COMMUNITY IMPACT PROJECT INCUBATOR

CAG has partnered with the Global Leaders Institute to create a career launch program providing our artists with essential entrepreneurial skills needed to navigate and positively impact today’s music industry.

This unique 6-month program will offer early-career professionals access and opportunities to learn from industry experts, hone business fundamentals, and collaborate on experiential projects intended to empower purpose-driven careers.

Meet the 2025 Cohort

Empire Wild

Adam W. Sadberry

Eleni Katz

Nathan Meltzer

ArcoStrum

Balourdet Quartet

Chromic Duo

Nathan Amaral

Wynona Wang

What is the Community Impact Project Incubator?

Community Impact Project Incubator is a vital pillar of CAG’s Citizen Musician Training. Through it, artists explore new ways to create positive community impact beyond the concert stage. In this series of workshops, CAG roster musicians:

  • Identify community needs

  • Transform these needs into projects

  • Pitch to fund their project

  • Launch their project

  • Network for social impact

How Is It Accomplished?

6 MODULES

The progression of the modules in this training is designed so that each one builds upon and expands key tools from the previous.

1 CHALLENGE

After completing the training’s six modules, participants apply the knowledge and skills acquired through the training to write and pitch an implementation plan for a high-impact artistic project before a panel of experts.

INNOVATION PRIZE

Participants who excel in the learning process will have access to the following prizes:

  • Participation in the Chamber Music Shark Tank at Chamber Music America’s national conference

    • In this interactive session, artists pitch high-impact artistic projects to the sharks: members of the presenter community who are looking to “invest.”

  • International travel to one of GLI’s Innovation Summits (Tuscany or Patagonia)

  • Personalized mentorships

  • $5,000 Weissberg Prize for project implementation

“Through the Community Impact Project Incubator, I’ve been able to expand my vision of my potential, enhance the impact of my coaching business, and evolve my sense of interconnectivity. I’m very grateful for this unique and highly-valuable training!”

Adam W. Sadberry, CAG Artist

Program Faculty

Jessica Phillips
Faculty Co-Lead
Metropolitan Opera
The Juilliard School

Drew A. Forde
Violist
Entrepreneur

Stanford Thompson
Equity Arc
Executive Director

Monica Ellis
Imani Winds
Manhattan School of Music

Michael McRay
Author
Storytelling Coach

Toyin Spellman-Díaz
Imani Winds
Mannes

Felipe Orduz
GLI
Entrepreneurship Coach

Tom Cabaniss
The Juilliard School

Janet Fischer
Live Music Now (UK)
CEO

Congratulations to the 2024 Winner of CAG’s Weissberg Prize, Conductor Kyle Dickson!

Thanks to the generosity of CAG Board Director Norbert Weissberg, this $5,000 prize helped Kyle kickstart his project MUSIC REPRESENTS — a live concert experience featuring a dynamic, newly commissioned work for chamber ensemble and narrator celebrating the captivating stories of influential black composers. 

“Developing my thoughts through the Social Impact Project Building workshops helped me to focus my long-held convictions into MUSIC REPRESENTS — a concrete way to help my community fall in love with music as I did as a teenager. With the aid of this award, young people from silenced communities will see themselves represented through classical music, and I'm humbled and grateful for the opportunity to usher the next generation of diverse artists into this beautiful tradition.”
— Kyle Dickson

Thank you to the illustrious panel who listened to the artists’ project pitches and provided invaluable feedback:

Pedja Mužijević, Artistic Administrator Baryshnikov Arts Center, Artistic Advisor Tippet Rise Arts Center
Tom Novak, Director of Artistic Planning Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Eric Oberstein, Managing Director Harlem Stage
Katelyn Simone, Writer, Fundraiser, Consultant Katelyn Simone Copywriting
Lisa Williams, Managing Director Goldman Sachs, Strategy Investment
Ed Yim, Chief Content Officer and Senior Vice President WQXR 
Nathaniel Zeisler, Provost, The Colburn School

Jessica Phillips, alumna of the MBA program at the Global Leaders Institute and Clarinetist the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

"As an alumna of the MBA program at the Global Leaders Institute and a musician at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, it is a privilege to work with my alma mater to design a bespoke and relevant curriculum in partnership with the Concert Artist Guild. These artists are already making an impact in the music world, and during these learning modules, it's a pleasure to help enhance their entrepreneurial skills, empowering them to lead dynamic, innovative careers and create lasting social impact in their communities."