California · Nonprofit
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST (California) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,162,771 to it, the largest being HIND FOUNDATION ($6,202,633). 104 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.3M
- Funders on record
- 138
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $104M
What Music Academy of the West does
Mission
The mission of the Music Academy of the West is to provide classically trained musicians and diverse audiences with transformative educational and performance experiences.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The music academy presents an annual full-scholarship summer school and festival for 135 classically trained fellows ages 18 to 34. In 2023, for eight intensive weeks, our fellows studied with over 50 exceptional teaching artists, performed in more than 100 concerts and masterclasses, and forged close connections with the community through our unique compeer program. Music academy also seeks to engage diverse audiences by offering $10 community access tickets, welcoming everyone from across all generations, cultures, and backgrounds to experience the transformative power of music.
$7,066,211 spentof which $25,000 as grants$677,286 earned by the program78% of program spendingYear-round, the music academy continues its commitment to music education, performance, and career-advancing mentorship for alumni. The sing! Program is a free, after-school choral program for local elementary students which aims to inspire personal growth and expression through music. Sing! Had over 220 participants, held programs in 6 local santa barbara county schools, and offered up to 15 performance opportunities to choristers. Music academy supported alumni creative projects and programs geared towards entrepreneurial and "off-stage" training through the alumni enterprise awards, fast pitch competition, mentorship, and summer residencies. As part of the keston music academy exchange (max) partnership with the london symphony orchestra (lso), 12 instrumentalists were selected for a 10-day london residency performing side-by-side with lso musicians. The music academy also engaged the santa barbara community through its fall mariposa concert series, met live broadcasts, and by offering its campus spaces to local music teachers and performing arts organizations.
$2,025,277 spentof which $67,500 as grants$300,807 earned by the program22% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,091,488.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $108M to $121M (+12%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 0% · 2020 3% · 2021 3% · 2022 2% · 2023 5% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Maurice Singer
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 50 funders to 64 funders, grant income fell $3.9M → $2.9M.
25 of 138 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 138 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
39% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 50% · 2019 19% · 2020 22% · 2021 42% · 2022 28% · 2023 17% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
54% of MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
75% of MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST's revenue grew 18% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $40k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$40k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
67%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST?
- MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST (California) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,162,771 to it, the largest being HIND FOUNDATION ($6,202,633). 104 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST have?
- IRS filings report 138 organizations giving $27,162,771 in grants to MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST, 104 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST?
- HIND FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,202,633 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 138 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing