Keeping the Music Playing—How Four Major Nonprofits Are Protecting America’s Musical Legacy

By Marilyn Lester**** A new foundation, a rebranded foundation and two established foundations are stepping up to keep American music safe. And be assured, American music in all of its forms, does need to be protected and advanced. Culture is in crisis right now, mainly because the arts aren’t being taught in the schools. We’ve encountered too many of them without any music programs whatsoever. It’s up to the private sector to educate and make certain that education includes the treasures of the American songbook, classic and modern, in all of its genres. Here’s what four major nonprofits (in alphabetical order) are doing to bridge the gap:

The American Songbook Association—(www.americansongbookassociation.org)

Mission Statement: The American Songbook Association Inc. (ASA) seeks to preserve, promote and advance the legacy of American popular music, the Great American Songbook (classic and new) and the unique art form of cabaret. The ASA publishes the long-established Cabaret Scenes magazine, conducts educational programs in New York City public schools and creates performances serving its audience of seniors, students and others. We strive to inspire, transform, empower and create torchbearers for future generations so they may understand, appreciate and embrace the historical and cultural importance of America’s rich musical heritage.

Frank Dain edits the premiere benefit of ASA membership, Cabaret Scenes magazine, which is now in its 23rd year—an accomplishment in itself. The American Songbook Association was, prior to January 1, 2018, Cabaret Scenes Ltd. According to Dain, the name change “better fits our original mission, which has always been to promote and preserve the American Songbook and to educate and grow the audience for cabaret. With this change and the new programs the ASA has developed, we will have more exposure to our efforts to cover cabaret, publish the magazine and expand our website as well as our Hall of Fame.”

Director of The Education and Outreach program, Carolyn Montgomery-Forant, focuses on introducing three genres of American music, jazz, musical theatre and the American Songbook, to public school students throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Carolyn has launched the program by bringing top performers into some of the city’s most underserved schools, fully engaging students from Pre-K through 12th Grade. She says, “Even as we instruct them, we’re raising funds to grow the program so we may serve more schools more often. With the proper funding, we will offer low or no-cost piano and voice lessons to students who, given this priceless opportunity, might become anything from American music lovers to American music masters.”

Artistic Director of Outreach Through Performance, Walter Willison creates and directs low-cost monthly programs (September/October through June) to benefit those who typically can’t afford to attend quality live performance. A large segment of this audience is made up of senior citizens and students. Willison says that he aspires to present “great singers singing great songs, the songs that have underscored our lives—for the all too often overlooked NYC seniors audience, for youngsters hearing them for the first time and for everyone in between.” The programs celebrate the great songwriters and entertainers from Tin Pan Ally, Broadway and Hollywood, creating an awareness of where these great songs came from, who wrote them, why they were written and who sang them.

The Barry Levitt Foundation (www.barrylevittfoundation.org)

Mission Statement: The Barry Levitt Foundation provides music education opportunities to under-resourced youth in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania via instruction, instruments, performance support, mentoring, seminars and scholarships. Through music, we assist at risk youth to  •Advance music literacy  •Increase cognitive skills  •Discover music as a profession and •Use music as a productive outlet for personal expression and group interaction. It is our belief that no aspiring instrumentalist or vocalist should be discouraged because of their economic circumstance. Barry Levitt spent most of his life sharing his gift of music through brilliant performance, incomparable arranging, conducting, musical direction and teaching. Through this foundation, we honor his humble roots and his creative, sharing spirit.

When beloved music director Barry Levitt unexpectedly passed away in September 2017, his wife, Brenda Levitt, moved quickly to establish a legacy in Barry’s name. She says, “I just want these kids to have an opportunity to feel valuable to our society and culture. Everyone should have their place in the conversation.” She adds that children of working parents often spend four to six hours in after school programs. The best ones offer meals, home work assistance, sports activities and video games, but there are few that offer music lessons. That is especially true for economically challenged communities whose public schools have suffered the deepest funding cuts.

The foundation is raising funds for the Barry Levitt Piano Scholarship at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, partnering with their internship program to provide instrumental and vocal music instructors for after school programs. Additionally, the foundation will be assisting existing music programs at the Renaissance Youth Center in the Bronx and Boys and Girls Harbor in Harlem in partnership with the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Another project is establishing a music program at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club in Newark, NJ, in the neighborhood where The Maestro was born. A Barry Levitt Foundation Cabaret Series at Don’t Tell Mama will be co-produced this year by Board member, Sue Matsuki, and will feature performers who worked or studied with The Maestro and will become an annual event to fund the Barry Levitt Piano Scholarship. 

The Great American Songbook Foundation (www.thesongbook.org)

Mission Statement: The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation is to inspire and educate by celebrating the Great American Songbook.

Foundation Executive Director, Chris Lewis told us that “Michael Feinstein founded the Great American Songbook Foundation out of a real sense of urgency that an important part of our cultural history was in danger of being lost. Not only were the physical artifacts and papers of many of our country’s greatest songwriters and performers not being preserved or cared for, but their legacies were no longer being taught or shared with younger generations.”  In 2011, the Songbook Foundation had one small sheet music collection. To date, there are over 200 collections in the archives, including the collections of Meredith Willson, Gus Kahn, Richard Whiting and others, housing over 40,000 pieces of sheet music and thousands of musical arrangements, including those of Ray Charles (arranger), Andy Williams, Bob and Dolores Hope and Sandler and Young.

The signature program of the Songbook Foundation is the Songbook Academy®, an annual performance intensive for high school students. The program began as a one day local event. Now, in its ninth year, the Songbook Academy® is a national program open to all high school students, consisting of a week each summer of master classes and workshops with music industry pros and educators. Songbook Alums have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and on national television. Lewis adds, “The growth of the Songbook Foundation over just a few short years, has exceeded all of our expectations and the momentum continues. We are excited to see what the next few years hold. Our ultimate goal is to build the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame and Museum. Plans are underway!”

The Mabel Mercer Foundation (www.mabelmercer.org)

Mission Statement: The Mabel Mercer Foundation was established in 1985 to preserve and advance an endangered part of American musical heritage: the Classic Popular Song and the art of American Cabaret. Through sponsorship of live performances and broadcasts, the Foundation endeavors to entertain and educate a public raised on mass-produced pop music, to stem the effects of shrinking music education budgets and to encourage practitioners in the present-day cabaret field. Named after Mabel Mercer, arguably the supreme cabaret artist of the twentieth century, the Foundation also functions as a central source of information for artists, presenters, promoters, and the general public about Ms. Mercer and the art form she exemplified.

Donald Smith, the founder and late Executive Director of The Mabel Mercer Foundation, was actively involved with the world of cabaret for over forty years. The Oakland Tribune described him as “the man who has done more than anyone else to keep cabaret alive.” His successor, KT Sullivan, carries on the work of the Mabel Mercer Foundation, indefatigably striving to ensure the continuity of the mission. The centerpiece of the Foundation’s work is the annual Cabaret Convention, the 29th edition of which will be performed this October 9 through the 12th. The Foundation also creates a variety of performance programs to support its mission.

Additionally, Sullivan reports, “Because of the extraordinary generosity ($50,000) of Adela and Larry Elow, specifically designated to endow an annual competition for teenagers who sing The American Songbook, the Mabel Mercer Foundation produced the first annual scholarship competition in 2018 on February 3rd ( Mabel’s birthday )at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, where 16 singers from four New York City’s public performing arts high schools competed. Since Mabel Mercer had no children and her legacy is the interpretation of great lyrics, we called these competitors ‘Mabel’s Babies.’ The judges were Deborah Grace Winer, La Tanya Hall, Jim Morgan, Jeff Harnar and David Finkle. The first, second and third place winners received $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. The first place winner will also perform at the Cabaret Convention on October 11th at Rose Hall. The 2019 competition will be held on February 16th at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.”

Please consider donating to one or all of these worthy non-profits. Your support helps to keep the music playing to preserve and further our greatest gift to the world—The Great American Songbook.