The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (SVBF), a program of Eastern Mennonite University, has been approved for a $12,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the federal agency announced Tuesday.
The Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) award will support general operations of the 34th annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, which will be held in June 2026.
Les Helmuth, interim manager of the SVBF, said this marks the first time the festival has received an NEA grant. “It’s amazing to be recognized by the NEA for the quality of the artists and other key individuals involved in creating great music for the Shenandoah Valley,” he said. “It’s truly an honor to be the recipient of an NEA grant.”
Bach Festival Artistic Director and EMU Music Program Director David Berry noted that receiving support from the NEA has long been a prestigious mark of distinction for any arts organization. “We’re grateful the NEA has chosen to support the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival as we celebrate our 34th year next June,” he said. “This honor speaks to how special the festival truly is and its great legacy of beautiful music-making.”
Amanda Gookin, previous executive director of the SVBF, wrote and applied for the GAP grant. It is one of more than 1,100 GAP awards nationwide, totaling more than $31.8 million, announced by the NEA on Tuesday.
“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including EMU’s Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.”
About the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival
The annual weeklong summer festival presents vibrant performances on the EMU campus and in Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, by Bach Festival Musicians and guest artists, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra, Baroque Academy Faculty, and Festival Choir. Learn more at: svbachfestival.org
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. Its Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) provides expansive funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem, including opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.
Join the Discussion on “EMU’s Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival to receive $12K award from the National Endowment for the Arts”