(CelebrityAccess News Service) – BMI has partnered with www.SupportMusic.com in a new initiative in BMI's
array of efforts to support music education and school music programs. BMI's
dedicated partnership with SupportMusic.com will provide resources to
community members to act locally, focused on informing and empowering
parents to help restore local school music programs. "BMI is pleased to partner with SupportMusic.com. Our effort recognizes the importance of music education within all communities," said Frances W. Preston, BMI president and CEO.
Launched by the Music Education Coalition, (an entity created by MENC, the
National Association for Music Education and NAMM, the International Music
Products Association), SupportMusic.com is the largest national grass roots
initiative organized to support local school music programs.
Key to this crusade is an innovative online "Build Your Case" system that
simplifies the advocacy process, featuring an interactive bulletin board
where strategies can be shared and questions answered by advocacy advisors.
Visitors to this site can also access information regarding ways to help
combat the elimination of music from school curriculums.
BMI's partnership with SupportMusic.com is part of a continuing effort to
enhance the creation, performance and study of music. The BMI Foundation,
Inc., a separate not-for-profit corporation founded by BMI executives in
1985, is dedicated to encouraging young musical talent through awards,
scholarships, internships, grants and commissions. Included among the BMI
Foundation's many programs are the John Lennon Scholarship, BMI Student
Composer Awards and Pete Carpenter Fellowship. Additionally, BMI was a
founding sponsor of The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, which has donated
approximately $6 million worth of instruments to programs and individuals
nationwide.
SupportMusic.com is the most recent effort in a long tradition of
initiatives with MENC, which include BMI's role as a functioning sponsor for
MENC's Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education (FAME). –by Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
