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The Endless Mountain Music Festival is a non-profit organization committed to enriching the cultural, economic and educational life of the Twin Tiers. Ticket sales cover only a small percentage of festival operating costs.

It is your generosity and support that helps us to continue to bring world- renowned musicians to the region and provide opportunities for music education and appreciation for area students.

We cordially invite you to join our list of friends, neighbors and area businesses making a commitment to help the festival grow. Gifts are tax deductible.

For Immediate Release:

Endless Mountain Music Festival Receives Grant from National Endowment for the Arts

The Endless Mountain Music Festival, headquartered in Wellsboro, has been selected to receive one of the 162 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Challenge America Fast-Track grants of $10,000 awarded to organizations in 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In making the announcement on Tuesday, Dec. 6, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman noted, "Art works everywhere," which is why the NEA’s Challenge America Fast-Track program supports projects from primarily small and mid-sized arts organizations that extend the reach of the arts to underserved audiences—those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.

"Taken together, these Challenge America Fast-Track grants provide an extraordinary sampling of the work that arts organizations do to reach underserved communities," said Chairman Landesman. "With these grants, we are helping to ensure that art works for all Americans."

The program is called Fast-Track because of its expedited review timeline. The Endless Mountain Music Festival was notified approximately six months after applying. Also, with 375 eligible applications submitted from across the country, there was significant competition for funding for these grants. The grant award is evidence of the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the Endless Mountain Music Festival.

Stephen Gunzenhauser, Endless Mountain Music Festival founder and internationally recognized conductor, said, "This is the second federal grant we have received from the National Endowment for the Arts. Before we could even apply, the Festival had to have completed three successful years. The fact that we were awarded a grant to use in our fifth year and have now been awarded another as we begin our seventh year says a lot about what we are and where we are heading. With these National Endowment for the Arts grants, we have achieved national recognition."

Gunzenhauser pointed out that Festival Development Manager Deborah Rudy of Wellsboro was responsible for successfully applying for the grant. She said, "Now in our seventh year, we gratefully acknowledge this prestigious grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts. This federal grant legitimizes our efforts on a national level."

Rudy continued, "This is a highly competitive grant and only given to a few in our nation. It indicates to those in the arts that we are an organization that is worthy of federal funding. Our programs are making an impact in this area." Rudy added, "Congressman Glenn G.T. Thompson (PA) and Congressman Thomas Reed (NY) wrote letters on the behalf of the Festival. We are very grateful for their support."

The Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track $10,000 grant can be used by the Endless Mountain Music Festival for any purpose. Rudy said, "We will use this money to provide free educational outreach programming, and to cover guest artist, orchestra and production expenses."

Asked why world-class musicians come to the Twin Tiers to perform during the Endless Mountain Music Festival, Maestro Gunzenhauser replied, "The musicians uniformly have fallen in love with the region."Gunzenhauser added, "The Endless Mountain Music Festival is the first! It’s not a classical music festival, it’s not a chamber music festival – it’s a music festival!

He continued, "The history of small towns is to turn a music festival into big business. There are all kinds of examples of that." He pointed to Lenox, Massachusetts. "It was a very little town when the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra decided it would be a great place to have a music festival. Today, Lenox, Massachusetts is well known for the Tanglewood Music Festival."

He noted, "In 1980, when a music festival was started in a small suburb of Dallas, called Roundtop, Texas, about 70 people lived there. Today, 4,600 people live in that town, which has become a wealthy suburb of Dallas. It is known for its year-round music festival.

The people here have opened their hearts and treat the musicians who perform during the Festival so special that we now have musicians coming from all over the world to perform here because of the overall experience."

The 2012 Endless Mountain Music Festival is scheduled for Saturday, July 28 through Sunday, Aug. 12 and will feature 15 concerts at different venues throughout the Twin Tiers, including in Wellsboro, Mansfield and Blossburg, Canton and Troy in Pennsylvania, and Elmira and Corning in New York. For more information about the Festival or for tickets, call (570) 787-7800 today or write to the Endless Mountain Music Festival, 130 Main Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901 or visit the Festival website (www.endlessmountain.net).