Unleashing The Power Of Music Voices And News From The GRAMMY Foundation And MusiCares Summer 2014 Music Builds Community The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares make a lasting impact. Over the past year, our programs and services had an exponential effect throughout the country. In California, this year s National GRAMMY Signature Schools award recipient, Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, Calif., leveraged its grant to gain additional support from the local community, which in turn inspired more students to become involved in music. In Nashville, Tenn., country music artists and fans came out in full force to take part in Marty Stuart s Late Night Jam benefiting MusiCares. Everyone in attendance was touched by someone who had been helped by MusiCares. Participating in the jam was their way of extending aid to others. We hope that you will help propel our programs into the next stages by making a contribution today. Top row (l-r): GRAMMY Camp St. Paul Open Mic Night GRAMMY Camp Basic Training at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, Ala. Music Educator Award recipient Kent Knappenberger with Lady Antebellum Bottom row (l-r): Steve Acciani Jeff Greenberg, Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Joe Walsh and Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation at the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit
Where Music Sparks Amazing Music Multiplies GRAMMY Signature School Uses Award To Gain New Funding In March 2014 the GRAMMY Foundation recognized Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, Calif., with the National GRAMMY Signature School award. Created in 1998, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes top U.S. public high schools that have made an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year. As this year s winner, Diamond Bar High School received a grant of $6,000 for their music education program. Steve Acciani, a 25-year veteran in the school district and the current director of instrumental music, used this grant to help leverage an additional $100,000 for the school. We spoke with Acciani to learn more about how he made this all possible: GRAMMY Foundation: How did you come up with the idea for your program, Riding The GRAMMY Wave, to leverage your National GRAMMY Signature Schools award for additional funds? Steve Acciani: We figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase what we re doing I mean the GRAMMYs are something special, something everybody knows about. We wanted to see if we could use this recognition to make an even bigger impact in what we do here. GF: Take us through each of the events or programs you hosted that centered on this award? SA: First we held a Play-a-Thon where we sold $5 sponsorships for each of the kids who then performed in a 12-hour long rehearsal; we ended up raising $25,000. During this time we also sold advertisements in our programs for all the performances that the students did. We went out to Diamond Bar High School GRAMMY Signature Schools Presentation the community and gave them a chance to be associated with the GRAMMY Foundation; this helped bring in an additional $10,000. After that, one of our instructors said, Hey let s figure out a way to do a major raffle, so he went to local car dealerships and got one of them to donate a Toyota Camry in exchange for advertising. We sold 1,000 tickets for $50 each. We made about $40,000 on it (after paying the taxes) and decided on a very specific amount of tickets, so the odds were pretty good. The stage here isn t great in fact, we re using a lot of the money to help upgrade our stage so we next asked Mt. San Antonio College to donate their space for the award presentation. We brought in a bunch of our musical groups and sold tickets for a total of $5,000. For the final event, a community gala, we reached out to local politicians, county supervisors and business owners. We sold $1,000 table sponsorships for the gala, which included a sit-down dinner and performance by our students. The evening brought in $30,000. In each program we held, we tried to reach a specific group: the Play-a-Thon was more kids helping each other out; the concert was for the parents; the car was I think that was for all of us desperate for a new car and for the gala we wanted to get to the high-end side of the community. GF: So you were able to generate more than $100,000 for your school? What else will you use the funds for? SA: Yeah, I think the final total when everything was finished ended up being $112,000, and we needed it, too. We re going to take a portion of that money and try to sponsor a major professional musician and sell tickets to that performance. If we do it right, we can generate more money with the money we brought in. Each year we get about $2,000 from the school district for all of our music programs. We ve previously fundraised for our programs, but this award helped us double what we normally raise. We re looking to get a sound shell put into our stage and improve acoustics in the theater. It s a really badly-designed stage and our kids are such good performers we want to give their families the opportunity to hear how good they actually are. GF: Is there anything else you would like to add? SA: This was an incredible opportunity. This year we have 152 incoming kids for the band and almost 100 incoming kids for the orchestra because of the recognition we were able to get with the National GRAMMY Signature School award. Winning the national award has established a new standard for what we re going to be and now we have kids coming in who are really excited to be involved with the arts. In total, 12 schools nationwide were selected as GRAMMY Signature Schools for 2014 and have been awarded cash grants totaling $58,500. For a complete list of these recipients, visit: www.grammyintheschools.com.
Music Resonates FOR MUSIC PEOPLE GRAMMY Winner Hosts Annual Showcase for MusiCares Marty Stuart, a five-time GRAMMY-winning country music singer/ songwriter, has hosted his Late Night Jam at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., since 2001. A country music throwdown, hillbilly homecoming rave-up, this variety show benefits MusiCares and gives artists of all ages and fame a chance onstage. We recently sat down with Stuart to learn more about this annual event. MusiCares: You ve been a longtime supporter of MusiCares; can you describe why you feel so strongly about MusiCares? Marty Stuart: Well, the stories come from our time working together with MusiCares. One experience is when the flood hit Nashville in 2010. I cannot think of a greater example of a natural disaster, wiping so many people out whether it s no rent due to lost gigs, losing instruments, jobs, buildings, or homes. I know for a fact that MusiCares was at the forefront of providing vital and immediate help to people in our industry who needed assistance. You can t ask for a greater example than that. MC: How have you seen MusiCares help those in need? MS: Everybody thinks that since we sing, have records and are on TV, that everybody has a lot of money. There was an old country music hero of mine who gave and gave during the good years of his life. He came off the road, got old and diabetes set in. He lost a leg and that was unthinkable, but he weathered through. He began receiving rehab and then the unimaginable happened: he lost the other leg. After another round of hell, he finally got home and the first round of prescriptions was $4,500. I remember calling MusiCares and, in less than a week, he had his medicine. Another thing that happens from time to time is drugs and alcohol take over and that s a hell that I understand. It was a part of my life for a long time. Sometimes we get too close to the fire and we don t know how to get out and we have to go to the side and ask for help. I know so many instances when MusiCares has been that entity that stepped up and confidentially took care of people and their situations. The bottom line, MusiCares saves lives. MC: What inspired you to create the Late Night Jam? MS: The great truth of the matter is, CMA Week, which used to be Fan Fair, the first one I was ever a part of was in 1973. When the show moved, things changed. At the time when I started my band, the Fabulous Superlatives, we didn t have a record deal for a brief period of time which meant we couldn t play the big stage. I thought, Well, I ve been a part of this since 1973 and I don t want to be relegated to a lesser stage because I don t have a hit at the moment, so I thought, We have to go beyond this. So, Tony Conway helped me approach the Ryman Auditorium and we set up the first Late Night Jam 13 years ago. From top: Marty Stuart s 13th Annual Late Night Jam Marty Stuart & Connie Smith MC: To date, through the Late Night Jam, you ve raised more than $200,000 for MusiCares to support our emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery programs. How does that make you feel? MS: It makes me feel like I m doing the right thing. As entertainers and creative people, we are so blessed and we have so many gifts at our disposal and to be able to give a little part of that back is the bottom line. I was pumping gas recently and some guy came up and shook my hand he knew I hosted the Late Night Jam annually. He said to me, MusiCares saved my life and I thank you for all you do for them. I replied, That s what we do and it s what we are supposed to do. So, doesn t that say it all right there? It s like the old mission if you ve helped one soul, it s been worth the whole journey. Read our full interview with Marty Stuart at www.musicares.org.
NEWS+UPDATES Upcoming Application Deadlines Summer certainly isn t a downtime for the GRAMMY Foundation. While staff members are busy hosting GRAMMY Camp sessions, house concerts and conducting legacy interviews with artists, applications for the next round of our many programs are streaming in. Upcoming application deadlines are as follows: Letters of Inquiry for the GRAMMY Foundation s Grants program (Oct. 1); GRAMMY Camp Jazz Session (Oct. 22); and GRAMMY Signature Schools award (Oct. 22). Ozzy Osbourne MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit a The 10th anniversary MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert honored Black Sabbath s GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and owner/ceo of The Village studios Jeff Greenberg on May 12 in Los Angeles. Osbourne was presented with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award for his support of the MusiCares MAP Fund and his commitment to helping others with the addiction recovery process. Greenberg was the recipient of the MusiCares From the Heart Award for his unconditional friendship and dedication to the mission and goals of the organization. More than $300,000 was raised from this event and all proceeds went to benefit the MusiCares MAP Fund, which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment regardless of their financial situation. GRAMMY Camp Jazz Session Music Educator Award Quarterfinalists a In May the GRAMMY Foundation announced the names of the 222 quarterfinalists for the second annual Music Educator Award. These exceptional music teachers hail from 208 cities across 41 states and the semifinalists will be announced in September. In total, more than 7,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states. This award recognizes current educators who ve made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. Nominations for the 2016 Music Educator Award are now open at www.grammymusicteacher.com. GRAMMY Foundation And MusiCares Donor Spotlight: RBC Capital Markets a Donors can come from unexpected places, as is the case with one of the Foundations newest corporate sponsors, RBC Capital Markets. With a strong philanthropic commitment to arts and education for low income youth, it was a natural fit to align themselves with our efforts. You are on the forefront of connecting our youth with opportunities in the arts as well as supporting emerging artists, said Sharon Solomon, head of U.S. marketing and brand strategy at RBC Capital Markets. The company first lent its support to the GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award program in Chicago before expanding to GRAMMY Camp and the MusiCares MAP Fund. For the company, putting music first is a group interest: Supporting music and music makers is a way to celebrate the different cultural traditions that make up America. Beyond our firm-level involvement, our employees are very excited about the work you do, added Solomon. GRAMMY Camp Hosts Inaugural Camps a GRAMMY Camp Nashville June featured several firsts for the GRAMMY Foundation as we hosted an inaugural non-residential GRAMMY Camp in Nashville, Tenn., as well as a residential program in St. Paul, Minn. Nashville welcomed 39 high school students who focused on one of four music career tracks: Audio Engineering; Songwriting; Vocal Performance; and Performance tracks for bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards. Despite some rough summer weather, the learning didn t stop for the 31 participants at St. Paul s camp. Whether it was audio engineering and electronic music production or vocal and instrument performance, students immersed themselves in a transformative experience at the McNally Smith College of Music. Both camps culminated in a student-run showcase event. The Los Angeles camp has just concluded and the New York camp runs from Aug. 3 11. Photos courtesy of The Recording Academy, WireImage.com, and Getty Images.
Give Passionately Music moves us. These stories demonstrate how the contributions made by the GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares provide the stimulus for individuals to reach out into their community to make a greater change through music. You can broaden our impact by making a meaningful gift using the enclosed envelope or by visiting www.grammyfoundation.org or www.musicares.org. From top (l-r): Members of the West Valley High School Choir in Fairbanks, Ala. Colbie Caillat at GRAMMY Camp Los Angeles GRAMMY Camp Nashville Open House