Cantilena Chamber Choir in Lenox has been awarded a $1,500 Choral Arts New England Alfred Nash Patterson Grant in support of a recent performance of music in the galleries of Pittsfield’s Berkshire Museum that was inspired by the art displayed in each gallery.

Cantilena is one of 11 New England choruses — four of them in Massachusetts — to be awarded grants totaling $13,000.

“We’ve applied for this grant for several years and we’re delighted, finally, to receive one,” Cantilena’s founding director, Andrea Gooman, said by telephone from her home in Lenox.

“It’s a highly competitive grant that values not only artistic merit, but also creative projects, especially collaborations, that serve the community.”

Founded in 2004, Cantilena Chamber Choir is a 24-member ensemble of experienced, vocally trained community singers.

This year’s Alfred Nash Patterson Grant recipients are from five New England states: four from Massachusetts, three from Connecticut, two from Rhode Island, and one each from New Hampshire and Maine.

The grants will be presented at the 27th annual Alfred Nash Patterson Awards ceremony Sunday afternoon at 3 at the College Club of Boston.

Admission is by invitation only.

During the ceremonies, John Oliver, founder and conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually by Choral Arts New England to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to choral singing and its culture within New England.

Oliver recently celebrated his 40th anniversary as conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, which he founded at the request of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to be their official chorus. Oliver has been Director of Vocal and Choral Activities at the Tanglewood Music Center, a faculty member and director of the choral programs at MIT, and music faculty member at Boston University.

– Jeffrey Borak. arts and entertainment editor, Berkshire Eagle, October 29, 2011