across any global context. Research that addresses historically underrepresented experiences within keyboard music will be especially welcome, and priority will be given to applicants whose work engages directly with the Center’s collections. We also encourage projects that are cross-disciplinary and collaborative.

The Center’s collections are vehicles for the exploration of repertoires, traditions, and sounds of the past, yet also sites for inspiring new ideas and approaches that foster counterintuitive forms of collaboration and critical engagement. Instruments encompass both originals and replicas, including a Baroque organ modeled after the Charlottenburg organ by Arp Schnitger in Berlin, original Broadwood, Graf, and Pleyel pianos, early 20th-century Steinway, Blüthner, Bechstein, and Mason & Hamlin pianos, and analog Moog synthesizers.

Funding of up to $500 is available for projects. We will also consider applications for larger grants to support small- or large-scale performances, symposia, or workshops. Funds may be used for travel, to invite speakers, performers, or composers to Cornell, to commission new works for instruments at the Center, for logistical costs relating to the moving of instruments, or other research expenses.

Recent projects have included a recorded catalogue of our instruments; a composition and recording project for organ and synthesizers; Ithaca Sounding 2020, a festival dedicated to composer and Ithaca native Julius Eastman; a symposium devoted to Clara Schumann using historical instruments; a conference on the history of the player piano; a symposium on four-hand keyboard culture; a festival exploring environmental sounds in Olivier Messiaen’s keyboard works; and a festival on the organ in the global Baroque.

To apply, please send the following materials as a single PDF to Ayree Coletti, Program Coordinator at the Center (amc584@cornell.edu):

1. CV
2. Proposal, outlining: a) Overview of project and output, faculty advisor, timeline, and how funding would be used (500 words); and b) a provisional budget, including whether additional funding resources have been sought.
3. A statement of support from your advisor

The deadline for application is June 1, 2025. Please contact Roger Moseley (rsm253@cornell.edu) if you have questions or if you wish to receive feedback on an idea prior to submitting your application. Applicants should plan to use awarded funds before June 15, 2026.
 

The Visiting Fellows Program is currently not accepting applications.  Information for the program will be available soon.  For questions, please contact the CCHK at cchk@cornell.edu”