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.