Foundation receives Indiana Arts Commission grant
7/19/2023 12AM
The annual Songbook Academy summer intensive, which draws 40 of the nation's top high school performers each year, is the Great American Songbook Foundation's flagship educational program.
Funding supports education and music preservation initiatives
CARMEL, Ind. – For the fifth consecutive year, the Indiana Arts Commission has approved a grant to support the Great American Songbook Foundation’s music preservation and education initiatives.
The $16,294 Arts Organization Support grant comes from state and federal funding aimed at arts organizations and cultural providers that prioritize community engagement throughout the state.
The Songbook Foundation, which maintains a vast archive of items and documents from the foundational era of American popular music, oversees a number of community engagement initiatives, including an exhibit gallery open to the public; traveling exhibits and other resources made available free to schools and community groups; Perfect Harmony, a program of group music activities for older adults; and the Songbook Academy®, a national summer music intensive for high school singers.
“The ongoing support of the Indiana Arts Commission is not just valuable financially, but also a positive recognition of our work,” said Christopher Lewis, executive director of the Great American Songbook Foundation. “Both are important as we expand our archives operations and lay the groundwork for our national initiatives.”
Funding for the Indiana Arts Commission and its programs is provided by the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
“The projects and organizations selected to receive funding are strengthening our state,” said Anne Penny Valentine, Chair of the Indiana Arts Commission. “The Commission is excited and honored to invest in Hoosier communities, supporting organizations that are doing exceptional creative work to make Indiana a great place to live, work, play, study, and stay.”
About the Great American Songbook Foundation
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy® Award nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the timeless standards of pop, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood. Headquartered at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, the Foundation advances this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers; operating a multimedia exhibit gallery; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars and artists; and providing educational opportunities for student musicians, including the annual Songbook Academy® summer intensive. The Foundation is a Cultural Affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum®. More information is available at TheSongbook.org.
