THE SOREL ORGANIZATION
The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization Inc. is a 501©(3) private foundation, established in 1996 by pianist Claudette Sorel and named for her parents. The American pianist and educator was a passionate advocate for women in the arts. The mission of The Sorel Organization (www.SorelMusic.org) is to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women musicians in the fields of conducting, composition, film scoring, performance, arts leadership, technology, education, and scholarship.
Notable activities of The Sorel Organization include The Sorel Classics Label, Sorel Medallions in Choral Composition and Recording, collaborations with the American Pianists Association, prominent choral organizations and symphony orchestras, as well as scholarship funds in film scoring at New York University and in solo piano at SUNY Fredonia, where Claudette Sorel taught for many years.
Throughout her career, the American pianist and educator Claudette Sorel was a passionate advocate for women in the arts. Before her death in 1999 at age 66, Ms. Sorel placed an endowment for women conductors and composers at the New York Philharmonic. The fund has supported Philharmonic commissions by Julia Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, and Kaija Saariaho, and podium appearances by Jane Glover, Emmanuelle Haim, Susanna Maalkki, Jeannette Sorrell, Simone Young, and Xian Zhang, among others.
CLAUDETTE SOREL
During her career Ms. Sorel made more than 2,000 concert, recital, and festival appearances and appeared as soloist with 200 orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NBC Symphony, and London Philharmonic. Her signature work was Edward MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and she gave world premieres of music by Lukas Foss, Harold Morris, Paul Creston, and Peter Mennin, among others. Her numerous awards and citations include the Ford Foundation Concert Artist Grant, and the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Award (as its youngest winner). She judged for countless international and national music competitions, and recorded for the RCA Victor, Monitor and Musical Heritage labels.
PHILANTHROPY
Endowments
New York Philharmonic: The Claudette Sorel Performance Fund
New York University: The Claudette Sorel Film Scoring Scholarship
SUNY Fredonia: The Claudette Sorel Fellowship in Solo Piano
Organizations
American Composers Forum
American Pianists Association
Music & Arts Programs of America
National Arts Club, NYC
New Music USA
New York University: Screen Scoring Summer Workshops
Recording Inclusivity Initiative
SongFest
Sparks & Wiry Cries
SUNY Fredonia: The Claudette Sorel Piano Competition & Fellows Program;
The Claudette Sorel Visiting Artist
The Town Hall, NYC
Voices of Ascension, NYC
Sorel's Esteemed Composers List
The following composers have received support from the Sorel Organization through Sorel Medallion programs, commissions, recording grants, and through grants to nonprofit arts organizations.
Lera Auerbach
Dawn Avery
Juhi Bansal
Emily Bear
Melinda Bargreen
Eve Beglarian
Abbie Betinis
Lisa Bielawa
Jenni Brandon
Margaret Brouwer
Lucia Caruso
Goussy Celestin
Judith Cloud
Haiqiong Deng
Alexa Dexa
Christine Donkin
Emily Doolittle
Melanie Dyer
Mira Eom
Reena Esmail
Gabriela Lena Frank
Dorothy Frisch
Stacy Garrop
Sarah Goldfeather
Anna Gruman
Jocelyn Hagen
Juliana Hall
Jennifer Higdon
Gao Hong
Annie Hsieh
Chiayu Hsu
Laura Kaminsky
Leanna Kirchoff
Yumi Kurosawa
Yea Kyung
Lori Laitman
Sally Lamb McCune
Libby Larsen
Chris Lastovicka
Anne LeBaron
Erica Lindsay
Shara Lunon
Missy Mazzoli
Jessie Montgomery
Joyce Solomon Moorman
Tamar Muskal
Niloufar Nourbakhsh
Sheena Phillips
Shulamit Ran
Augusta Read Thomas
Christina Whitten Thomas
Pauchi Sasaki
Nina Shekhar
Marilyn Shrude
Sheila Silver
Nina Siniakova
Cecilia Smith
Sarah Kirkland Snider
Allison Sniffin
Martha Sullivan
Dobrinka Tabakova
Nancy Wertsch
Ayanna Woods
Chen Yi
Bora Yoon
Judith Lang Zaimont
PEOPLE
Board of Directors
Walter T. Killmer, Jr., President
JoAnn Falletta, Vice President
Wende Persons, Managing Director
Advisor Advocates
Tony Caramia
Caroline Croen
David Dubal
Joel Harrison
Neeme Järvi
Tania Leon
Kevin Mostyn
Melissa Ngan
Liz Norman
Vanessa Reed
Vanessa Rose
Ronald Sadoff
Janet Sarbaugh
Arlene Shrut
Brann Wry
Administration
Wende Persons, Managing Director, Board of Directors
Dmitri Shelest, Administrator & Recordings Consultant
Kendra Harvey, Sterling Foundation Management
This website and content copyright 2006-2023 The Sorel Organization