Local area new music proponents

Bascom Little was a Cleveland architect who died in an accident in the mid-1960s. He was intensely interested in music composition and took lessons in composition from the nationally-prominent composer Donald Erb at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His home included a concert facility and many performances of local composers were held there. He was deeply concerned about the difficulty of modern composers ever getting their music played. After he died, his wife determined to perpetuate his memory and interests by creating a fund to expressly enable performances of regional composers in order to promote their music. The Bascom Little Fund was created in 1966 with an initial contribution by Little’s wife of $250,000. The Fund has grown over the years to as much as $1,500,000 and currently amounts to around $1,000,000 despite annual funding of grants ranging from $20,000 to as much as $55,000 per year. To date, the fund has not sought additional contributions. The Fund has a seven member Board of Trustees and a fourteen member Advisory Board composed of members with deep roots in the music and composition community in Northeast Ohio.