IWF Annual Report FY24

IMANI WINDS
FOUNDATION
ANNUAL
REPORT
2023-2024

PAGE 1 IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
IMANI WINDS
FOUNDATION
IMANI WINDS
Brandon Patrick George, flute
Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
Mark Dover, clarinet
Kevin Newton, horn
Monica Ellis, bassoon
Our Mission
Imani Winds Foundation exists to create meaningful connections through music.
47
performances in the
2023-2024 Season
49
residency activities in
the 2023-2024 Season
3
premieres of new
pieces of music
11,450
audience members and
students reached
Pictured above: Imani WInds performing in Savannah Symphony’s season opening concert, August 2024.
A NOTE FROM TOYIN SPELLMAN-DIAZ, BOARD PRESIDENT & OBOIST
Music has never been more necessary to bring
people together in celebration and to honor cultural
differences. The Imani Winds Foundation took on
this paramount effort in a banner season that
expanded notions of what a chamber music
ensemble can accomplish. Imani Winds was thrilled
to receive a Grammy award in the category of Best
Classical Compendium, and produced and released
their first feature-length concert video through
Imani Winds Media. The 14th Imani Winds Chamber
Music Festival gave participants more scholarships
than ever before, moving toward the goal of
becoming tuition free. The newest arm of the Imani
Winds Foundation, Imani Winds Media, executive
produced Andy Akiho’s album BeLonging that has
now been nominated for another Grammy award,
and began producing Mariam Adam’s album of
music by Valerie Coleman. Through the Legacy
Commissioning Project, Imani Winds premiered
works by Sean Okpebholo, David Garner and Jeff
Scott. Our accomplishments have spurred us to
continue our quest to keep pushing boundaries,
knocking down walls, and to inspire with our music
making at the highest standard of virtuosity and
inclusivity.

P A G E 2
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
2023-2024 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
IMANI WINDS’ GRAMMY WIN
BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM: PASSION FOR BACH AND COLTRANE
In February 2024, Imani Winds’ recording of Jeff
Scott’s Passion for Bach and Coltrane won a
Grammy award for Best Classical Compendium.
After 3 previous nominations, this was the first
Grammy win for Imani Winds. This recording
project was supported by the National Endowment
for the Arts, and was the first project produced
and released by Imani Winds’ new media company,
Imani Winds Media.
Imani Winds received the award alongside Alex
Brown, Harlem Quartet, Edward Perez, Neal Smith
and A.B. Spellman, as well as producers Silas
Brown and Mark Dover.
Album artwork: Passion for Bach and
Coltrane released by Imani Winds
Media
Click to watch Imani Winds’ acceptance speech
“27 Years of Celebrating Black Excellence”
- Monica Ellis

P A G E 3
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
2023-2024 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
(CONTINUED)
THE BELONGING PROJECT
The Belonging Project, a long-term commission and collaborative project with Andy
Akiho and Imani Winds, was inspired by the sounds of a protest at an immigrant
detention center. Imani Winds commissioned Andy Akiho to write BeLoud, BeLoved,
BeLonging, a work for wind quintet and optional percussion. The album was
recorded and released in FY24. The musicians all visited Rikers Island to perform and
give workshops for a group of incarcerated residents and prison staff members in
2022. In the 2023-2024 season, Imani Winds performed Akiho’s BeLonging in
prisons, and homeless shelters in New York State. This included a performance at
Sing Sing Correctional Facility and at residences for the unhoused through the
organization Homes for the Homeless.
In November of 2024, the album BeLonging was nominated for a Grammy in the
categories of “Best Classical Compendium” and “Best Classical Solo”.

P A G E 4 IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
IMANI WINDS
CHAMBER MUSIC
FESTIVAL 2024
The 14th annual Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival returned to The Juilliard School in the summer
of 2024. From July 25th until August 4th, 57 instrumentalists and 9 emerging composers
participated in rehearsals, workshops, and masterclasses.
Jessica Meyer: Grammynominated
violist &
composer
Romie de Guise-Langlois:
clarinetist, award-winning
soloist & chamber musician
Julian Gonzalez: bassoonist,
New York Philharmonic
Wei-Ping Chou: French horn,
Kennedy Center Opera
House Orchestra
Justin Jay Hines:
percussionist & composer
Trevor Weston: composer,
faculty at Drew University &
MAP/Juilliard Pre-College
Emi Ferguson: flutist,
composer, Juilliard faculty
Alexandra Knoll: oboist,
NYC Ballet Orchestra,
Broadway musician
Melissa Ngan: President &
CEO of the American
Composers Orchestra
Mazz Swift: neuroemergent
composer,
conductor, bandleader,
educator, singer
Valerie Coleman: flutist,
composer, founding
member of Imani Winds
Jessica Phillips: clarinetist,
Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra
Alice Jones: flutist,
composer, Montclair State
University faculty
Sugar Hill Salon: artistic
collective centered on black
& brown woodwind artistry
in classical music
Ruckus: Billboard-ranking baroque
ensemble
Loki Karuna: bassoonist,
broadcast & digital media

P A G E 5
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
IMANI WINDS MEDIA
Imani Winds Media released its first project in 2023, Passion for Bach and Coltrane,
which received a GRAMMY award for Best Classical Compendium in 2024. This
project included an audio album as well as a concert film, both available for
purchase and online streaming via IWM’s dedicated media portal.
INTRODUCING JERRELL JACKSON
Jerrell Jackson, IWM Administrative Director
Jerrell Jackson is a musician, writer, lecturer, and
digital content strategist. Jackson’s work primarily
focuses on reformatting the presentation of classical
music and developing new models for the classical
music industry. He has served as the Marketing and
Communications Manager for Chineke! Orchestra,
the first majority Black and ethnically diverse
professional orchestra in Europe. Previously, he was
the Digital Content and Engagement Manager for
the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (PCMS) and
the acclaimed chamber music festival, Marlboro
Music. He has hosted pre-concert interviews with
some of the industry’s leading musicians for PCMS
and was a contributing writer for NYC’s classical
radio station WQXR and Decca Records.
2024-2025 PROJECTS
MARIAM ADAM, CLARINET
Imani Winds Media’s forthcoming album celebrates
music by Valerie Coleman, award winning
composer and founding flutist of Imani Winds. The
album’s featured performer is Mariam Adam,
founding clarinetist of Imani Winds.
The album will be released in 2025.
Pictured above (left to right): Valerie Coleman (flute), Monica Ellis (bassoon), Max
Michael Jacob (album producer), and Mariam Adam (clarinet) at Douglass Recording
Studio in Brooklyn, NY

P A G E 6
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
2024-2025 PROJECTS (continued)
IMANI WINDS’ NEW SINGLE
Imani Winds recorded a new single in
December 2024: I Wish I Knew How it
Would Feel to be Free by Billy Taylor,
arranged by Imani Winds’ clarinetist
Mark Dover and featuring vocals by
Imani Winds horn player Kevin Newton.
This project ushers in a new era of Imani
Winds, with Mark’s first arrangement for
the group and Kevin’s first vocal
recording
Pictured above (left to right): Imani Winds-
Kevin Newton, Brandon Patrick George, Mark
Dover, Monica Ellis, Toyin Spellman-Diaz;
Silas Brown, producer; and Chris Giles,
engineer at Douglass Recording Studio in
Brooklyn, NY
CHAMBER MUSIC COLLABORATIONS
Left to right: Michelle Cann, Viet Cuong, Boston Brass, Arturo Sandoval.
Imani Winds has two exciting touring
projects in the 2024-2025 season.
Imani Winds and pianist Michelle Cann will
tour a concert program featuring Viet
Cuong’s Circadian Rhythms, alongside
music by Paquito D’Rivera, Valerie
Coleman, and Frances Poulenc.
Imani Winds and Boston Brass will give the
world premiere of a new work for the
ensembles by the iconic, multi-Grammy
Award-winning musician and composer
Arturo Sandoval. The program also
features music by Aram Khachaturian,
Paquito D’Rivera, Manuel De Falla, and
Billy May.

P A G E 7
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
GOVERNANCE
WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBER OF
IMANI WINDS’ BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ANDRÉ WASHINGTON
André J. Washington is a finance attorney at Phillips Lytle LLP with years of
experience representing international investment banks and private credit lenders in
a variety of financing transactions, including community development lending
involving low-income and senior housing, bond financing, transactions involving
federal and state tax credits, construction lending and commercial real estate
transactions. André is a dedicated community member, serving on several
committees of the local bar association in Rochester, NY. André is also an
accomplished musician who graduated from the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, NY, studied in France on a Fulbright scholarship and continues to perform
as a member of a local chamber orchestra. He is an active member of the local and
national flute associations.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Toyin
Spellman-Diaz
President
André
Washington
Monica Ellis
Treasurer
James Roe
Caroline
Giassi
Secretary
Richard
Weinert

P A G E 8
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
FINANCIALS
R E V E N U E
F Y 2 2
F Y 2 3
F Y 2 4
A R T I S T I C C O N T R A C T E D S E R V I C E S
$ 569,254
$ 560,601
$ 560,608
I M A N I W I N D S C H A M B E R M U S I C
F E S T I V A L ( I W C M F )
$ 42,180
$ 40,526
$ 52,255
I N D I V I D U A L C O N T R I B U T I O N S
$ 35,832
$ 34,485
$ 40,387
F O U N D A T I O N G R A N T S
$ 76,500
$ 137,500
$ 86,500
G O V E R N M E N T G R A N T S
$ 24,000
$ 94,010
$ 91,270
M E R C H A N D I S E
$ 6,223
$ 3,054
$ 3,965
I M A N I W I N D S M E D I A
TOTAL REVENUE
$ 0 $ 0
$ 753,989 $ 920,176
$ 75,000
$ 909,985
E X P E N S E S
I M A N I W I N D S S A L A R I E S
I M A N I W I N D S C H A M B E R M U S I C
F E S T I V A L
C O N S U L T A N T S &
P R O F E S S I O N A L S E R V I C E S
B O O K I N G A G E N T
C O M M I S S I O N
T R A V E L , L O D G I N G , M E A L S
$ 394,630 276,166 $ 420,000 744,442 $ 420,000
$ 36,464 $ 79,477 $ 94,450
$ 37,669 $ 51,075 $ 78,180
$ 109,383 $ 116,153 $ 112,348
$ 69,448 $ 82,178 $ 84,091
R E C O R D I N G & P R O D U C T I O N $ 6,820 $ 30,247 $ 0
G U E S T A R T I S T S & C O M P O S E R
C O M M I S S I O N S
$ 21,331 $ 77,945 $ 4,525
O F F I C E E X P E N S E S , F E E S ,
I N S U R A N C E
$ 12,142 $ 61,879
$ 55,291
I M A N I W I N D S M E D I A $ 0 $ 0
$ 65,102
TOTAL EXPENSES
$ 687,887 $ 918,954 $ 913,987
C A S H R E S E R V E / I N V E S T M E N T $ 0 $ 50,000 $ 50,000

P A G E 9
IMANI WINDS FOUNDATION 2023-2024
23-24 CONTRIBUTORS
WE THANK OUR INCREDIBLE DONORS, SUPPORTERS AND
FRIENDS FOR THE ONGOING SUPPORT!
$10,000+
Howard Gilman Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
New Music USA
New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs
New York Community Trust New
York State Council on the Arts
$5,000 - $9,999
Anonymous
The Aaron Copland Fund
Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation
$500 - $4,999
Alice Ditson Fund
Amphion Fund
Carole Alexander
Amanda Baker
Sandra Billingslea
Stephen Broll
Gil DeJean
Darrick Hamilton
David Hattner
Jonathan Hodgson
Ronnie Lacroute
Tim McAllister
James Roe
Nate Smith
Richard Weinert
$100 - $499
Anonymous
Candace Allen
Kevin L. Allen
M. Alexander Broadhead
Silas Brown
Betty Bobbitt Byrne
Bill Capone
Jenny Cline
Alexis Clipper
Sherri Young Coats
Audrey Conrad
Hal D’Amico
Aaron Diehl
Judy Dines
Marlene Ellis
Siobhan Kelly-Martens
Antonia Fasanelli
Andrew Flinders
Marianne Gedigian
Bob Gore
Susan Langlas Grace
Shoshana Lash
Lenny Hindell
Steven Huntzicker
Ellen Hwangbo
Sheila Jackson
Mary Javian
Raymond Johnston, Jr.
Alex Laing
Nicole McKenzie
Alicia Hall Moran
Liz Player
Audra Purita
William Purvis
Stuart Rose
Danielle Reed
Catherine Small
Kenneth Small
Anna Snider Donna
Walker-Kuhne
Terrence Wilson
Robert Whipple
Jetta Whittaker
$99 and under
Ruth Aguirre
Peter Askim
Bev Balliett
Donna Yoko Bender
Sylia Berry
Sharon & Gerald Bilodeau
Judith Bourne
Rebecca Burrington
Danielle Calabrese
Danielle Calabrese
Michael Dover
Rhonda Hill Coleman
Isabelle Positive Energy
Darius Farhoumand
Debbie Flint
Ian Greer
Lynn Grice
Timothy Holley
Brenda Feliciano
Nathan Ingrim
J.P. Leventhal
Ryan Lohr
Rhonda Henderson
Naomi Lewin
Holly Low
Margaret Marco
Deborah Mass
Nicole McKenzie
Daniel Pesca
Daria Phillips
Helen Rennie
Jason Rennie
David Schober
Karen Spellman
Toyin Spellman-Diaz
Ian Tyson
Janet Underhill
Fio Vialard
Diana Lewis Walters
Joy Wellington
Fanny Wyrick-Flax
The Imani Winds Foundation is proudly supported by these generous organizations.