Fellowship

The FELLOWSHIP component of The Federation of the Art Song supports the careers of exceptional singers and collaborative pianists who share a passion for art song performance by providing opportunities, mentorship, and financial support. Applicants of all ages are welcome.

The Fellowship is designed to help these artists in the following areas:

1. Develop entrepreneurial acumen in seeking new venues and designing programs for diverse settings and audiences. We encourage artists to effectively use media and other means to build audiences.

2. Champion both traditional repertoire and music from under-represented cultures and composers.

3. Re-imagine the recital/concert format for our 21st Century according to their unique artistic voices, skills and backgrounds.

In 2026, as the United States marks the semiquincentennial of its founding, FAS will reflect on the rich, multifaceted landscape of American vocal music. Rather than framing this moment as a celebration of nationhood alone, we invite artists and audiences to explore the many musical traditions - past and present - that have shaped the American experience. From art song to the Great American Songbook, from folk traditions to contemporary and popular idioms, American music reflects a tapestry of histories: Indigenous, immigrant, diasporic, regional, and more. As we begin our fall 2025 search for the 2026 FAS Fellows, we encourage a wide and thoughtful engagement with this evolving repertoire. Join us in honoring the complexity and vitality of American song—a heritage that is not fixed, but alive with many voices.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Applications for the 2026 FAS Fellowship must be submitted by October 5, 2025. There is no application fee.

The preliminary round of auditions will be via submission of an online video. Selected artists must be prepared for the in-person Semifinal and Final auditions in October 23 and 24, 2025; venue for live auditions will be Miller Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music.

Approximately ten singer-pianist duos will be selected for the Semifinals, and five duos for the Finals. Each duo will perform for approximately fifteen minutes in the Semifinals and twenty minutes in the Finals.

APPLICATIONS

The application form for the upcoming auditions is found at this link. Completed applications are due by October 5, 2025.

We require the following: headshot, curriculum vitae, biographical sketch, website address/social media presence (if available), as well as names and contact information for two professional references.

As a vital component of the application, each singer-pianist duo will create a document outlining a sample, thematic program of thirty minutes in length, based on the heritage of American song as described above.

REPERTOIRE

The preliminary round consists of performance video(s) of three art songs, one each in English, German, and French. The video(s) must include a spoken introduction (in English) featuring both performers; this introduction can appear anytime during the video(s). We believe that strong performance skills in these standard languages/styles are vital for success in broadening the scope and identity of the art song concert. At least one song must have been composed since 1975. [The performance(s) may be recorded separately and uploaded individually, or all three songs may be edited together into one video. In other words, each team will submit one, two, or three links to their YouTube videos (as directed on the application), with each performer speaking at least once during this round.]
Repertoire for the Semifinal and Final auditions must be selected from the broad range of American song (as described in italics above), optionally from the “sample, thematic program…of American song” also described above.
Semifinal repertoire selections must be submitted in advance, date TBD. Repertoire for the Final auditions may be selected from the Semifinal repertoire and/or music by other American composers. [It is not expected that all the repertoire for the preliminary round be chosen from the American tradition.]
Each duo will prepare fifteen minutes of music for the Semifinals and twenty minutes for the Finals. Each performer must speak about their repertoire during the Semifinals and Finals (similar to the preliminary auditions).

AWARDS

The Fellowship will be awarded to the duo which best exemplifies the mission of FAS, based on performance, creativity, and communicative abilities demonstrated throughout the auditions and in conversation with the panel of judges.

As recipients of the Fellowship, the First-Place duo will receive a $2,000 stipend per artist (total $4,000 for the duo) for two public performances (to be scheduled by FAS), and $1,000 seed money for a third performance to be produced by the duo.

All semifinalists will be awarded a $250 honorarium per artist.

For more specific information, click here to view the letter of understanding between FAS and the current Fellows.

Auditions for the FAS Fellowship 2025 were held on October 24 and 25, 2024, in Miller Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music.

We are thrilled to introduce our brilliant Federation of the Art Song Fellows 2025:

KERRIGAN BIGELOW, soprano

AMBER SCHERER, piano

Kerrigan Bigelow, from North Andover, Massachusetts, is currently a fast-rising young soprano on the New York concert and opera scene. In fall 2024 she began her Masters degree in voice performance at The Juilliard School, where she recently completed the degree Bachelor of Music. There she studies with Amy Burton.

During 2024, she debuted as Mariuccia in I Due Timidi, covered Aldimira in Erismena, and sang Sarriaho’s Aria from The Grammar of Dreams as part of Juilliard’s The New Series: The Mad King and Carnegie Hall’s Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on Precipice. Notably, Kerrigan was the winner of the Vocal Arts Honors Recital at Juilliard, and thus made her Alice Tully Hall debut.

Kerrigan has also performed with the New York Festival of Song on three occasions. She is the honored recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School.

Amber Ginmi Scherer is a Brooklyn-based pianist and educator. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Piano Performance and Psychology from Oberlin, as well as a Master’s in Collaborative Piano from The Juilliard School. Amber’s artistic passion is rooted in collaboration and dedication to the underrepresented demographics of the classical canon. During her second year at Juilliard, Amber performed works by H.T. Burleigh and Christopher Armstrong (Juilliard ‘25) on a program in celebration of Black History Month. One month later, she performed a recital at Merkin Hall with soprano Kerrigan Bigelow, in addition to a recital through City Lyric Opera with soprano Amanda Simms, both of vocal works on femininity and disenfranchisement.

As part of her education, Amber has attended various programs on fellowship, including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Caramoor Residency, and Art of the Piano Festival. Amber is deeply committed to broadening accessibility to the arts. She spent 2022-23 as an Americorps Resident Teaching Artist in Queens, NY, and was subsequently a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s Segal Education Award. Currently, she is on faculty at the Brooklyn Music School at BAM, on staff at PROTESTRA, and serves as an opera pianist at The Juilliard School.