2022 has come to a close with highs and lows. In the meantime, the Montgomery Area Musicians Association (MAMA) has continued to work to support our music community. We continue to promote our musicians on our MAMA page with nearly 4,000 followers and our MAMA group with 1.6,000 members, and we hope that musicians and member companies will be able to provide additional promotions on these sites. We continue to encourage you to share gigs/advertisements on our platform.
Hosted the Spring Growing Montgomery Musicians workshop at the Boys & Girls Club in Chisholm, where children and parents learned about musical genres. Our musicians got the kids and a few parents dancing in the stands. Everyone had a great time and it was a huge success. Thanks to the participating musicians.
Submitted a grant application written by Deborah Ann Dunn to the Junior League and received a donation of $2,500 from one of its committees. This provided funding for Brantwood to conduct her four-week summer music program at her Children’s Home. They planned to use it as a model for future summer music programs. The program concluded with a concert and ended with a field trip on a riverboat. Tickets were donated for the children to go. They were able to watch the instructor perform and some even participated! I was told it was a great field trip for everyone. Additionally, I was able to donate a drum kit to help start a program they might want to do in the future. Thank you for everything you have done to make it happen.
I would like to thank Deborah Ann for her appointment as Chairperson of the new Music Education Committee.She partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs and the Nehemiah Center, which serve at-risk children and families, to put together a fall workshop.th Over 60 children participated in the largest workshop to date. They were instructed in jazz and blues music, similarities and differences, both in small and large groups. Afterwards, we enjoyed our food while dancing to great music. We thank the talented musicians who contributed to our success.
In partnership with the City of Prattville, we held our third songwriter workshop thanks to Billy McDowell. We are very grateful that he volunteered them for us and we will continue to provide them.
The city of Montgomery has passed a street performer ordinance that allows musicians to perform in downtown Montgomery with a letter of recommendation from a non-profit organization. We are pleased to have provided letters to several of our licensed musician members.
On a more personal note, it is well known how often local musicians volunteer for various benefits for those in need, but I never thought it would do me any good. bottom. In case you didn’t know, I discovered I had a “giant” brain aneurysm and had to undergo surgery.Nancy Franklyn, Rick Hansen, OTI Associates, Cameron Dubois, Bama Sound But I can’t express how grateful I am for putting together a profit for me. They planned to do two or three long ones instead of one, but luckily they didn’t have to. It means the world to me and the money donated has helped a lot. Nancy was just a rock to me, staying with me when I got home from the hospital, she’s one of the amazing people I’ve met thanks to MAMA.
Finally, next year will be our decadeth Year! Can you believe it? We will have a celebration. If you have ever participated in a MAMA event, please join us. Most nonprofits have found that on average he only lasts 2 years so I hope he can be proud that MAMA has continued to make positive change through music thanks to your support. I’m happy. We look forward to your participation. We are excited about the coming year and look forward to sharing it with you, as some new opportunities have emerged in addition to those already in the planning stages.
Cheers to Happy 2023!
Alecia Gilliland is president of the Montgomery Area Musicians Association.