Keep Music Alive Teams Up with NAMM Members to Present Music-Making Opportunities
In the summer of 2014, husband and wife team Vincent James and Joann Pierdomenico formed Keep Music Alive, a nonprofit that believes “every child deserves the opportunity to learn how to play music and every adult needs to be reminded that it’s never too late to start playing.”
The organization established Teach Music Week in March and Kids Music Day in October to facilitate this mission. The organization also partners with hundreds of music schools, stores, and organizations worldwide to offer free lessons to new students and host special events that benefit and celebrate kids and their musical journeys.
Kids Music Day
Each year on the first Friday in October, Keep Music Alive leans on its music school, retail, and other organizational partners to focus on the importance of music as a part of every child’s education. The celebration includes student performances, instrument petting zoos, drum, guitar, and ukulele circles, instrument donation drives, free introductory lessons, and even retail sales on lessons, instruments, and accessories. With the pandemic disrupting global events, Keep Music Alive began offering a virtual extension in 2020 and 2021, which included free trials of virtual lesson programs, instrument clinics, and educational sessions to go along with the existing proposed retail sales incentives.
Teach Music Week
This year, March 20 – 26, 2023, will mark the 9th annual Teach Music Week, where Keep Music Alive encourages musicians and music schools everywhere to find one new student and offer them a free 30-minute lesson. The nonprofit belies that “by encouraging music teachers and potential students to reach out to each other, many of these new students will continue to learn and play music long after March is over” and continue the lifelong benefits of making music.
Critical to the success of Kids Music Alive are its partners. The NAMM members supporting the nonprofit’s endeavors include Alfred, Casio, Conn Selmer, Kala, Music & Arts, Music Nomad, Musicology, and Remo, among others.
Of the partnerships, James said, “Most of these relationships began when we attended our first Summer NAMM Show in 2017. Teach Music Week and Kids Music Day were in their infancy at the time, and we loved connecting with so many NAMM members and exhibitors for the first time. Kala has supported us with ukulele donations for our ukulele circles. In 2022, they donated a classroom set of ukuleles to two deserving elementary school classes as part of a special Kids Music Day contest.”
James continued, “Music Nomad has supported Keep Music Alive and other music education nonprofits through their ‘One for Music’ program. We have also been fortunate to partner with the Music & Arts chain over the last four years to celebrate Teach Music Week and Kids Music Day. They’ve shared news of these two initiatives throughout their network and even ran a paid school promotion one year that tied in with their Teach Music Week offering.”
Keep Music Alive credits the growth of these partnerships in part to attending The NAMM Show. James said, “When you come to The NAMM Show for the first time, you quickly realize you have found the biggest representation of your tribe on the planet. We knew immediately after attending that we would be coming back. The two biggest reasons nonprofits need to attend the Show are the education sessions, including the Nonprofit Management Institute, and the networking opportunities that can be nurtured year-round.” Editor’s Note: To learn more about the Nonprofit Management Institute, please visit https://www.nammfoundation.org/projects/nonprofit-management-institute.
James offers advice for those wishing to grow the impact of their nonprofit with partnerships: “You don’t need to be a national nonprofit to partner with a national music brand. Many nonprofits offer grants for music instruments and accessories, and you should also look for partnership opportunities with other local nonprofits in your area.”
In the past year, Keep Music Alive began partnering with several non-music nonprofits to bring its year-round musical instrument petting zoo program to families they serve. These unique relationships include ones with the Ronald McDonald House, Pathway Schools, and a local homeless shelter, among others.
Many nonprofits, including Keep Music Alive, will attend The 2023 NAMM Show this April. James plans to utilize his time at the Show to “reconnect with the hundreds of NAMM members and attendees we’ve built relationships with, as well as introduce ourselves and our mission to new faces.”
To learn more about Keep Music Alive and register for The NAMM Show, please visit https://www.keepmusicalive.org/ and https://registration.namm.org.