FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded by Phish fans, has announced ten new grants, totaling $40,751, supporting music education for children. The grants come from the Mockingbird Foundation’s 15th round of competitive grant-making, and bring total Mockingbird disbursements to over $700,000.

These newest grants support programs at six schools and four non-profit organizations in eight states:

• $5,000 for scholarships to the Student to Student program at Connecticut Percussive Arts Society (Bridgeport, CT)
• $5,000 for instruments for the Rural Music Corps at Ethos (Portland, OR)
• $4,716 for equipment for the Rock and Rhythm Band at Jefferson Middle School (Albuquerque, NM)
• $2,500 for computer software and related items for a Music Technology class at Lindley Sixth Grade Academy (Mableton, GA)
• $5,000 for equipment for the Create and Perform! program at Michigan Opera Theatre (Detroit, MI)
• $5,000 for instruments for the band program at Oakland School District (Oakland, OR)
• $5,000 for instruments for Peer Power at Shelby Middle School (Boyle, MS)
• $3,535 for staffing for the Primal Connection troubled-teen percussion education program of Avon Park Youth Academy (Sebring, FL)
• $5,000 for instruments for the Elementary Rock Band at  Walnut Canyon Performing Arts & Technology Magnet School (Moorpark, CA)
• $5,000 for scholarships to Aswat Youth at Zawaya (San Mateo, CA)

These ten grantees were selected from among 1,149 initial applicants who requested a total of more than $4.6 million. Due to such high demand, the Foundation’s two-tiered online application process remains one of the most competitive in the nation. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org so that we can continue to increase the percentage of applicants whom we are ultimately able to fund.

The Mockingbird Foundation, run entirely by volunteers, supports music education for children by fundraising through Phish-related projects. The Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was organized by Phish fans in 1996, formally incorporated in 1997, and has since then distributed over $710,000 through 219 grants in 43 states.

The Foundation is also the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through www.phish.net since 1994 and having published two editions of the popular trade paperback books The Phish Companion: A Guide to the Band and Their Music. The Foundation is able to disburse more than 98% of the funds raised to important and innovative programs serving diverse populations.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation. For more information about Phish, please visit phish.com and phish.net.

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The Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded by Phish fans, has announced six new grants, totaling $26,300, supporting music education for children. The grants come from the Mockingbird Foundation’s 14th round of competitive grant-making, coincide with the 14th anniversary of the Foundation’s incorporation, and bring the total Mockingbird disbursements to nearly $650,000.

These newest grants support programs at two schools and four non-profit organizations, in six states (including the first Mockingbird grant in West Virginia):

• $4,000 for instrument purchases at Mae Eanes Middle School‘s Band Program (Mobile, AL)
• $2,500 for scholarships at The Symphony Women’s Association‘s First Music Lessons for Underserved Children (Tuscon, AZ), to support weekly classes on songwriting and improvisation
• $5,000 for scholarships at Bay Area Girls Rock‘s Girls Rock Summer Camp and Girls Rock After School Program (Oakland, CA)
• $5,000 for staffing at The Swope Music Program of Swope Corridor Renaissance/Upper Room, Inc. (Kansas City, MO)
• $5,000 for staffing at the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School‘s Beats Music Program (Brooklyn, NY)
• $4,800 for materials and supplies for Step by Step, Inc.’s Rock Camp 4 Girls Appalachia (Charleston, WV)

The Mockingbird Foundation, run entirely by volunteers, supports music education for children by fundraising through Phish-related projects. The Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was organized by Phish fans in 1996, formally incorporated in 1997, and has since then distributed over $648,000 through 198 grants in 43 states.

The Foundation is also the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through www.phish.net since 1994. The Foundation is able to disburse more than 98% of the funds raised to important and innovative programs serving diverse populations. Due to high demand, the Foundation’s two-tiered application process remains one of the most competitive in the nation. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation. For more information about Phish, please visit phish.net and phish.com

An all-volunteer group of Phish fans today announced that it is awarding twelve new grants to support music education for children. The grants will pay for instruments ranging from recorders to sitars, a well as stands and sheet music, performance and recording equipment, scholarships, instructor fees, and rental space. They support school bands, after-school programs, and innovative forms of music education; at elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, community centers, and an emergency shelter.

This thirteenth round of competitive grants from the Mockingbird Foundation totals $52,980, more than twice the previous round’s disbursement, and will support diverse programs throughout the U.S.:

• Central Heights Elementary School (Richmond, KS) for instruments and art-prints for a program in which groups of 1st-3rd graders compose music inspired by printed art.
• Dewar Public School (Dewar, OK) to purchase wind and reed instruments for 5th-12th grade band students.
• Edison Elementary School (Centralia, WA) for a tiny primary school in a community hit hard by unemployment and flooding.
• Girls Rock Philly (Philadelphia, PA) for keyboards, a drum kit, a PA, and other materials for a one-week summer day camp.
• Hope Haven (St. Louis, MS) to cover instructor fees for a year’s worth of music lessons at an emergency shelter for abused and neglected children.
• John Winthrop Elementary School (Dorchester, MA) for recorders, music stands, sheet music, and more for inner-city elementary students.
• Knowledge-First Empowerment Center (Houston, TX) for a unique Play It Forward program in which students volunteer to help peers.
• Nuçi’s Space (Athens, GA) to provide instruction and space for the Camped Amped after-school program that aims to prevent suicide through music education.
• River Arts of Morrisville, Inc. (Morrisville, VT) for instruction and percussion instruments to expand the World Groovez program.
• Sitar Arts Center (Washington, DC) to help make the Instrumental Music Education Project accessible to children from low-income families.
• Somis Union School District (Somis, CA) for guitars and supplies for the MAS (Music After School) Guitars program for K-8th graders.
• Washington Peace Center / Girls Rock DC (Washington, DC) to support instruments, equipment, and staff for a second week of summer camp.

Each of these grants adds critical support for an important and innovative program in music education for children. Several fund new programs, and all target underserved students, cultures, communities, and/or musical genres. The Foundation has now made 187 grants in 40 states, disbursed a total of $602,695.04, and will continue announcing new grants for years to come.

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 is one of the most competitive in the country.

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 performed a “final show” on August 15, 2004. They will reunite this coming Friday (March 6, 2009) for three shows at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, prior to a summer tour in June that includes two performances at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (Manchester, Tennessee) and eleven shows in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Wisconsin. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.

An all-volunteer group of Phish fans today announced that it is awarding seven new grants, totaling $25,980, to support music education for children. This twelfth round of competitive grants from the Mockingbird Foundation will support diverse programs throughout the U.S., including:

• Cleveland School (Santa Barbara, CA) to bring Kid Pan Alley professionals to an underserved, primarily Latino/Hispanic elementary school to engage students in songwriting
• Concordia University (St. Paul, MN) for instruction, sheet music, and instruments hand-made by Hmong elders as part of a K-12 language and culture program for refugees
• Evergreen Elementary School (Fort Lewis, WA) for 3/4 of the budget of a Making Music Fit the Child program for special needs children of enlisted soldiers
• Kuumbwa Jazz Society (Santa Cruz, CA) for salaries and scholarships for a summer jazz camp at one of the first non-profit jazz organizations in the country
• Paris Middle School (Paris, KY) for a digital piano and related supplies to a national heritage program for urban fifth graders
• Vail Elementary School (Temecula, CA) for professional instruction costs to help restore an instrumental program axed through budget cuts
• Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls (New York, NY) for full scholarships to five girls from low-income households to attend the 2008 summer program

Each of these grants adds critical support for an important and innovative program in music education for children. Several fund new programs, and all target underserved students, cultures, communities, and/or musical genres. The Foundation has now made 175 grants in 36 states, totaling $557,914.40, and will continue announcing new grants for years to come.

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 is one of the most competitive in the country.

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 performed its final show on August 15, 2004. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.

In connection with today’s celebration of the birthday of Louie Braille (1809-1852), The Mockingbird Foundation has announced a $3,500 award to the National Braille Press of Boston. The gift will partially sponsor a Spring 2006 braille production of the instruction book Who’s Afraid of Braille Music? Aimed at every teacher of braille, teacher of music, and parent who wants to help a blind child acquire music literacy, the book introduces the concepts of reading, writing, singing and playing braille music.

“The Braille System revolutionized print communication for the blind,” said Ellis Godard, Executive Director, The Mockingbird Foundation. “The Mockingbird Foundation is proud to support Louis Braille’s legacy through this grant to National Braille Press.”

The Foundation announced a total of 15 new grants, totaling $68,612, to support music education for children. The funds will provide a wide range of support (instruments, instruction, instructional space, support materials, and general operating funds) to a wide range of institutions (schools, churches, youth groups, and community centers). This round of Mockingbird grantees include the Foundation’s first in Arkansas, Hawai’i, and Montana, as well as four affected by recent hurricanes (two in Florida and two in Louisiana):

• Ball-Chatham Education Foundation (Chatham, IL)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton & Franklin Counties (Pasco, WA)
• Boys & Girls Club of Boston‘s South Boston Club (South Boston, MA)
• Central High School (West Helena, AR)
• Deltona Lakes Elementary School (Ponce Inlet, FL)
• Fort Hays State University Western Kansas String Academy (Hays, KS)
• Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra (New Orleans, LA)
• Hilbarn Theatre (Foster City, CA)
• Learning Institute (Phoenix, AZ)
• National Braille Press (Boston, MA)
• Panaewa Hawaiian Homelands Community Association (Hilo, HI)
• Unsinkable Molly Brown Foundation (Odessa, FL)
• Urban Peak & The Spot (Denver, CO)
• Sunburst Community Service Foundation (Eureka, MT)
• Young Leadership Council (New Orleans, LA)

Mockingbird funds are distributed twice per year through a two-tiered application process that is one of the most competitive in the country, able to fund fewer than one percent (1%) of the initial inquiries received. The process has provided 130 grants so far, in 36 states, totaling over $495,134. The next round of grants will be announced by June 2006.

The National Braille Press is a nonprofit organization with two core missions: (1) to promote and nurture the braille literacy of blind children and youth across the U.S. and (2) to print and publish the reading material that blind people of all ages need to fully pursue their chosen endeavors in education, work, and life. “Who’s Afraid of Braille Music?” is published in print by Dancing Dots Software (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania), a leader in the field of computer-based braille music transcription. Under an agreement with Dancing Dots, the Press produces and sells a braille edition.

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.

The second edition of The Phish Companion (the Foundation’s 928-page authoritative encyclopedia) is available from major book outlets nationwide. The Foundation’s 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 nugs.net/livedownloads.com, 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 is a rock band that started in 1983 and has not performed since August 15, 2004, then deemed its final show. For more information about Phish, please visit the official Phish.com and the fan-managed Phish.net.

MOCKINGBIRD ANNOUNCES $60,000 in GRANTS TO MUSIC EDUCATION

An all-volunteer group of Phish fans today announced that it is awarding fourteen new grants, totaling $59,976, to support music education for children. This tenth round of competitive grants from the Mockingbird Foundation will support diverse programs throughout the U.S., including:

• Apple Valley Community Activities League (Apple Valley, CA)
• Ashland City Schools Orchestra (Ashland, OH) to fully fund a strings loan program
• Fourth Street Elementary (Athens, GA) to fully fund an Orff percussion program
• Greater Mankato Area United Way (Mankato, MN) to fully fund a new program for which instruction is already provided
• Inwood Intermediate School 52 (New York, NY)
• Kid Pan Alley, of Ki Theater (Washington, VA) to fund 19 additional workshops
• KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy (San Francisco, CA)
• New York Art Ensemble, Inc. (New York, NY)
• Pine Point ISD #25 (Ponsford, MN)
• Shawnee Mission School District (Overland Park, KS)
• Three Points Elementary (Orlando, FL)
• TurnAround School (Eugene, OR) to fund and establish a guitar learning center for at-risk youth
• Woodbridge Township Education Foundation (Woodbridge, NJ)
• Youth Movement Records (Oakland, CA) to fund instructors and instruments for a hip-hop program

Each of these grants adds critical support for an important and innovative program in music education for children. At least five of them fully fund a new program. This round of grants is the first to predominantly support school-based programs, and includes the first Mockingbird grants in Georgia, Kansas, and Minnesota. The Foundation has now made over 120 grants in 33 states, totaling nearly $420,000, and will continue announcing new grants every six months for years to come.

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 is one of the most competitive in the country.

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 performed its final show on August 15, 2004. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.

MBIRD ANNOUNCES 8 NEW GRANTS, PREPARES FOR COVENTRY

The Mockingbird Foundation today announced eight new grants totalling $35,500. The new grants will support diverse programs in music education, each located in a different state. This round of grants will:

• support salaries for “pick and bow” classes through Appalshop, Whitesburg, KY;
• add a hands-on instruction component to the music education programs of Brownstone School, Hackensack, NJ;
• provide instruments for a lending library organized by Community Education Coalition, Connersville, IN;
• provide wind instruments to fifth graders through the Cornerstone Schools Association, Detroit, MI;
• provide instruments and materials for group guitar instruction through Heart of Los Angeles Youth, Los Angeles, CA;
• support $1 music lessons taught by the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Albuquerque, NM;
• provide instruments, texts, and technology for learning disabled students at Commonwealth Academy, Alexandria, VA; and
• purchase Braille music software and a Braille printer for the Blind Faith School of Music and Art, Chevy Chase, MD.

Funding for this round came through a generous donation by Phish, who announced last December that all of their net proceeds from music downloads purchased through LivePhish.com would be donated to the Mockingbird Foundation. Historically, the Foundation has been among the most competitive grant application processes around, funding less than 1% of the inquiries it receives. LivePhish revenues help increase that percentage, by providing a new fundraising stream to the Foundation.

Phish is a rock band headquartered in Burlington, VT. The band started December 2, 1983, and will perform it’s final shows ever this weekend, August 14 and 15, in Coventry, VT. The Foundation will have a strong presence at these shows, including staffing the House of Live Phish tent throughout the event, as well as distributing headbands, wristbands, stickers, postcards, flyers with crossword puzzles, and more throughout the crowd. Copies of the newest edition of The Phish Companion will be available at two vendor tents on site – Backbeat and Homegrown Music Network – and reference copies will be available for inspection in other locations.

The Mockingbird Foundation is a 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, through comprehensive books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community. The Foundation released a second edition of The Phish Companion several weeks ago, and will announce its next round of grant recipients in January.

The Mockingbird Foundation today reported that it has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for music education, and announced five new grants totalling $22,500. The new grants will support an eight-week master’s program in local culture at Bahama Village Music Program, Key West, FL; a tutoring collaboration between the Berklee College of Music and Colonel Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club, Dorchester, MA; master’s classes and guest recitals in a summer intensive music program at Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a division of Boys & Girls Harbor, Inc., New York, NY; an after-school series in hip hop and spoken word by Power of Hope, Bellingham, WA; and a YMCA-based music and theory education program of Youth Service Project, Chicago, IL.

Funding for this round came through a generous donation by Phish, who announced last December that all of their net proceeds from music downloads purchased through LivePhish.com would be donated to the Mockingbird Foundation. The first quarter’s revenues from the service generated an initial contribution to the Foundation of more than $80,000. Historically, the Foundation has been among the most competitive grant application processes around, funding less than 1% of the inquiries it receives. LivePhish revenues help increase that percentage, by providing a new fundraising stream to the Foundation.

“I’d love to see my fellow fans get as many shows as they can through LivePhish.com,” says Foundation board member Dan Hantman. “It really sends a strong signal to the band about how much we care that they’ve made so much high-quality music so readily available — not to mention how cool we think it is that they’re passing along their profits to Mockingbird to help another generation learn to play music.”

LivePhish.com offers high-quality, unedited soundboard recordings of select shows, in standard MP3 and CD-quality FLAC files via a state-of-the-art delivery system. Recordings are available to Phish fans no later than forty-eight hours after each concert. The service is currently the most popular single-artist digital download service in operation.

Phish is a rock band headquartered in Burlington, VT. The band started December 2, 1983, and will perform it’s final show on August 15, 2004, having announced last week that it would disband after its summer shows.

The Mockingbird Foundation is a 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, through comprehensive books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community. The Foundation will release a second edition of The Phish Companion this summer, and will announce its next round of grant recipients in October.