In celebration of Phish’s 24-show Summer Tour, the Mockingbird Foundation will announce 11 unsolicited “miracle grants” supporting music programs across the country. Each $1,500 grant will be awarded to a music program near a venue Phish plays this summer.
This $16,500 in grants is part of a long-standing Mockingbird effort to help bring music from the Phish community to the local community, and are one of many ways fans contribute to the areas in which the band performs. Mockingbird has now made $125,000 in tour grants, 10% of all disbursements made.
The eleven recipients include a wide array of settings, genres, and populations served. We’ve announced these thus far:
- George Whittell High School Band, near Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys (Stateline, NV, July 17th and 18th)
- Quincy Jr. High School Music Dept., near Gorge Amphieatre (George, WA, July 20th through 22nd)
- El Dorado Elementary School music program, near Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (San Francisco, CA, July 24th& 25th)
- Inglewood High School Band, near The Forum (Inglewood, CA, July 27th & 28th)
- Del Valle ISD Fine Arts, near Austin360 Amphitheater (Del Valle, TX, July 31st)
- Holcomb Bridge Middle School Choral program, near Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Echo Park (Alpharetta, GA, August 3rd through 5th)
- Settlement Music School, Camden Branch, near the BB&T Pavilion (Camden, NJ, August 7th and 8th)
- Community Music School, near Walnut Creek Amphitheatre (Raleigh, NC, August 10th)
- Harper’s Choice Middle School Orchestra, near Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, MD, August 11th and 12th)
- Watkins Glen High School Music, near Watkins Glen International Speedway (Watkins Glen, NY, August 17th and 19th)
- Kearney Middle School Band, near Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, CO, August 31st through September 2nd)
The Mockingbird Foundation is an all-volunteer, fan-founded and -managed 501c3 supporting music education for children. It is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net since 1994. A leading grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 380 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $1.1M. Funds for grants are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.
Phish first formed in 1983 at Goddard College in Vermont, and developed a large and fervent fan base through tireless touring and unpredictable, kinetic live performances.