McKnight Composer Fellowships
Regional
Applications are now closed.
Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists and culture bearers thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists and culture bearers has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982.
The McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.8 million per year to its statewide fellowships. For more information, visit mcknight.org/artistfellowships.
American Composers Forum encourages applicants from the full range of musical approaches and perspectives, and is committed to supporting a diverse pool of artists who demonstrate compelling artistic work. Accordingly, awards for our programs will represent, as far as possible, artists and projects that are diverse in creative methodology, gender, race, ethnicity, and geography.
2025
Program Panelists
Overview
The intent of the McKnight Artist and Culture Bearers Fellowship is to recognize and support artists and culture bearers who are beyond emerging and have sustained experience in their area of practice. Fellows demonstrate achievement, commitment, and high-level proficiency in artistic and/or culture bearer practice that contributes to their field and impacts and benefits people in Minnesota.
The addition of culture bearer acknowledges that the McKnight programs support creative leaders in Minnesota from cultures that don’t use the word “artist” (such as Native American and Hmong), as well as those who center the transmission and preservation of cultural lifeways.
Awards
- Four fellowships of $25,000 in unrestricted funds will be awarded. Awards are subject to state and federal income tax guidelines.
- Funds are distributed across four installments.
- Fellows also have an opportunity to attend an artist residency program coordinated by the Artist Communities Alliance within two years of the fellowship program.
- Fellows will also have access to financial support up to $3,500 to develop works-in-progress.
- Consultation, time, and resources from ACF.
- Consultation, time, and resources from Springboard for the Arts
Guidelines
American Composers Forum (ACF) is pleased to announce the 2026 McKnight Composer Fellowships. This program is made possible by the generous support of the McKnight Foundation.
To view the complete guidelines as a separate document, please click HERE.
Online application deadline: Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025 (11:59pm PST)
Please note: ACF is intentional in its interchangeable use of the terms artist, music creator, and composer, as we recognize not everyone identifies themselves by one of these terms.
Information Sessions
ACF staff will offer two 60-minute 2026 McKnight Composer Fellowship Application Information Sessions online to review the application process. During these sessions, there will be time to ask questions about the application process and its components.
- These sessions will be offered online via Zoom. You must register to receive the link.
- We will record the sessions and post them HERE the following week.
- Video tutorials on how to use the Zoom online meeting system can be found HERE .
Session 1: Monday, November 10, 2025 – 5:30-6:30 PM Central Time
Topic: Review all guidelines and walk through the application process in SlideRoom
REGISTER HERE
Session 2: Tuesday, November 11, 2025 – 5:30-6:30 PM Central Time
Topic: Examine previous awardees’ applications as case studies
REGISTER HERE
If you need one-on-one assistance with your application, please email Brian Dowdy at bdowdy@composersforum.org to schedule a meeting.
2020-2024
Recent Awardees
National
View Acf Programs
Partnership between ACF, The Juilliard School’s Preparatory Division, and the NY Philharmonic to create flex scores for multigenerational ensembles.
Regional
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Supports the creation and presentation of new work. Five grants are available for early career artists in Minnesota or NYC.
National
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Residency for two non-Minnesota based composers to serve as visiting artist collaborators on a project with a MN community.
National
View Acf Programs
Provides opportunities for composers to build relationships with ensembles to create new work and engage with new communities.