On this page: MPTF Grant Application, Newsletter Submission, Application to the 2026 Summer Music Series in Kingston
What is MPTF?
The Music Performance Trust Fund brings free, live, professional music programs to communities through a variety of means including large-scale festivals and park concerts; educational activities, teacher training and assemblies in schools; intimate assisted living facility and senior center events; and more. Events are presented in partnership with a number of national and local arts and arts education providers, local charities, and municipalities. Our aim is to increase access to quality musical experiences for public school students, older adults, and those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend professional music performances.
Musicians are paid fair wages that are at the current minimum scale per hour plus 10% pension.
Most MPTF performances require a sponsor to support the performance at 50%. Some performances are sponsored at 100% during Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Emancipation Day, and Juneteenth (USA). Educational performances are also sponsored at 100%.
For more general information, please visit the MPTF Website: https://musicpf.org
Apply For An MPTF Grant
To apply for an MPTF Grant, fill out this online form. For best results, open using the Google Chrome browser.
Please fill out the form completely, as missing information may deem your application to be ineligible. We need at least one month of lead time to process your application. Ideally, 3 months of lead time is best.
Once UPM 518 has your complete application, we apply for the grant to the New York Office on your behalf. It’s not guaranteed that the New York Office will approve your application.
Thank you for your interest in MPTF and good luck!
Submit An Article to the Newsletter
We’d love to hear about any news you may have that would interest our members. The next submission deadline for the next newsletter is August 27, 2025. Please submit your news to this form below:
2026 Summer Music Series Performer Application (Kingston)
Over the past five years, we’ve been supporting the Downtown Kingston BIA (DTKBIA) concerts with funding from MPTF, providing 50% of their budget. Each year, the local enters into an agreement with DTKBIA to ensure musicians are paid at scale and receive a pension contribution. Additionally, DTKBIA has covered musicians’ work dues and any temporary membership fees.
However, we’ve found that the agreement hasn’t always been favourable to our musicians. While it was set up to help musicians during the challenging years of COVID, we noticed a trend of more non-union musicians being employed than union musicians.
After discussions with DTKBIA, we’ve decided to make some changes. We will no longer support DTKBIA paying musicians’ work dues or temporary memberships, and we will no longer employ non-union bands over union bands. Instead, we’ve requested that at least 50% of the bands employed be union bands, and that there be variety in their hires. We’ve also asked that all bands be aware of our contribution and acknowledge the support of MPTF and the union.
This change means that more of you may have an opportunity to be hired if you wish to apply. You’ll be paid at a slightly higher rate, but there will be a 5% deduction for work dues, which hasn’t been deducted in the past five years. We hope this will be a fairer way to distribute the funding we’ve been receiving from MPTF to our members.