The Grammy Museum Grant Program announced on Tuesday (June 28) that $200,000 in grants will be awarded to 16 recipients in the U.S. The recipients include six universities, two foundations and two individuals. The grants range from $3,000 to $20,000.
“This year marks the 35th year that the Grammy Foundation (now the Grammy Museum Foundation) and the Recording Academy have partnered to provide much-deserved funding for music research and preservation projects across the United States and Canada,” said Michael Sticka, president/CEO of the Grammy Museum. “During that time, we have awarded more than $8.1 million to nearly 465 grantees. … We’re proud to support these impressive projects that are at the intersection of music and science, and work to maintain our shared musical legacy for generations to come.”
Funded by the Recording Academy, the Grammy Museum Grant Program provides funding annually to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance archiving and preservation, in addition to research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. In 2008, the Grammy Museum Grant Program expanded its categories to include assistance grants for individuals and small to mid-sized organizations that may not have access to the expertise needed to create a preservation plan.
Scientific Research Grants
University of Southern California— Los Angeles, Calif.
Awarded: $20,000
Nostalgia-evoking music can temporarily improve autobiographical memory in individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), but the associated neural mechanisms are unknown. This project aims to use personalized music to identify neural systems involved in music-evoked nostalgia.
University Hospitals Health System, Inc — Cleveland, Ohio
Awarded: $20,000
The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a tailored music-assisted relaxation and imagery intervention, biological sample collection, and mobile device patient-reported outcome collection in adults hospitalized for pancreatic surgery experiencing acute pain.
Towson University — Towson, Md.
Awarded: $10,000
This project will help to determine whether hidden hearing loss exists in student musicians and, if so, to use clinically relevant diagnostic tools to detect the disorder early. The project will also assess whether the hidden hearing deficits contribute to increased difficulties in auditory scene analysis/speech sound processing in musicians.
Texas Christian University — Fort Worth, Tex.
Awarded: $10,000
Musical training is associated with increased neural prediction response to a critical note that indicates mode in a melody. This neural response suggests an enhanced prediction mechanism in those with musical training. The goal of this project is to investigate whether musical training is also associated with enhanced neural prediction responses in those with dyslexia.
Stanford University — Stanford, Calif.
Awarded: $9,066
This project evaluates different strategies to promote empathy between audio engineers and cochlear-implant users. The goal is to understand the existing empathy structures, identify the most effective promotion strategies and develop tools and techniques to assist both cochlear implant users and audio engineers.
University of Miami— Coral Gables, Fla.
Awarded: $19,973
This project will explore the use of infant-directed singing (IDS) for self-regulation in infants with prenatal drug exposure. Through a coaching intervention, mothers will learn how to use IDS to match or modify infant state. Findings will inform clinical practice to improve parenting skills in mothers with substance use issues.
Preservation Assistance Grants
Bill Doggett — Bakersfield, Calif.
Awarded: $4,961
Doggett will conduct a professional inventory and preservation needs assessment for the Doggett Race & Performing Arts Collection. Under this project, an archival consultant will conduct a site visit and physical inspection of the collection and prepare a preservation plan for future action.
T. Christopher Aplin — Pasadena, Calif.
Awarded: $3,000
American Indian Soundchiefs was a Kiowa-owned record label owned by Linn D. Pauahty. This project will help Mary Helen Deer, the Linn D. Pauahty Foundation and Kiowa Tribe review existing Soundchiefs record catalogues; compile and inventory instantaneous disc, 78s, reel-to-reel, and cassettes; and prepare these recordings for future digitization and preservation.
The Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings — Kailua, Hawaii
Awarded: $3,000
The Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings will synthesize a decade of primary data collection, interviews, research and exhibit production to develop a digital museum and audio archive. The website and archive will illuminate the role that Hawaiian music has played in the evolution of popular music.
Preservation Implementation Grants
Arhoolie Foundation — El Cerrito, Calif.
Awarded: $20,000
The Arhoolie Foundation will digitize Chris Strachwitz’s rare recordings of performances, festivals and concerts from 1950-2000. Artists include Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, Flaco Jiménez, Ry Cooder, Lydia Mendoza, BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier and Rose Maddox.
The Apollo Theater — New York, N.Y.
Awarded: $20,000
This funding will allow Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater to digitize, preserve and catalog more than 300 hours of video recordings from the theater’s famed Amateur Night program, spanning 1987-2016. These performances exist on obsolete media formats and have mostly remained unseen since the time of their original recording.
Newark Public Radio (WBGO) — Newark, N.J.
Awarded: $15,000
WBGO will digitize and make available to the public more than 800 hours of rare jazz recordings from 1985-91. Recordings include club and festival performances, as well as WBGO-produced, NPR-syndicated jazz programs. Recordings will be available online via the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, and onsite at the Library of Congress and GBH in Boston.
UC Santa Barbara — Santa Barbara, Calif.
Awarded: $10,000
UCSB Library will digitize and make accessible recordings of the radio broadcasts of the CBS Symphony conducted by Bernard Herrmann in the 1930s and 1940s. Herrmann’s early career as a conductor is documented by 70 radio broadcasts on 200 lacquer discs held by UCSB.
Boston Symphony Orchestra — Boston, Mass.
Awarded: $10,000
The BSO will preserve and make accessible 233 live concert radio broadcasts from 1979-91 of John Williams conducting the Boston Pops. These tapes document his work with such artists as Marilyn Horne, Tony Bennett and John Denver, as well as his own film music. They will create preservation master files and access copies for public use both remotely and onsite.
Freight & Salvage — Berkeley, Calif.
Awarded: $10,000
The grant to Freight & Salvage will continue the preservation of recordings and sustain copyright research. This encompasses 70 percent of 2,500 recordings collected over the nono-profits 54-year history. Wrapping up the digitalization and documentation of analog formats, Freight & Salvage will progress to transferring recordings dated 1989-2020 to include early digital formats.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. — New Orleans, La.
Awarded: $15,000
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Archive will digitize, preserve, make accessible and disseminate approximately 400 audio and video recordings originally recorded between 1989 to 2006. The recordings were made at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and are comprised of interviews and performances in a wide range of genres.
More information about the program can be found at www.grammymuseum.org.
