The Gecko Fund is a new grant program founded in 2023 to support creative narrative works in the New England music community, granting $5,000 to one artist annually. The goal of this program is to support artists early in their career in their aspirations to create a body of musical work that is linked through a narrative arc. This work need not fit into a specific genre, nor does it require singing to achieve this goal, but the narrative arc needs to be apparent. This grant was inspired by great works such as Anaïs Mitchell‘s folk opera Hadestown and Louise Bichan‘s album Out of My Own Light featuring stories from her grandmother’s diary.
The recipient of the 2024 Gecko Fund grant is Heartwood!
The grant will help fund touring expenses for Heartwood’s musical, The Well Tree. The Well Tree is a three-person musical, illustrated by a ‘crankie’ – an illuminated, papercut, hand-cranked scroll. It is an original ‘singing story’ about wild journeying and remembering kinship — the tale of a young woman moving beyond the fog of isolation to meet songbirds, snails and ancient trees as she travels through these unraveling times, finding her way home. The three members of Heartwood are the actors, musicians and the crew that runs the crankie —created by papercut artist Jennifer Jones – and audiences help sing pieces of the story. Learn more at heartwoodtrio.com.
The recipient of the 2023 Gecko Fund grant is Noble Dust!
The grant will go to fund the band’s new album and press vinyl for it. Based loosely on World War II era letters between Noble Dust vocalist/guitarist Emily Cunningham’s grandfather stationed in the South Pacific and her grandmother on the Homefront in Roxbury Massachusetts, Noble Dust’s sophomore album “A Picture for a Frame” tells stories of ordinary people who devote their lives to something greater than themselves. Follow their project at nobledustmusic.com.
The next round of applications will be accepted from September 1st – October 14th, running alongside submissions for the Iguana Music Fund. All applicants will be notified of their status in mid-December.
This grant is funded by Steven & Cindy Chao and established in honor of Steve’s late sister Caroline Chao. Caroline was passionate about musical theater, worked extensively as a lighting designer on Broadway and at the Santa Fe Opera, and passed away in 2019 from an aggressive cancer.
