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.