Nomination for Career Advancement Award 2025

The Musical Fund of Philadelphia is accepting nominations for rising young performing artists for the 2025 Career Advancement Award. The general guidelines for nomination are as follows:

• The nominee should be under the age of 40.
• The nominee should be at least one of the following: a Philadelphia area native; have studied in Philadelphia; currently make the city their home career base.
• The nominee should be an emerging talent (currently-enrolled students are not eligible). The intent of the award is to provide a boost in credibility and visibility for an accomplished young performer who is ready to break into the next level of professional achievement and broader recognition.
• The nominee should demonstrate a high level of artistry and promise. Artistry is the paramount factor in assessing nominees; excellence is the starting point. Work samples should reflect the nominee’s artistic passion, expressivity, ability to communicate, and overall musicianship.
• The nominee should demonstrate versatility in repertoire and/or musical interests in addition to their primary area of focus. Such diversity might include, for example, unusual instruments, less well-known repertoire or uncommon genres, expanded applications of their talent, etc. There is no specific requirement for any particular kind of versatility; rather, the committee welcomes the wide variety of musical interests displayed by young artists active in classical music today.

Each nomination should be for one person; if you wish to nominate more than one candidate, please complete a separate nomination for each. There is no limit to the number you may submit.

The winner of the award will be notified in early April, and will be invited to accept the award in person, if possible, at the Society’s Spring Reception on May 20.

Through the contributions of our nominators in past years, the pool of candidates for this award has been strong and has presented the Committee with challenging decisions; the winners have gone to illustrious careers, as you can see from this list of past recipients.  

Click here to submit your nominations and supporting materials! The deadline for submission is Friday, March 14, 2025.

Sincerely,

Lisa Miller
Chair, Career Advancement Award Panel
Vice President, The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia

Frequently asked questions:

• Can I nominate someone who is not a US citizen?
Yes, as long as the individual has a Social Security number or an individual tax identification number (ITIN). You do not need to provide the number as part of the nomination; we will ask the nominee for it if they are selected as the winner.

• My nominee is enrolled in a doctoral degree but also has an active performance schedule. Can I nominate them?
Currently enrolled students are not eligible, regardless of their performance activities.

• Am I supposed to keep this a secret from the person I’m nominating?
That’s up to you, but you may find the nomination materials easier to gather with their help!