Join Us in Our Campaign for Artistic Resistance
Become a PROTESTRA Season Sponsor
To create a large-scale musical resistance and take a stand against government censorship of the arts, we need your support. PROTESTRA is launching a new Season Sponsorship Circle in our boldest fundraising campaign yet: We are seeking 200 Season Sponsors who will commit to donating $1,000 each over the course of the year.
PROTESTRA is the only symphony orchestra in the US that has regularly produced benefit concerts specifically advocating for social justice causes since 2020. However, in the past, we have only been able to produce a handful of concerts per season. A fully active Season Sponsorship Circle would provide PROTESTRA with $200,000 per year, enough funding to produce 10 full orchestra concerts. This season’s action starts with our March 1st concert to stand up for freedom of expression and benefit NYC immigrants.
Why have a fundraiser right now? The President's recent attack on the arts community compels us to begin our own musical resistance movement. We need your help more urgently than ever in the fight to preserve artistic freedom.
The National Endowment for the Arts has announced new funding guidelines for Fiscal Year 2026, canceling its grant program that prioritized bringing the arts to underserved communities nationwide. In an unprecedented move pulled directly from the authoritarian playbook, President Trump has fired 18 members of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, appointed a new interim Executive Director for the center, and installed himself Chairman as part of an effort to prevent the venue from staging future productions that feature performers in drag or anything else he deems “anti-American propaganda.” In his words, he has unilaterally decided to remove individuals “who do not share [his] Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
These attempts at stifling artistic expression show that our leaders are well aware of the importance of the arts and the impact they have on society. We founded PROTESTRA to use music to speak out against injustice, and we unequivocally refuse to remain silent in the face of our Executive Branch’s desire to control the national cultural narrative.
Our current season, titled PROTESTRA 2025, will include concerts and resistance efforts against government policies that encroach on our civil rights. We have ambitious plans to advocate for causes including trans rights, free gender expression, artistic liberty, immigrant and refugee rights, women’s rights, and climate action.
To produce a PROTESTRA concert, our costs include:
- Venue rental fees (rehearsals and performance)
- Musician expenses
- Honorarium fees (many musicians offer to donate their honorarium fee back to our partner charity for each concert)
- Instrument rentals
- Sheet music and licensing fees
- Administrative and marketing costs
- Recording and photography
To make these goals a reality, we need to grow our resources, our team, and our reach. It is common for nonprofits in our position to begin pursuing government grants in order to help fund their activities. Yet many arts organizations are now at a crossroads with regard to such funding: Either choose a watered-down message to fit revised grant guidelines or face budget cuts.
As a young organization, the majority of our funding has thus far come from individual donors; we aren’t beholden to federal grant guidelines that would restrict our work and our message of social justice for all. We intend to keep it that way and will not back down from our vision of being a pioneer for change in the classical music industry. We realize that to truly be an orchestra “for the people”—rather than one subject to government influence—we must take the leap and fully commit to our grassroots approach.
PROTESTRA is steadfast in our commitment to create art and speaking out in response to the dismantling of fundamental rights. Join us in taking a stand.
- Season Sponsors receive credit on our website & programs as well as the full benefits of our Monthly Membership.
- Your $1,000 gift can be lump-sum, quarterly, or monthly. These options are all available upon clicking the "donate" button.
- We have a "Take-A-Stand" Partner Program for Season Sponsorship: If you would like to split the $1,000 annual gift with a friend of your choosing or be assigned to another interested sponsor, please email us at development@protestra.org.
Can't commit to the Season Sponsorship Circle at this time? Consider the following options:
1. Find a friend or be paired with another sponsor in our "Take-A-Stand" Partner Program. Email development@protestra.org if you are interested in this option.