Penn Music Graduate Students in Composition, Andrew Burke and Max Johnson, have been selected as recipients of the 2025 Student Grant Awards from the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania. This year’s application cycle was the most competitive to date, with Burke and Johnson among two of 15 students chosen for the award.
The Student Grants support creative projects led by Penn students that aim to engage the student body or the broader public. Burke and Johnson will use their grants to pursue the following projects:
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Andrew Burke – The Most Human Human (working title): An immersive, multimedia operetta loosely inspired by Brian Christian’s book The Most Human Human.
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Max Johnson – Web of Sound: A series of workshops, rehearsals, and experimental sessions to develop and refine a concert-length composition by composer and bassist Max Johnson.
The Sachs Program will celebrate all 2025 grant recipients at an announcement event on Monday, April 28, 2025, in the Arts Lounge at the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania.