With a new commitment of $750,000 in funding from the office of the President of Johns Hopkins University, Peabody’s new Dean’s Excellence Accelerator Awards are designed to advance the careers of Conservatory faculty by helping to underwrite their professional activity both on and off the Peabody campus. The three-year pilot program will award grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to eligible faculty who have taught at the Conservatory for at least three years. Independent projects in the areas of performance, creative work, research, scholarship, and/or teaching will be considered for support.

“These Peabody-specific grants are meant to provide more opportunity for mid-career funding to our talented teaching and performing artist faculty and to support their professional growth,” notes Fred Bronstein, dean of the Peabody Institute. “I’m so grateful to University President Ron Daniels for investing in this initiative, and I look forward to seeing how it will impact individual careers and enrich our campus community as a whole.”

Eighteen initial proposals were received during the fall semester for the first cycle of funding, with awards due to be announced in spring for the 2023–24 academic year. A second call for proposals is expected to be issued in fall 2023 for projects timed to the following academic year.

— Tiffany Lundquist