Shai Maestro, New York City, received $20,000 to compose and record a new album as a bandleader, expanding his current artistic practice beyond his trio work to include solo piano repertoire and a collaboration between his trio and several vocalists: Master Flamenco singer Rafael de Utrera, Theo Bleckmann, and three members of the Philip Kutev Bulgarian choir: Neli Andreeva, Kalinka Andreeva, and Tanya Parvanova.