The Hildegard Institute was founded by Sylvia Glickman in 1992 and received 501 (c) 3 status by the IRS, in Pennsylvania, as a charitable foundation. Its mission continues to further the cause of composing, publishing, playing and publicizing the music of women past and present. As an educational and charitable foundation, it seeks and dispenses support for composers and performers. It also rewards cultural efforts to expand the audiences for music by women composers. It has helped make possible recordings and broadcasts.
Sylvia Glickman died in 2006. She is survived by her husband, Harvey Glickman, who is now president of the Institute. Lisa McDonough is first vice-president, recording secretary and artistic consultant. Nina Nathani is Treasurer and legal counsel. Peter Glickman is second vice president. The Board of Advisors of the Institute is in formation.
The Institute supports the Hildegard Chamber Players, founded by Sylvia Glickman in 1989, and based in Philadelphia, whose artistic director is now Barbara Govatos, Taylor Chair, first violin section of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Players consist of varied groupings of musicians from the Orchestra and from other Philadelphia area musical organizations. The come together to perform programs of mostly women's music — past and present — in many venues on the East Coast. Programs since 2008 have taken place at Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, and the Delaware Chamber Music Festival. In the decade 1990-2000, the Hildegard Chamber Players performed in numerous towns and cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
The Institute also supports the Sylvia Glickman Memorial Fund, inaugurated in 2006. The Fund has created the prize in her name for new chamber music compositions by a woman 40 or over, administered annually by the International Alliance for Women in Music. In 2009, the winner was Jennifer Fowler, of London, England, for her string quartet "Towards Release." Honorable mention went to Joke Kegel, of Amsterdam, Holland, for her trio in two parts, "You, wind of March," for violin, cello and piano.
Recognizing Sylvia Glickman's contributions to chamber music during her tenure as artist-in-residence and director of chamber music at Haverford College, the Memorial Fund established a prize for an outstanding student in the College chamber music program, inaugurated in 2009. In addition, a scholarship in Sylvia Glickman's name was created in 2009 for a student of piano at the Royal Academy Of Music, London, England, where Sylvia received her Licentiate in 1956.
Contributions to the Institute and to the Fund are tax-deductible, and are gratefully acknowledged.