In celebration of Phish’s eight-show fall tour, the all-volunteer and fan-run Mockingbird Foundation has announced that it is sending an unsolicited $1,000 Tour Grant to a music education program near each of the shows Phish will perform this fall. An aggregate of $8,000 has been sent to:
- Nashville Public Education Foundation of Nashville, TN (near Bridgestone Arena, Oct 6, 7, & 8)
- Dayton Public Schools Foundation (via Dayton Foundation) of Dayton, OH (near Ervin J. Nutter Center at Wright State University, Oct 10 & 11)
- Chicago Heights Middle School of Chicago Heights, Illinois (near United Center, Oct 13, 14, & 15)
- North Chicago Community High School of North Chicago, Illinois (near United Center, Oct 13, 14, & 15)
- Music in Urban Schools Inspiring Change (MUSIC Inc) (via MUSIC Inc.) of Chicago , IL (near United Center, Oct 13, 14, & 15)
This is the 25th round of unsolicited Tour Grants, an effort that now totals over $264,000, which is 11% of all disbursements made by the foundation. These grants are part of a long-standing effort to help support music education in the local communities that Phish touches. They follow Mockingbird’s largest competitive grant round ever, and a total of 66 grants this past summer alone!
The Mockingbird Foundation is an all-volunteer, fan-founded and -managed 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supporting music education for children. A leading grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 657 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $2.3M. Funds for grants are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events. Mockingbird is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net (and three associated books, so far) since 1994. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.