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Each spring, the Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) awards project grants to support students in their professional and artistic endeavors. This year’s adjudicator panel—comprising Dairy Arts Center Executive Director Melissa Fathman, Colorado Symphony member Nick Davies and myself—considered 27 applicants and awarded 16 grants totaling just over $6,200. I sat down with a few of these students to learn about their projects and how the grants helped fuel their success:

Electronic oboe piece
When Grace Stringfellow discovered composer Gracie Fagan’s work, they knew they had to work together. Stringfellow, a DMA student in oboe performance and pedagogy, first discovered Fagan (MM ’25) through an Instagram post of a piece she wrote for Assistant Professor of Saxophone Nathan Mertens.

“It was a really good example of her compositional style. She's very into using electronics, live processing and other more modern sounds,” Stringfellow says. “She’s inspired by EDM and other dance musics.”

They then reached out to Fagan about writing a piece for oboe—something that would bring the repertoire into the present and showcase more extended techniques on the instrument. The ECM grant helped Stringfellow to compensate Fagan for the project.

“The main motivation was to create something that feels modern—that feels like something you would hear on the radio, something that's singable, maybe has a little bit of improvisation,” they say. “Throwing everything out of the window of what is expected.”

Stringfellow and Fagan worked together to come up with inspiration for the piece, creating a collaborative and integrative process that Stringfellow says is unique from their commission experiences in the past.

“This feels like almost, almost co-writing. Obviously, she's doing the body of the work, but it feels like co-writing and co-creating which is fantastic.”

The completed piece will be six or seven short movements, reflecting the shorter songs heard in pop music. Stringfellow plans to premiere the work at a recital in October, then hopes to perform at other local venues as well. They also plan to record the piece for public release.

“I really want to push the boundaries with this commission, so I'm really glad that we can do this,” Stringfellow says. “Gracie will be able to come back for the premiere, so I think I’m looking forward to that most of all and continuing to work with her!”

Carnegie performance
In June, Nelio Zamorano and his choir—Cantabile-Ensamble Coral—will take on Carnegie Hall. Zamorano, a DMA student in orchestral conducting, has been music director and conductor of the Bolivia-based choir for four years; every summer, he returns to his home country to visit and work with his fellow musicians.

“Last summer, we premiered a piece by an Argentinian composer—because of this, we've been invited to perform in Carnegie Hall,” he says. “This is a huge honor for us coming from Bolivia to have this kind of concert in probably the most prestigious concert hall in the world.”

The choir will perform Martín Palmeri’s “Misatango” as part of the Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) on June 8. The ECM grant will help Zamorano cover trip expenses.

“I'm looking forward to having a wonderful performance—something that can be the first of many performances as a group. Also to create something memorable for my ensemble, I just want to have the most fun and memorable trip,” Zamorano says.

Palmeri will be a composer-in-residence for the concert which will be conducted by Matthew Webb and feature choirs from around the world.

“No matter what I'm doing here—doing a program or conducting an orchestra or getting a job—I always think about the people in my country. And that's why this project makes me think that, hey, maybe I'm doing something right because now my people in my country are having these kinds of opportunities. In the future, I would like to see more of this.”

Recital commission
EJ Lee wanted her senior recital to be unique, memorable and special. Lee, an undergraduate studying euphonium performance and music education, pictured a recital presenting pieces that connect the audience with the beauty of music. She also wanted a way to honor her dad, who passed away during her freshman year.

“I thought it'd be really cool to have a piece written for me that also honored my dad,” Lee says. “So I commissioned a new euphonium solo piece from my dear friend, Alex LaMotte (BA ’25, journalism with minors in atmospheric sciences + music), who is an LGBTQ+ composer and string player.

“The project's goal was to bring more representation into the euphonium repertoire which has been historically written by composers from very similar backgrounds. I wanted to have this commission be a step forward, making brass music more inclusive and accessible both in who gets represented and who can perform the piece.

“Especially with newer works for euphoniums, they have been more and more difficult and not really accessible for most skill levels.”

Lee and LaMotte worked together for a few months, shaping the piece into something that felt like it achieved those goals. Lee says she learned a lot through the process, as she and LaMotte made all creative decisions with no existing recordings to reference.

The ECM grant helped Lee compensate LaMotte—although he was willing to offer a favor to a friend. “I could not do that as a fellow musician,” Lee says. She premiered the piece, with LaMotte in attendance, at her senior recital on April 12.

“I explained how I decided to play this piece and then about my dad. Alex talked a little bit about the piece as well. Then I played the piece and apparently I made everyone cry,” Lee recounts. “So I think I hit the goal of successfully reaching the audience through my music.”

Icelandic festival
For John-Austin King, a doctoral student in piano performance, the chance to go back to Iceland was one he couldn’t pass up. His project proposal—Fostering Musical Excellence in the Westfjords of Iceland—detailed his experience at the in Ísafjörður last summer and the extraordinary opportunity to return this year. Along with trio members Amelia Korbitz (violin) and Liam Battle (cello), King serves as a guest artist and instructor at the festival.

His trio members heard of the opportunity through a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where they were students.

“She said, ‘We want an American piano trio at the festival this summer. Would you guys be interested?’” King explains. “Of course, I was all over that. Amelia and Liam are some of my favorite people to play with. We're friends and we have a lot of fun.”

The experience was formative for the young musicians. This year, King looks forward to again working with students, immersing himself in local culture and of course, performing.

“I loved performing, that was a highlight. Being there and looking out in the audience, not knowing anyone, but getting to talk to them about music and seeing how people appreciated that and what that meant to them—I thought that was really neat. I'm over the moon about doing this again,” he says.

Alongside musical experiences, the trio also befriended the rest of the festival faculty and staff, making lifelong memories.

“The cool thing is, we're there for the summer solstice,” King adds. “So last year, we all took a bus to the top of this insane mountain looking out over the Atlantic toward the North Pole—we watched the sun touch the water and then come back up.”

King will be back at the festival in June, thanks to an ECM grant supporting travel expenses. “I'm obviously so grateful for this help. Since I've been here, there are so many opportunities for funding, for performances, for festivals, for interpersonal growth at the College of Music—it's awesome.”

Congratulations to all our 2025 ECM grant recipients, also including:
Elise Cole
Devin Cowan
Joel Ferst
Heewon Lee
Wesley Leffingwell
Paige Michaud
Leah Pernick
Christine Teng
Natalie Trejo
Madison Triplett
Kisa Uradomo
Kevin Yetter