Your Support Makes an Impact
Over the past two decades, Ensemble Dal Niente has become one of North America’s leading contemporary music ensembles, gaining recognition for fearless programming, dedication to interpretation, and world-class performances. We frequently produce world premieres for our Chicago audience; bring international repertoire to our home town; promote our local music scene on tour; produce immersive multimedia concerts; create connections between cultural centers around the world; and release major recordings of our work. Our vision gets noticed: the concerts we produce in Chicago inspire repeat performances around the world.
Our story is one of growth and experimentation. Your contribution directly supports Dal Niente’s continued growth for the decades to come.
Ensemble Dal Niente is a publicly supported, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. To support our current season, make a secure online donation below.
The future of the art form is what we make it. Let’s make it great.
By definition, our music-making is exploratory, experimental, and risk-taking, and our Chicago season is our laboratory. What we develop in Chicago becomes what we are known for.
At our studio space at Rockwell and Western we take an idea, set it in motion, and drive it to the stage. This journey is the hardest part of our activity for us to fund, and here’s why:
Most project timelines are 2-3 years. Over that time these projects need consistent and dedicated attention from staff
Funding large scale projects in an increasingly narrowing funding landscape requires multiple grant cycles and funding partners
Because of the uncertainty presented by new work, commissioning requires a tolerance for risk-taking on the part of any potential funding source
Your funds go directly to:
Supporting our Chicago season: by paying artists, educational programs, production and recording costs
Creating commissioning opportunities for composers
Critical infrastructure such as staffing and rehearsal space
Something From Nothing
$5,000 sponsors a Chicago performance including artist fees and venue costs
$2,500 sponsors the production and distribution of a recording (and gets your name on the liner notes)
$1,200 covers rehearsal studio costs for a month
$500 sponsors audio/video recording of a performance
$250 provides rehearsal compensation for an ensemble artist
$100 helps support our dedicated artistic staff members who coordinate programming, rehearsals, and performances
Other ways to support:
Send a Check
Our address is 4045 N Rockwell Suite 312, Chicago, IL 60618.
Join Our Board
Dal Niente’s governance board oversees the group’s operations and activates the music that you hear on stage. Be a leader with us.
ARTISTIC IMPACT
Over 20 years, we have proven time and again that the investments we make are worth it. How do we know that? Because the projects we develop in Chicago live on. Here are just a few examples.
Andile Khumalo Proximity Portrait: We premiered this program as a virtual concert in 2021, and at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC in 2023. In 2024, we helped produce an album of his work on New Focus recordings, and in 2025, we presented another Khumalo portrait at New Music Concerts Toronto.
Black Box Music by Simon Steen-Andersen: We gave the North American premiere of Simon Steen-Andersen’s Black Box Music at Epiphany Center for the Arts in 2023 then performed the work at the opening night concert at TIME:SPANS Contemporary Music Festival in 2025. Having seen the TIME:SPANS performance, New Music Concerts is debuting the work in Toronto.
Aftaab Meeshavad by Hilda Paredes We performed multiple US premieres by Hilda Paredes on programs from 2021-2025 which led to a commission in 2025 of Aftaab Meeshavad. We gave the Mexican premieres of several of her works at the International Forum for New Music in Mexico City in 2025, and will continue to tour her music in 2026.
Pacific Time by Carola Bauckholt. We returned to our 2022 premiere of Pacific Time by Carola Bauckholt the 2023 Bowling Green State New Music Festival and the work is a central feature on our upcoming ensemble portrait recording. The work was later performed in Germany by students at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.
Last Trane for Clover Five by Roscoe Mitchell. We premiered Last Trane for Clover Five by Roscoe Mitchell, written for us and Ken Vandermark, at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2021 then brought that program to the Big Ears Festival in 2022.
Assemblage by George Lewis. Our premiere of Assemblage by George Lewis led to a portrait album of his work released on New World recordings and repeat performances at the Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC, Phillips Collection Washington DC, New Music New College Florida. Today, that portrait album stands as a seminal work in the catalogue of one of United States’ greatest living composers.
MAKE YOUR PLEDGE
Dal Niente was founded in 2004 with the purpose of delivering committed performances of underheard and influential repertoire from around the world. Over the past 20 years, we have earned worldwide recognition by living up to that purpose and becoming so much more. Dal Niente has come from humble beginnings to reach thousands of listeners.
As we enter our third decade, we ask board members, donors, friends, family members, and our community to contribute to the continued growth of Dal Niente with an annual pledge or a one-time contribution. You may also wish to give consideration of a planned gift to ensure the continuation of programs in the coming years.
Together, let’s make something from nothing.
For more information about making a gift, please contact Ben Melsky at ben@dalniente.com.