About Us

Our Mission
Our History
Our Programs
Leadership Bio
Donors
Board of Directors
Financial Statements and 990s
501(C)(3) IRS Tax Determination Letter

Our Mission
Ansonia Music Outreach is dedicated to bringing the gift of music to a broad audience, through our work with young people at public and private schools, our efforts to bring the musical arts to low-income and underserved communities, and our concerts and events for the elderly, the ill, and the physically disadvantaged. In 2007, we presented 46 concerts at community venues, schools, and senior programs in New York City, including Lehman College of the Bronx, Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, the Jewish Home and Hospital system, the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, and the Riverdale YM & YWHA. We have served New York City for 17 years, providing quality cultural experiences to these target audiences, making the arts more accessible to all people. Our mission is to help establish the musical arts as a more essential and valuable experience in the lives of the general public.

Our History
Ansonia Music Outreach was founded in 1992 by graduates of The Juilliard School. After participating in the Juilliard Community Service Fellowship Program, they saw the great need to carry on this work as professional musicians. As the organization developed, the Phoenix Ensemble was formed, a chamber music group dedicated to the performance and recording of classical music, and to the mission and goals of Ansonia Music Outreach. Through concerts, recordings, and residencies in schools and communities, the Phoenix Ensemble has carried out the work of Ansonia Music Outreach, presenting hundreds of events designed to inspire a new and diverse audience for classical music.

There is a large population of people who feel that the arts do not relate to them, that the arts are meant for a small minority, or that the arts would never fit into the daily enjoyment of their lives. These beliefs are untrue, and the work and accomplishments of Ansonia Music Outreach demonstrate this. Declining attendance at traditional music concerts and arts events, along with an educational system that often perceives little value in teaching students the rewards and knowledge one receives through the study of music, dance, theater, and the visual arts, are producing generations of people who are uninformed about the positive influence the arts can make in their lives. Our musicians are among the most talented in the country, and address these problems by offering innovative music experiences that engage and inspire new audiences, and bring music to the underserved and to communities in need.

Our Programs
Our Access to Music program offers events such as free concerts, music classes, and interactive workshops to disadvantaged and underserved audiences in New York City.

Our Music for the Young program presents innovative concerts and events to young people designed to inspire interest in classical music and the arts, encourage creativity, and help make the arts an integral part of the school curriculum.

Our Composer Workshop gives composers of merit the opportunity to create new works, to make accesible important music of our time, and to work on ways in which the particular musical style or message of new works can be communicated to a general audience, particularly young audiences.

Leadership Bio
Mark Lieb, President and Artistic Director

Mark Lieb is the Founder of Ansonia Music Outreach. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and The Juilliard School, where he studied clarinet performance with Robert Marcellus, former Principal clarinet with the Cleveland Orchestra, and David Shifrin, former Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has been a professional freelance musician in New York City since 1991, and has performed and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has recorded with New World Records, Mode Records, Furious Artisans, Newport Classics, Dorian, and BMG Classics labels. His arts education experience includes participating in the Juilliard Community Service Fellowship Program as a student at the school, and then after graduation, was the Manhattan and Brooklyn clarinet teacher for the New York Pops Salute to Music Program, worked for three years with Young Audiences of New Jersey, and one year with Midori and Friends. In addition to 17 years experience in nonprofit management with Ansonia Music Outreach, Mr. Lieb also has three years experience as Manager of Foundation Relations with the Big Apple Circus.

Donors
We thank the following Foundations, Corporations, and Individuals for their generous support:

Adrian and Jessie Archbold Charitable Trust

Frank J. Antun Foundation

Assurant Foundation
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation
Edith C. Blum Foundation, Inc.
Con Edison
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

The Glickenhaus Foundation

The Florence Gould Foundation
The Victor Herbert Foundation

Bank Leumi USA

The Malkin Fund, Inc.

Ilse Melamid

Metzger-Price Fund, Inc.

Microsoft

The New York Community Trust
Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation, Inc.