The GRAMMY Museum Launches Music Education Initiative In Kansas City

Local Kansas City Students Chosen To Participate In First-Ever Music Revolution Project, Aiming To Create The Next Generation of Musicians and Songwriters

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 14, 2012) – Additional details about The GRAMMY Museum’s Music Revolution Project, a new education initiative developed by The GRAMMY Museum, have been announced by Bob Santelli, Executive Director of The GRAMMY Museum. In addition to the continued development of the curriculum, local Kansas City- area students have been selected for inclusion in the program.

Scheduled to debut as a pilot program in Kansas City, Mo. on Monday, June 18, 2012, The GRAMMY Museum’s Music Revolution Project offers talented youth the opportunity to engage in musical discourse and performance with their peers, spurring innovative ideas within the realm of American music.

“The student-selection process was a rigorous one, and we found no shortage of talent in Kansas City,” said GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli, who will also be instructing selected courses during the program. “With the commitment of our first-class partners, support from the Kansas City arts community and dedicated students, The GRAMMY Museum’s Music Revolution Project is primed to introduce the world to the next generation of musical talent.”

Created with generous support from AEG, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and The Recording Academy, The GRAMMY Museum’s Music Revolution Project will stimulate creative young musicians by connecting them with GRAMMY-level artists. During The GRAMMY Museum’s summer’s pilot program, 24 young artists will participate in an intensive, four-week curriculum including instruction, rehearsals and mentoring at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and Sprint Center, two venues located in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The selected high-school and college students have demonstrated not only an enthusiasm for the arts, but also a deep understanding of their craft in a wide-range of genres including Jazz, Pop, Hip-Hop, Rock, Folk and Roots, Sacred and Classical music. Created to broaden musical and creative skill while helping establish relationships, the program is also designed to increase self-esteem, help students develop entrepreneurial skills and grow their passion for music. During the first week of the program, students will be introduced to the scheduled coursework, obtain an overview of the music industry today and focus on the history of the Blues genre.

Selected students for the Kansas City pilot program include:

Olivia Adams – St. James Academy
Brooks Brown – Blue Valley North High School
Blair Bryant – Lee’s Summit West High School
Isaiah Carter – Lee’s Summit West High School
Promise Clutter – Shawnee Mission East
Megan Faber – Pembroke Hill High School
Ryan Ganaban – North Kansas City High School
Gardner Grantham – Shawnee Mission East
Maxwell Griffith – Lawrence High School
Connor Leander – Blue Valley North West
Michael LeFever – Vargas Ottawa University
Shelby Lewis – Staley High School
Damian Malnar – Rockhurst High School
Addison May – Lincoln College Preparatory Academy
Ernest Melton – Lincoln College Preparatory Academy
Madeline Miley – Baldwin High School
Mason Pashia – Shawnee Mission East
Kat Pismenny – Raymore-Peculiar High School
Nick Riffle – Park Hill South High School
Jillian Riscoe – Alumna of Oak Park High School
Houston Smith – Rockhurst High School
Mariah Studebaker – Oak Park High School
Brandon Thomas – Paseo Academy School of Performing Arts
Micah Welch – St. Teresa’s Academy

On Thursday, June 21, three-time GRAMMY Award-winner, Keb Mo will be joining the students to speak about the history of the Blues and serve as a mentor to the program. Born Kevin Moore in Los Angeles to parents from the South, Mo’s music is an expression of the artistic and cultural journey that has transformed the Blues over time. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, soul, folk, jazz and the singer-songwriter movement, with the common bond of the power of song to convey human experiences. Additional artists currently slated to participate include Billy Branch, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Andy Gibson, Claude Kelly, Jimmy Jam and more.
For more information regarding the Music Revolution Project, please visit: www.grammymuseum.org/revolution.

 

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ABOUT The GRAMMY MUSEUM
Paying tribute to music’s rich cultural history, this one-of-a-kind, 21st-century Museum explores and celebrates the enduring legacies of all forms of music, the creative process, the art and technology of the recording process, and the history of the premier recognition of excellence in recorded music — the GRAMMY Award. The GRAMMY Museum features 30,000 square feet of interactive and multimedia exhibits located within L.A. LIVE, the downtown Los Angeles sports, entertainment and residential district. Through thought-provoking and dynamic public and educational programs and exhibits, guests will experience music from a never-before-seen insider perspective that only The GRAMMY Museum can deliver. For more information about the GRAMMY Museum, visit www.grammymuseum.org.

ABOUT THE KAUFFMAN CENTER
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a major new center for music, opera, theater, and dance, opened in downtown Kansas City, Missouri on September 16, 2011. The Kauffman Center will present a wide range of entertainers and performances from around the world, including classical, pop, and jazz music, ballet and contemporary dance, Broadway productions, comedy shows, school matinees and more. In addition, the Kauffman Center will serve as the performance home of three of the region’s leading performing arts organizations—Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

ABOUT AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), Ericsson Globe arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World arena (Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England) which are all part of the portfolio of AEG Facilities. Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination along with entertainment, restaurant and office space that “officially” opened in 2010. In addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), assets of AEG Sports include franchises and properties such as the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo (MLS), two hockey franchises in Europe, the Amgen Tour of California cycling race and Bay to Breakers foot race. AEG Live, the company’s live-entertainment division, is the world’s second largest concert promotion and touring companies and is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions with fifteen regional offices. AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships and AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company are also core business units of AEG. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry’s first sustainability report while in 2011, AEG introduced axs Ticketing, the first phase of its new entertainment platform serving as the company’s primary consumer brand which will also feature a mobile service as well as a video content service now in development. For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.