Together with StubHub and Dr. Martens, indie band “Portugal. The Man” is helping to raise $1 million to go to schools with underfunded musical programs.

The money is being raised for the purchase of musical instruments, in hopes that they will inspire a new generation of artists and musicians. The program is wired to donate to schools all across the country, focusing specifically on institutions that are underfunded.

It has been set up in partnership with MHOF (Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation), which is dedicated to musical education. There are many schools that are not able to provide an artistic outlet for their youth.

This program intends to help kids stay off the streets and give them a healthy creative focus, which many of them do not get the opportunity to discover. Many schools are not able to provide this type of expression for their pupils, in an environment that is conductive to their spirit and individuality.

The first city to benefit from the project will be Austin, Texas. Austin is home of SXSW, the South by Southwest music, film, and interactive festival- where the project was introduced earlier this week. Two schools in Austin will be some of the first, receiving more than $80,000 worth of musical instruments this year.

In a recent press release, Felice Mancini (President and CEO of MHOF) said, “Sadly, due to the high cost of musical instruments, school music programs around the country are struggling, even when the will to keep them alive is strong.”

They plan to add more sponsors and artists to the cause, as the project continues into the year. This outreach is the beginning. With a little effort, people can help support causes like this to further the youth’s potential for creativity and aspiration. If you know a school in need, or want to get more info, go to the MHOF website or share this post.

This kitten has a rival – a guitar - and it doesn’t like it by the looks of it. While its owner tries to sing and play, this cute lil kitty tries to make sure that’s exactly what doesn’t happen, not on her watch.

She climbs all over the guitar, all over its owner, shoulders, face, head, neck, arms. Its tail over her face, maybe to stop her from reading the musical notes.

At one point, its head was on her playing hand, absolutely determined to get in the way.

The song’s actually pretty good too. The owner kept her composure, just kept on playing and laughing at various points when it got a bit too much.

The kitten probably wanted was some attention/affection, felt the owner was giving it to the guitar and was willing to get in the way at all costs!

A sweet watch.

At hospitals across the U.S., it is not uncommon to hear the strains of an acoustic guitar or the sound of singing in the hallways. Vanderbilt Children’s hospital in Nashville, Tenn. Is one such hospital and it is because the healing power of music is being put to good use there.

Musicians on Call, a group dedicated to bringing music to patients’ bedsides, provides a break from the monotony of a hospital stay but it is also much more than that.

Everyone within earshot of the music is touched, patients, families, staff, even the volunteers themselves. Bedridden patients often, smile, sing along or even dance in their beds.

The program currently provides its services in hospitals in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Nashville, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Most participants are local musicians but a few celebrity musicians have heard the call to service, too.

Darius Rucker, the one-time frontman for Hootie and the Blowfish is one of the group’s volunteers. Rucker is now enjoying a solo career as a country music singer. He describes singing for sick children confined to the hospital as an emotional experience.

No matter how difficult it is at times, Rucker continues because he knows it helps the kids. He says sometimes, he has to take a moment after leaving a child’s room so he doesn’t go into the next room crying.

Leslie Faerstein, the executive director of Musicians on Call say the music has physiological benefits for the patients. She says medical professionals have noted reduced stress, lower blood pressure and even pain control as a result of the performances. Needless to say, the music also provides a much-needed morale boost for patients, family and staff.

Faerstein says once a musician has participated in the program and seen firsthand what it can do; they realize how incredible the experience is for the patient and themselves.

According to Rucker, once you’ve done it, it’s amazing and you can’t say no when you’re asked again.

David France plays his violin in the subway beneath Boston to bring joy to some and to raise money for the after-school program he founded in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood.

His program, Revolution of Hope is an after-school orchestra he began a few months ago as a result of his experiences with the New England Conservatory’s Sistema Fellows Program. The fellowship sent him to Venezuela where he experienced what the Sistema model could do for underprivileged kids. The Sistema model brings instruments and instruction to kids who would not otherwise have such an opportunity and it can change lives.

Those who complete the fellowship are tasked with sharing music education in a similar fashion – not unlike a pay-it-forward plan. France picked Roxbury for his pay-it-forward obligation because he believed people don’t often allow themselves to see beyond the stereotypes. To France, being a classical music lover in the inner city is the ultimate rebellious act.

France went from school to school in the Roxbury district, meeting with leaders and officials in an effort to get them to let him start a program for the kids, without compensation for himself. Finally, he went to the Dearborn Middle School where he met Jose Duarte, the principal. Duarte gave him the chance he’d been looking for.

Duarte was impressed by France’s vision for getting the kids to play the violin and by his willingness to show up every day to work with them. He described the musician as persistent, resilient and called his dream outstanding and dynamic.

The program was hosted at the school and made available to whole community. France was able to gather 22 donated instruments, find an assistant, a few instructors and then convinced a small group of kids to give it a shot.

Now he has 12 children who practice five days a week after school. They enjoy the music and the socialization. The kids have come to appreciate France’s dedication

Some of the participants have noticed that being part of this program has brought positive changes in other areas of their lives. Amaya says playing the violin brought her out of her shell. Her father says it has taught her patience and he sees that helping particularly with math.

Betty Neal Crutcher, a board member for the orchestra says the program gives kids a place to come and be part of something. They can share their music appreciation and talents with peers who don’t laugh at them.

It is France’s hope that the program will grow and reach all over Boston. He sees it as a world-class orchestra for kids everywhere and hopes someday every child has access to music in this way.

The cold hand of technology is warming hearts once again with the new series of innovative music workshops that are closely examining those aspects of music that can be appreciated by cochlear implant users via a variety of listening, computer-based activities. Operating in conjunction with the Southampton Community Music Project (SoCo), the focus of this two-year study is the investigation of how to best develop music rehabilitation materials and compositions specifically for cochlear implant users.

Cochlear implants greatly benefit those with severe-to-profound hearing loss who under normal circumstances cannot be helped by more conventional hearing aids. Up until now, however, the complex nature of music has been more or less closed to the cochlear implant user. They can hear the rhythm of the music but are unable to distinguish different notes. It is hoped this study will be able to change all that.

The key to making this new technology work lies in homework. People must practice at home. According to Professor of Music, David Nicholls, listening exercises developed by a computer tool kit will help people to distinguish and appreciate different musical sounds.

The current research is being conducted at the University of Southampton’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) and is being sponsored by a grant of $174,000 from Great Britain’s Arts and Humanities Research Council. The patients who will participate in the study are all from the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre, based at the University.

The project will conclude with a public seminar and performance at the University of Southampton. It is hoped that the challenges this important study addresses will improve the lives of so many for whom the luxury of enjoying music has eluded them through no fault of their own.

Photo Source

http://www.dosomething.org/project/cochlear-implant-awareness

Spotify Music Service Comes to America

Spotify is an incredibly popular music service in nearly all of Europe for the past few years but for a variety of reasons it was not available in the United States. This week however Americans got the word that Spotify is finally coming to America and the response is already overwhelming according to Spotify.

So far Spotify has not announced exactly how many members have been invited to try the service but they have said that the response was simply amazing. Spotify executives are hoping to see 50 million users in America by this time next year which clearly shows that Spotify is a successful and popular service.

The truly amazing thing about Spotify coming to America is that there has been so much positive press surrounding the program. Generally when a service like this becomes suddenly available there are all sorts of complaints or issues but thus far nearly everyone has been impressed by the service. Spotify is finally taking their service to next level by now allowing users from not just Europe but the US as well to connect with music through the online streaming system. Spotify claims to be the future of music distribution and given the response they received in America it seems like they are probably correct, at least for the time being. No word on when Spotify will become public but for now it is going to remain an invitation only music streaming service in America.

Winning Songs Played For Space Shuttle Crew

NASA announced one of their most popular contests ever earlier this year and today the contest officially came to a close as the winner was given his prize. The contest was all about writing a song to honor and remember Space Shuttle Endeavor and the once in a lifetime prize has having the winning song played for the Space Shuttle crew just before the mission ended.

The winner of this incredibly contest was Jorge Otero from Spain along with his band; the song is titled “Sunrise Number 1”. Just as the contest called for the song was made to commemorate the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavor. The shuttle crew will be hearing the winning song just before they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, drawing a close to the final mission.

The second place song was also given a very prestigious award today. “Dreams you Give” by Brian Plunkett from Missouri was played as a wakeup song for the Space Shuttle Endeavor crew this morning. Neither of the contest winners have commented on the prize though it is surely something they will never forget; especially given how rare it is for such a prize to be available.

Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to finish the current mission Tuesday afternoon when it lands back home at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There will be one more space shuttle mission before the program ends; it is currently scheduled to take place in the next two months.

Military Support Group Ships Millionth Disk

This week a nonprofit group called Tunes 4 Troops officially shipped the 1 millionth disk to soldiers overseas. Tunes 4 Troops has only been around for about 5 years so reaching this milestone really is a major accomplishment for them and many soldiers are very thankful for what the group has done.

The overall goal behind Tunes 4 Troops was to send some sort of entertainment to soldiers overseas. The idea reportedly came to Tunes 4 Troops founder, Kaylee Radzyminsk, while she was talking to groups of returning soldiers. The biggest complaint was the lack of entertainment form home so she did what she could to make a difference.

In 5 years Tunes 4 Troops has expanded from a simple music based organization to a full entertainment group. Tunes 4 Troops has been sending thousands of CDs and DVDs each week for 5 years now and they have finally made it to the incredible mark of 1 million disks sent overseas.

Kaylee, now 19 and a member of ROTC at her university, is very happy with how much her simple charity has grown in just 5 years. It started as just a very small collection of music from her and her friends and quickly expanded into a full blown nonprofit organization with various people in charge of running everything. No word on how much more Kaylee and her team is hoping to expand Tunes 4 Troops but it is pretty obvious now that there is no end in sight for this incredible nonprofit group.