"We expected the grant writing process to be intimidating but found the experience to be quite the opposite!"
Megan Kenny and Holland Phillips are deeply invested in live music performances in Fayetteville. Both musicians are members of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and also have a shared love for chamber music that has remained steadfast throughout their careers.
In 2023 the pair teamed up to form the Camellia Chamber Music Project to promote live chamber music performance in the Fayetteville area. We spoke with Megan and Holland to discuss the origins of this idea, their Lunchtime Chamber Music series, and their experience applying for grant funding through the Arts Council of Fayetteville | Cumberland County.
What is the Camellia Chamber Music Project?
Camellia Chamber Music Project was formed by local musicians Megan Kenny and Holland Phillips with the mission to provide and promote live chamber music performances in Fayetteville and surrounding communities. We hope to not only build a relationship with audience members who attend our Lunchtime Chamber Music Concert Series (our flagship project), but to also reach underserved communities in our region through chamber music concerts and events. Our aim is to bring a wide variety of chamber music concert experiences to communities where access to small-scale live music performances is limited.
Describe the Lunchtime Chamber Music Concert series. What do you hope to accomplish by hosting these concerts?
The Lunchtime Chamber Music Concert series is meant to encourage interest and excitement in our community for small-scale, up-close chamber music experiences. Our lunchtime concerts, which are free and open to the public, take place in the main gallery of the Arts Council of Fayetteville. This space is ideal because of its size, acoustics, fabulous art exhibits, and the central location in Downtown Fayetteville makes popping into a free lunchtime concert easy and accessible.
We want to create space for community and an opportunity to pause, unplug, and experience a moment of beauty and intention. We often receive comments from concertgoers that they appreciated the opportunity to take a break from their usual routine. Hopefully people will come away from our concerts feeling refreshed and inspired by what they hear.
Camellia Chamber Music Project performance (Images by Raul Rubiera)
Tell us about your experience applying for grants through the Arts Council. Has the grant funding helped you work towards your goal? If so, how?
We expected the grant writing process to be intimidating but found the experience to be quite the opposite! The Arts Council hosts helpful granting writing workshops and the staff has been tremendously responsive and helpful with their guidance.
One of our goals in starting Camellia Chamber Music Project is to establish a regular chamber music series in downtown Fayetteville. Our lunchtime concerts have been funded by the Mini Grants Program through the Arts Council and would not be possible without this financial support. We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council for making our Lunchtime Chamber Music Concerts possible.
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Mini Grants support one-time cultural arts events with a focus on growing the local arts economy, engaging new and innovative programming and providing support to diverse artistic mediums to Cumberland County.
Applications for our next cycle of Mini Grants are due on April 4th, 2024.
Learn more about our various grant opportunities by clicking here, or contacting our grants department directly.
Michael Houck
Director of Grants and Allocations
(910)323-1776 (Ext. 1012)
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ABOUT THE ARTS COUNCIL OF FAYETTEVILLE | CUMBERLAND COUNTY
The Arts Council of Fayetteville|Cumberland County is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization based in Fayetteville, NC that connects our communities, embraces diversity, promotes individual creativity, advances economic development, and fosters lifelong learning through the arts. As the primary steward of public and private funding for arts, cultural and history activities in the Cape Fear Region, the Arts Council and the agencies it supports are known for the core values of excellence, accountability, transparency, collaboration, and innovation. theartscouncil.com
Grants, programs, and services of the Arts Council are funded, in part, by contributions from community partners and through grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. ncarts.org