LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — The Grammy Music Education Coalition (GMEC), a non-profit that seeks to make music education universal in American public schools, announced its slate of activities for 2019 including an All-Star Ambassador program and the launch of programs in Philadelphia and Nashville.
The program, which includes a partnership of 40 major progressive music education and philanthropic organizations, includes some of the obvious choices such as the Recording Academy and the Grammy Museum, as well as the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Little Kids Rock, VH1 Save the Music Foundation and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, among others.
Starting this spring, the GMEC will launch an All-Star Ambassador program with a group of musicians who all have personal connections to music education. The 2019 Ambassadors include Bebe Rexha, who will embark on a national campaign created by Havas, in the spring.
Additional Music Education Coalition Ambassadors announced for 2018 include: pop star Rita Ora, Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth, 8-time Grammy Award winner Stephen Marley, Latin Pop hitmaker Luis Fonsi, rising country singer Caroline Jones, classical piano giant Lang Lang, Guns n’ Roses’ Matt Sorum, saxophonist/vocalist Mindi Abair, songwriter Regina Spektor and Philly rock band the War on Drugs.
“The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition is thrilled to be celebrating universal music education participation by American elementary, middle and high school students,” said Executive Director Lee Whitmore. Today, we join with our GMEC member and partner, the GRAMMY® Museum Foundation, to inspire a future vision for careers and the arts for young people from around the Los Angeles area.
“This school year, we have proudly launched our inaugural investments in the School District of Philadelphia and the Metro Nashville Public Schools. Our commitments in these first two school systems for the next three years are focused and will have a lasting impact, increasing with our community and Coalition partners, tens of thousands of new and returning students engaging and meaningful daily music education. And the Coalition and community investment goals for the school systems are $5M, each,” Whitmore added.
This year, the GMEC plans to focus its efforts on funding and services for the Nashville and Philadelphia public school systems, where the goal is to invest $1M in each district while overseeing and coordinating the programs of its coalition partners.
