Mit großer Freude und Stolz können wir euch mitteilen, dass unser Konzept zur Förderung des Bluegrass Nachwuchses (organisiert durch unseren Arbeitskreis BNF)  Anerkennung gefunden hat an höchster internationaler Stelle. Die „Foundation For Bluegrass Music“ (USA) vergibt jährlich Zuschüsse bis zu 10.000 $ für besonders förderungswürdige Bluegrass Musik Konzepte. Unser BNF Konzept wurde zusammen mit 3 anderen (aus den USA) für das Jahr 2012 als „besonders förderungswürdig“ ausgewählt. Dies beinhaltet eine Gratifikation in Höhe von 2.500 $ für unser BNF-Konzept. Die Verwendung der Zuwendung ist zweckgebunden an die BNF-Ziele. Unser BNF-Arbeitskreis wird in Kürze einen entsprechenden Finanzplan für die zweckgebundene Verwendung ausarbeiten.

Wir haben euch die Online-Artikel von der IBMA und der EBMA zum Nachlesen im Folgenden abgedruckt.

Viel Spaß beim Lesen!

Emanuel Niklas, Munich Bluegrass Friends

Von der IBMA (www.ibma.org):

FOUNDATION FOR BLUEGRASS MUSIC ANNOUNCES GRANTS IN HONOR OF CARLTON HANEY & HAZEL DICKENS

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music is proud to announce grant recipients for 2012 which honor the legacies of Carlton Haney and Hazel Dickens. Dickens was a gifted singer and songwriter who paved the way for women in bluegrass music as well as serving as a mentor to aspiring musicians and writers.  Haney was the visionary businessman who produced the historic first weekend-long bluegrass music event in 1965 that initiated the festival movement in bluegrass music.  Both placed a high importance on nurturing young talents and supporting programs that enhanced the skills of the next generation, and both passed away in 2011—Dickens on April 22 and Haney on March 16.

Molly Tuttleand Look & Listen, Inc. are each recipients of the $2,500 Carlton Haney Business Development Awards. Common Ground on the Hill and the Munich Bluegrass Friends will also receive $2,500 each as recipients of Hazel Dickens Artistic Development Awards.

Molly Tuttle plans to study bluegrass and songwriting in Berklee’s American Roots Music program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Tuttle has been performing for a number of years already—notably in IBMA’s “Kids on Bluegrass” program at Fan Fest.  Her goals are to be a professional bluegrass musician, songwriter and music publisher. “I have sung Hazel Dickens’ songs since I was eight years old and was lucky enough to get to meet her at IBMA several years ago,” Tuttle says.  “I recorded ‘It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song’ on my first CD, made with my father when I was 13 years old. Hazel Dickens has been one of my biggest influences, both as a songwriter and a singer. My hope at Berklee is to build on the tradition of early female singers and songwriters in the country/bluegrass/old-time genres.”

Look &  Listen, Inc., sponsor of Twang Box Productions, will use their grant to build upon public radio and web productions begun in 2011 in honor of the Bill Monroe Centennial with a program called “True Songs: An Online Archive & Oral History Project.” The week of September 11, 2011, American Public Media aired the Twang Box documentary, “True Songs,” on more than 100 public radio stations, and NPR News featured an eight-minute news story on more than 500 stations to an audience of around 2 million listeners. A new website will give these productions, along with additional bluegrass oral histories and photographs, a home on the worldwide web where they can reach a new audience. The program’s goal is to bring educational and inspiring stories of bluegrass music to the world and continue the enthusiasm gained during Monroe’s centennial year.

Each July Common Ground on the Hill produces two weeks of classes, lectures, concerts and art exhibits called “Traditions Week One and Two” on the campus of McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. Traditions Week Two focuses on bluegrass and old-time music, including the D.C. Bluegrass Union Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Camp. Common Ground on the Hill plans to establish a scholarship program for youth, age 14-22, to participate in bluegrass classes during Tradition Week Two with the Foundation funds.

The Munich Bluegrass Friends, based in Germany, will use their grant to establish a Bluegrass Youth Fund which will provide instruction for young people interested in learning to play bluegrass instruments in a band format. The Munich Friends organization formed in 2009, with the goal of building the bluegrass community in their region by teaching children and teens to play and improvise, how to arrange a song, how to put a set together for a band, how to book and advertise a concert, emcee and presentation skills, and more. Grants up to $400 Euros per person will pay for individual and group lessons for a year.

Created in 2007, the Foundation for Bluegrass Music is a non-profit charitable organization (501c3) created to serve as an “umbrella” under which funds can be placed and disbursed to support educational, literary, artistic and historic preservation activities of public benefit. For more information, please go to www.bluegrassfoundation.org or call (615) 256-3222.

Von der EBMA:

Munich Bluegrass Friends to receive a

Bluegrass Foundation grant in 2012

Two members of the Girlie Band, performing 2009, photo (c) Thomas Betz

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music has just announced the grant recipients for 2012 which honor the legacies of Carlton Haney and Hazel Dickens. Congratulations to EBMA member Munich Bluegrass Friends, who will receive $2,500 as recipients of one share of the Hazel Dickens Artistic Development Awards. Based in Germany, the association will use their grant to establish a Bluegrass Youth Fund which will provide instruction for young people interested in learning to play bluegrass instruments in a band format. The Munich Friends organization formed in 2009, with the goal of building the bluegrass community in their region by teaching children and teens to play and improvise, how to arrange a song, how to put a set together for a band, how to book and advertise a concert, emcee and presentation skills, and more. Grants up to $400 Euros per person will pay for individual and group lessons for a year.