Phish Fans Celebrate Innovative Music Education
The Mockingbird Foundation has announced the inaugural recipients of the DeLucia Award for Innovation in Music Education, which recognizes individuals who have created and implemented innovative methods for the effective development of musical abilities, that make efficient use of available resources, that are replicable in other settings, and that are likely to inspire others to seek, provide, and support music education. Up to five DeLucia Award recipients are to be named each year, one of whom may be noted for special distinction by means of a monetary Prize in the amount of $1,000.
The 2006 DeLucia Prize is awarded to Dr. Will Schmid, former president of the Music Educator’s National Council (MENC) and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who created the World Music Drumming Curriculum for K-12 students. The program was launched in five Milwaukee middle schools in 1996, is now utilized in thousands of schools across North America, and has shown outstanding success at engaging students in hand-drumming traditions (particularly those of West Africa and the Caribbean) combined with singing, moving, and playing other instruments.
The Foundation also named three other winners of the 2006 DeLucia Award:
- Bob Turbanic, a teacher at Wheeling Park High School in Wheeling, WV, created the Bluegrass Music Club ten years ago as part of the International Bluegrass Music Association‘s Bluegrass in Schools effort. Turbanic’s creation teaches any interested student at Wheeling Park to play bluegrass music and then takes them to perform at bluegrass festivals and institutions nationwide. The program utilizes the enthusiasm of its own students to inspire other youth to perform bluegrass, and is widely recognized by both educators and musicians for its resounding success, including
having spurred similar programs in at least thirty states. - Christoph Geiseler leveraged his Bachelor’s thesis at Princeton to expand a participatory student group for jam-fans (Modern Improvisational Music Appreciation) into MIMA Music, an organization with a mission “to inspire students of all ages with a lifelong appreciation for music making.” The expanded organization employs the skills and manpower of Princeton students within the multi-faceted SpinJazz program. That program provides free after-school music lessons for 8-12 year old inner-city children who don’t have music education during school hours; gives motivational performances to high school and college students; hosts group jam sessions, drum sessions, and performances for all ages (including adults) at any location; and rewards its college volunteers with summer teaching fellowships abroad.
- Robert Skamai, band director at Lenape Elementary School, Pittsburgh, PA, teaches students
rhythms and notes first, without written music, much like a child learns to speak by first imitating sounds made by those around them. Skamai thereby inverts conventional processes in music education, which emphasize technical monotony as a route to soulful understanding. His approach instead leverages both conventional processes of acculturation and the natural proclivities of students, to generate a more thorough and widespread appreciation among students for the educational process in which they are engaged.
The Foundation welcomes nominations for future awards, and invites interest in participation on the DeLucia Awards Committee, which will select recipients for future years. The Awards will typically be announced in March, to mark both Music in our Schools Month and the anniversary of the Foundation
(begun in March 1996 and legally incorporated in March of 1997). The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about the band Phish and its music. Since its inception in 1996, the Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff. It fundraises for music education for children by celebrating the music of Phish through books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community. Funds are distributed through a two-tiered application process that has provided over 150 grants, in 36 states, totaling over $500,000.
The second edition of The Phish Companion (the Foundation’s 928-page authoritative encyclopedia) is available from major book outlets nationwide. Its double-disc tribute album Sharin’ in the Groove is available in CD format through Amazon, CDBaby.com, and Homegrown Music Network, as well as in digital format from iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, BuyMusic, MusicMatch, Sony Connect, MusicIsHere, Liquid Digital Media, PassAlong, MusicNet, Puretracks, MusicNow, and LoudEye! For more information about Mockingbird, or to make a donation, please visit www.mbird.org.
Phish was a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing concert acts before its farewell show August 15, 2004. For more information about Phish, please visit the official http://www.phish.com and the fan-managed Phish.net.
The Mockingbird Foundation has announced the establishment of the DeLucia Award for Innovation in Music Education. Named for Mockingbird founder Craig DeLucia, the awards will acknowledge outstanding contributions of a creative nature. They will be given to at least one and not more than five individuals each year, recognizing achievements during at least the previous calendar year. Additionally, one of each year’s DeLucia Award recipients will receive the DeLucia Prize, a monetary complement in the amount of $1,000 for at least the first three years.
Befitting the far-reaching impacts that Craig DeLucia’s own interests and innovations have rendered, the recipient(s) of the DeLucia Awards will have demonstrated a passion for music through the use of unconventional genres, methods, instruments, environments, and/or other aspects of music education. As judged by the awards committee, the recipient(s) should have accomplished something which effectively developed musical abilities, made efficient use of available resources, could be replicated in other settings, and might inspire others to seek, provide, and/or support music education.
The first award recipient(s) will be selected by the Foundation board, who will then devise an awards committee for future years. That committee is anticipated to draw from the Foundation’s advisory panel, representatives of several national music education associations, and past recipients of the award.
Nominations are accepted on a rolling basis, beginning immediately, to daime@mbird.org. Nominations consist of an email identifying the nominator, the nominee, their relationship, and the nominee’s fit with the criteria specified above. Fax, postal, and other hardcopy submissions are not accepted. Email attachments should not exceed one megabyte (1MB) total per nomination. Web addresses (URLs) of supporting materials are encouraged.
The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about the band Phish and its music. Conceived in 1996, and founded in 1997, the Foundation is operated entirely by volunteers, without any salaries or paid staff. It fundraises for music education for children by celebrating the music of Phish. Its comprehensive books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community have raised more than $250K and funded scores of grants so far. The Foundation will release a second edition of The Phish Companion in the coming weeks, and will announce its next round of grant recipients in October.
Phish is a rock band from Burlington, VT. They began on December 2, 1983, became one of the highest grossing and most beloved touring acts in history, and will perform their final [sic] show on August 15, 2004, in Coventry, VT. The band’s net proceeds from its LivePhish.com music distribution service are donated to the Mockingbird Foundation.
