History of The Foundation For Music Education
In 2005, Jon Locke approached several prominent proponents of the teaching of music from across the country with an invitation to help start an organization dedicated to future music educators planning on teaching music as a career. Although numerous organization already existed to support music, the development of a not-for-profit company like The Foundation For Music Education (TFME) could be unique. The concept was to provide support for the sub-discipline of music education without compromising the larger mission of fine arts in general.
TFME initially presented several fundraising events allowing the proceeds to benefit specific scholarship endowment funds. In an effort to create more revenue, a license was granted to TFME for Choice Music Events (CME) in 2006 for the production of the Showcase of Music Events. This license would allow for any profits generated by this educational endeavor to benefit current and future music educators. In late 2010, after four years of operating as an independent organization, the license for the Showcase of Music events and the other performance experiences under operation by CME returned to Director’s Choice.
TFME is proud to have become a conduit for generous donations given to valuable scholarships, individuals attending summer camps, clinic sponsorships, and other worthwhile projects. TFME currently hosts more than a dozen scholarship donation conduits an ten different scholarship endowment funds. In addition to the clinics that have been sponsored at several music conferences, TFME has had the privilege of promoting the importance of music education at many non-music related events. After the catastrophic tornado struck Joplin in 2011, TFME was able to coordinate over $9,000 in cash donations and musical instruments being delivered to the affected music programs.
The Foundation For Music Education currently is staffed by a 100% volunteer group of individuals interested in providing support for music education. While avoiding any overlap with existing proponents of music education, TFME continues to search for new and innovative ways to support music educators and the meaningful work they do for their communities and society as a whole.