For those of you who have enjoyed the free, Music Friday  concerts in Lancaster Square for the past three years, the summer 2012 Music Friday season will  bring you even more free music in downtown Lancaster.

Music For Everyone, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOOSE) and the Lancaster County Community Foundation is sponsoring additional music acts on street corners, alleys and other public spaces throughout the downtown area. While the main stage concert in Lancaster Square will continue to offer music, food, wine and beer, there will be at least 10 additional “street spots” throughout the downtown area where various musicians, drummers and singers will be stationed to spread the sound of music beyond Lancaster Square to every nook and cranny in the city.

Along with the main stage in Lancaster Square and the additional street spots, MFE is once again sponsoring 11 sites for Keys for the City pianos. Additionally, MFE, MOOSE and LCCF have been working with local restaurants, bars and galleries to encourage them to sponsor musical acts on these Third Friday events.

“The result will be close to 40 music venues – from street corners, to galleries, to restaurants, bars and Keys for the City pianos,” said John Gerdy, president of Music For Everyone. “That’s a lot of free music. Downtown Lancaster is going to be hoppin’ on Music Fridays!”

The First Music Friday of the summer season will be on May 18. Music begins at 6:00 PM.

For more information and a map of the various music venues, please visit: LancasterCityEvents.com or MusicForEveryone.net

MFE Celebrates $65,000 in Grants!

On Friday, May 4 MFE, celebrated the awarding of almost $65,000 in grants to schools and community arts groups in Binns Park in downtown Lancaster. Representatives of the schools and arts organizations showed up to accept their “Big Checks” and to enjoy the music of some of the schools and groups that received grants. Performances were provided by: Buchanan Elementary Drum Ensemble, Conestoga Valley Third Grade Strings, Burrowes Elementary Vocal Ensemble, Wheatland Middle School Percussion Ensemble and the MFE Student Strings.

Show Your Mama the MFE Love! Want to treat your mother to a unique Mother’s Day? Why not join us as we celebrate Mom’s on May 13 on the Gerdy Farm in Conestoga? From 12 noon to 4:00 PM we will be celebrating all things Motherhood with great food and drink and fonky music. Tickets are $60 for adults and $25 for children under 17. For more information contact John Gerdy at 717-871-1710 or JohnGerdy@aol.com

Keys for the City 2012 Roll Out! We’re getting ready roll out the pianos for another summer of music on the streets of Lancaster. Eleven pianos will be situated throughout the downtown area beginning the week of May 14 and will remain there until late September. So, get your groove on and come down and tickle a few ivories! Head to our website MusicForEvryone.net for more information regarding locations and additional events around the pianos. We’d like to thank the following lead sponsors for making Keys 2012 a reality:

Lancaster County Community Foundation                        Tell Manufacturing                              Lancaster International Piano Festival             Faulkner BMW                  Menchey’s Music                                                           Patterson/Votilla Dentistry for Life   Theater for Transformation                                             North Museum

MFE Leads Effort to Expand the Reach of Music Fridays.

For the past three summers, MFE, in partnership with the Mayors Office of Special Events, has sponsored free concerts in Lancaster Square on every third Friday from May through September. MFE’s goal for this program has always been to grow the concert series to a point where it is financially stable before turning our attention to other initiatives to grow Music Fridays. With the help of a $10,000 grant from the Lancaster County Community Foundation, the Lancaster Square concert series is now financially viable.

That means MFE, again, in partnership with MOOSE and LCCF, can now go on to the next step. And that step is to expand the music offerings beyond Lancaster Square. These additional offerings include the following:

1. MFE has identified at least 7 additional “street spots’ throughout downtown and will arrange for live music to be performed at these spots.
2. An effort to encourage more restaurants, bars and galleries to sponsor live music on Music Fridays and than more effectively advertise those acts.
3. Encourage and arrange for activities at thevarious Keys for the City 2012 pianos.

The result will be a ton of music floating around the streets and buildings of downtown Lancaster from 6:00 – 9:00 PM and later. It’s going to be fun, fonky and interesting.  And it will be another “brick in the wall” in our effort to develop Lancaster as an “Arts Destination”.

MFE Community Chorus to Appear on Stage!

The MFE Community Chorus, along with the Lancaster City Choir will be performing Gospel and spiritual numbers as part of a Theater for Transformation production of “To Cross an Ocean Four Centuries Long: A Play About Slavery and the Nature of Hope”. The play, written by Dr. Amanda Kemp, tells the stories of three very different female slaves through a collaboration of words, music, drums and dance. It will be performed at the Ware Center, 42 N. Prince Street, Lancaster on  Thursday, May 10 and Saturday, May 12 at 7:30 PM. For tickets and information visit:  http/www.Millersville.edu/ware-center/index.php or call 717-871-2308.

MFE CD Release Party Set for Friday, June 15 Come join us as we release MFE Vol. V in Binns Park in Lancaster Square.  Several of the bands whose tracks were selected for the CD will be appearing. Festivities begin at 6:00 PM.

Monthly Music Download: This month’s music download is from MFE Vol. IV. Check out Mike McMonaglle’s “Stay Here”. It’s available at MusicForEveryone.net and it’s FREE.

Reminders: MFE Community Chorus and Ukulele Uprising! Come join the MFE Community Chorus on Monday evenings at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster (328 W. Orange St.) at 7:00 PM. Or, if you prefer playing ukulele, join the MFE Ukulele Uprising on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 PM at the Susquehanna Association for the Blind building at 244 N. Queen Street. All are welcome to both of these MFE Community building initiatives.

Ben’s “record player” turned out to be a magnificent example of the classic stereo console.  He got it complete with a selection of old vinyl records.  It was a Magnavox, dark “walnut” finish, with a flip-up lid.  The radio worked fine, but the record changer kept cycling through its automatic “changing the record” routine.  We soon sussed that a return spring on the reject switch had failed.  The easy fix was just to manually switch it to the “run” position once the record dropped.  We were soon enjoying “Dark Side of the Moon”.

I believe there is nothing else like the sound of these old consoles.  If you grew up with ‘em, you’ll probably agree.  There’s a certain tone- it’s not what you’d call “hi-fi”, but it can be very musical.  It’s a sort of warm, melt-with-the-bass tone that I imagine aliens would use on us if they wanted to convince us that they loved us, rather than demand our obedience (puny earth-linnnnnnngs!).  It’s a tone that is so perfectly aligned with the classic radio DJ tone that when the right DJ comes on his voice will carry for several blocks.  Right through concrete walls.

Anyway, I think Ben is on to something here.  I got a console several weeks ago for my recording studio.  Mine’s a G.E.- yeah, that same G.E. that was making nuclear reactors and guided missiles and stuff for the cold war was making stereo consoles.  I added an input jack to it, and now I can play guitar through it.  Or listen to my “Kid A” CD through it.  “Everything In Its Right Place” sounds amazing through a 1970′s G.E. console.

Mine’s also got a flip-up lid, and like Ben’s, you have to stick your head under it to hold it open while you change records.  They could make transistors back in the 70′s, but springs… not so much.

Horst Oxenbinder

Visit www.steampoweredstudio.com

Our grant committee met in mid March to award $64,473 in grants to 43 different schools and community arts groups in Lancaster County. This represents our largest award amount for this annual program. The majority of these funds will be used to purchase and repair instruments. As exciting as this is, the fact that we received almost $180,000 in requests indicates that the  “music resource gap” in our community remains acute.

Come join us on Friday May 4 at 5:30 in Binns Park (100 block N. Queen St. in Lancaster) for our annual Grant Awards Celebration. Music will be provided by several children’s ensembles from schools that received grants.

Another Community Building Initiative from MFE: Come Join MFE’s “Ukulele Uprising”!

Do you play Ukulele? Do you want to learn how to play? Come and join fellow ukulele enthusiasts on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM at Steinman Student Center (Room B-12) on the F&M campus. There is a vibrant ukulele community out there and this initiative is designed to nurture it as another example of music’s tremendous power to bring people together.  For more information contact: Steve Patterson at 717-587-4943 or by e-mail at: JSP1213@gmail.com

Show Your Mama the MFE Love!

Want to treat your mother to a unique Mother’s Day? Why not join us as we celebrate Mom’s on May 13 on the Gerdy Farm in Conestoga?From 12 noon to 4:00 PM we will be celebrating all things Motherhood with great food and drink and fonky music. Tickets are $60 for adults and $25 for children under 17. For more information contact John Gerdy at 717-871-1710 or JohnGerdy@aol.com

70 Songs Submissions for MFE CD Vol. V:

Looks like our selection committee will have their hands full in selecting songs for this year’s CD. We received 70 submissions and will select around 15. The winners will be announced and celebrated at our annual MFE CD Release Party on Friday June 15 during the Music Friday event in Lancaster Square.

Monthly Music Download:File Your Taxes and Help MFE:

This month’s music download is from MFE Vol. IV. The Cultivators have been a long time friend of MFE and we are proud to present an interesting tune of theirs titled “Peso in My Pocket” for free download.  It’s available at MusicForEveryone.net

File Your Taxes and Help MFE:

It’s tax time, which makes it the right time to File For A Cause. When you use the easy, web based tax software you do more than file your taxes – you support MFE as well as tow other Lancaster non-profits. File For A Cause donates 30% of the cost to file, a minimum of $10.00 to MFE, The Boys and Girls Club and The Lancaster Public Library. And, if you File For A Cause, you receive one free email consultation with Dave the Tax Guy – a professional with more than twelve years of experience.  So, File For A Cause and know that your time and your money are being well spent at: ITPTaxes.com/file-for-a-cause.php

Interested in being an MFE Community Piano Sponsor for Keys For the City 2012?

You or your company’s name or logo can be designed into the “MFE Community Piano” for a contribution of $500. Additionally, you will be mentioned on MFE’s website and Facebook page throughout the summer. But most important, your contribution will be applied to MFE 2013 grant fund. Keys of the City 2012 is on the way and this is a great way for you to be a part of it. If interested, contact John Gerdy at 717-871-1710 or JohnGerdy@aol.

“Purple Haze” Ice Cream for MFE?

Carmen and David’s Ice Creamery (25 N. Prince St., Lancaster) will donate 10% of the sale of all sundaes during the week of April 22 – 30 to MFE. Ice Cream for Everyone for Music For Everyone! And they are creating a special MFE flavor for the occasion – “Purple Haze”! Dig It!

Picture this. A magnified image of a cross section of the human brain.  The image shows hundreds of tiny brownish bits. These bits are toxic proteins, called tau, that form after brain trauma.  Tau can inhibit cellular functions in the brain, leading to depression, dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Now, picture this. The same magnified image. This image shows activities associated with vibrant cellular connections. The brain is seemingly swarming with activity, actually brightening the image.

The first image is of a brain of a former football player. The formation of the tau are the result of hundreds, if not thousands, of repeated hits to the head.  These violent hits, in effect, shake or “scramble” the brain, flooding it with chemicals that deaden cellular receptors and tear neural connections linked to learning and memory. In short, the connections necessary for optimal brain function and development are being shaken loose.

The second image is of the brain while playing music. Brain function is about “connections” between cells and neurons. Healthy brains have strong, clear and vibrant connections. And research tells us that playing music triggers activity in cells and neurons in the brain that are linked to concentration, memory and creativity, thus refining the development of the brain and the entire neurological system.  Further, playing music not only strengthens these connections, but also creates new connections, thus widening the brain’s neural network.  That activity virtually bursts through the second image.

Recently, this paper ran a four part series regarding the future of interscholastic sports in Lancaster County. Much of the series focused on how schools are coping with the challenges of maintaining vibrant sports programs in an increasingly dire economic climate.  In a perfect world, no programs would be cut. But with politicians making it perfectly clear that for the foreseeable future state educational funding will be significantly reduced, it’s painfully clear that we no longer live in a perfect world.  That being the case, school districts will be forced to engage in the very difficult debate regarding how to allocate increasingly scarce “extracurricular” dollars. And the fundamental question that must drive that debate is, “Which activities garner the best educational return on investment?”

Traditionally, the analysis of “extracurricular” spending has focused on the choice between elite, interscholastic athletics versus programs in music and the arts.  Unfortunately, this debate has failed to honestly acknowledge the elephant in the room – the sport that is by far the most expensive to sponsor – football.

The point of this essay is not to bash football or elite athletics. As the son of a high school football coach and former All-American and professional basketball player, I have witnessed and believe that sports have the capacity to be a powerful educational asset. But the culture surrounding elite, interscholastic athletics has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. Specifically, there has been a steady evolution of sport in American education away from the “process oriented” model (e.g., education) toward a “results oriented” model (e.g., winning). This evolution, along with the skyrocketing expenses required to field a team, has eroded football’s potential as an educational resource and diminished its educational return on investment.

Now the revelations of the serious consequences to brain health and function that result from the repeated hits to the head sustained in football must enter the debate. No longer should the discussion focus on the question of whether footballs’ educational value merits its disproportionate economic costs.  We now have to give serious consideration to the question of whether the potential human costs to students’ health have become too great for an educational institution to assume.

Certainly, there have always been physical costs to participants. Football is a violent game. But we are not talking about sprained ankles and broken bones. Sprained ankles and broken bones eventually heal. We are talking about young people’s brains. Brains don’t always heal.

In the end, this is about community values as reflected through our educational institutions. Should our educational institutions be sponsoring activities that deaden and destroy brain cells and impair brain function? Should football, rather than music, which strengthens and develops brain cells and enhances brain function, receive our economic resources? In other words, is the goal of education to develop brains or “scramble” them?

Perhaps it is time to have a serious discussion about the role of football in our educational system. This discussion must take place against a background that recognizes the fact that America’s economy has changed from one based on industrial might to one based on technology and innovation.  Clearly, the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace of the future will have far more to do with brains than brawn, requiring intellectual and creative skills of the mind nurtured in the classrooms and concert halls rather than muscles built in the weight room and on the playing field.

We should welcome this discussion and analysis because if we approach it honestly, the end result will be better schools serving our children and communities more effectively.

If, during the process, we find that football is in fact meeting its educational purposes, perhaps we should invest more heavily in it. But what if it is not? What if it is determined that investment in music and arts as an “extra-curricular” activity brings a greater return on educational dollar invested? What should our school boards do? What should we as parents and tax paying citizens, do?

And because a picture is worth a thousand words, a good place to start that conversation would be to observe scans of the brain on football versus the brain on music.

Dr. John R. Gerdy is founder and president of Music For Everyone

Well, Thanksgiving is here again.

Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays.

I loved coming home from college to a houseful of relatives.  It seems my parent’s home was the hub for all the aunts and uncles that had no children and the grandmothers who were still living.  There are few things better than sitting around the table with those you love.

Now, having lived long enough to have seen most of them pass on, Thanksgiving is more a time of reflection and a bit of melancholy.  I think back, lovingly, of the times we spent
together.  Of the things, my father taught me.  Of how hard my parents worked to give my sister and me a good home.  And they gave us the best of homes.  Filled with the things that we did together.  Oh boy, do I miss them.

We had a stereo console in the living room and that thing was always hummin’.  I would stack on LPs and play them from the time I got up until I went to bed.  We always had music on in our house.  My parents probably didn’t like everything I played, but they seldom gave me a hard time. They encouraged me to take music lessons on the trumpet.  Of course, the guitar and bass ended up being much more interesting to me.

When I got out of college and we started Big Red, I needed bass equipment.  My father took out money to get me a good amplifier, much to my mother’s chagrin.  He was such a good man.  He probably understood me more than I ever knew.  But anyway, the point is that I was encouraged to play music.  To play sports.  To study Shakespeare in college.  To be thinking, compassionate, complete person.  Thank you.

I played my last song with Corty Byron on Saturday night, October 8, 2011, around 11pm, at McCleary’s Pub.  We played “The Weight.”  I sang the “Crazy Chester” verse.  We sang harmony on the chorus.  Corty moved to California several days later.

He called me last week to say he and Katy had found an apartment in Venice beach.  I miss him.  Over the past few years, I have had some of the best times of my life playing music with Corty.  Although I am twice his age, I think our souls are about the same.  I often joked that he was the little brother I never had.  Corty is a rare talent in an area that has always had a very deep talent pool.  Granted, big fish…small pond, but for my money he is one of the best and most complete performers I have ever met or played with.  I truly hope something good happens for him in California.  I know he will come back to visit and hopefully we will make some music again.

I’ve owned an old Martin D18 for a long time.  Several years ago, someone stole Corty’s guitar so I loaned him the Martin to use until he got another guitar.  I love that old D18.  I remember the day I got it.  I got a Martin!!!  Played the heck out of it for a number of years.  Retired it when I got another new guitar that I still play out.  I never made the Martin sound like Corty does.  He says that guitar has more mojo than any guitar he has ever played.  I hope I put some of that mojo into it.

People told me I was crazy to let him take it to California with him.  How can you let that go?  Do you know how much that is worth?  Yeah…I have a good idea.  It is worth a lot to me.  But so is Corty.  I love them both.  So what do you do?  I know what I did.  I sent that old D18 along with Corty in hopes that it might help him in his quest.  Whatever that might be.

It took me a while to know what I was going to write about Corty.  I think Thanksgiving coming gave me pause to think of loved ones and family and that is what spurred this.  I miss my family. I miss my sister and her family.  They live on the other side of Philly, now, and I won’t get to see them.  They have their lives that happen where they now reside.  My nephews are married and are starting families.  I know that they will all be sitting around my sister’s table on Thanksgiving and I will think of them.  I will think of my Dad and my Mother and Uncle Mooney and Aunt Millie and Nana and Grandma and my old dogs Blue and Buzzy and Bubba and Snuffy.  I’ll think about that kitchen table that I often go back to in my memories.

I am going to call Corty in California and say hello, happy Thanksgiving.

Here we have the MU Music Business Class producing, promoting and running a fundraising event for a music related non-profit. This is the same group that runs Millersville’s student run record label (FDR Records). MFE has partnered in the past and will continue to partner in the future, with FDR Records. For example, in the upcoming year, MFE will provide the opportunity for at least five schools to have one of their  student musical groups or ensembles go into FDR’s studio to record a song or two. Some of those songs may end up on MFE’s annual CD.
MFE’s core mission is to cultivate the power of music as an educational and community building tool. This relationship and these programs are prime examples of how MFE is delivering on that mission by building synergies between and among various educational organizations to advance educational objectives and build community.  
These programs are good for MU as they provide practical, real life experiences for Music Business majors to produce, promote and run a fundraising event. Further, bringing school groups into FDR’s studio provides meaningful opportunities for MU students to practice and refine their recording skills. These opportunities enhance the educational experience of MU students and strengthens MU’s Music Business major.
And the benefit for our school children is enormous. The opportunity for these young people to go into a real recording studio makes them all feel like “rock stars”. And don’t we all need to feel like rock stars every now and then? And the opportunity to perform in public provides them the chance to “shine”, which builds self-esteem and confidence.

But it is the potential long-term payoff that is so intriguing.

Maybe, the end result is that for some of them, their first visit to a college campus will be a very cool experience. An experience that they will feel good about and remember fondly. And maybe, it will be the difference in them saying to themselves, “I want to go to college one day.”

I’m sure your response to this news is, “What’s the MFE Award? And why did MFE establish it?”

While not as visible as our grant program or our Keys for the City initiative, we feel that this award contributes an important element to MFE’s mission. Specifically, a key component in our efforts to “cultivate the power of music as an educational and community building tool” is advocacy – publicizing and educating the public regarding the value of music as an educational and community investment. Part of our strategy in this regard is to recognize and bring attention to individuals who have made a significant impact in our schools and/or community through music.

The fact is, you can provide every child in the county with a brand new instrument, but without dedicated and talented teachers and mentors overseeing their use, those instruments will never unleash their magic. Unfortunately, teaching music is often a thankless job. Challenges include high student to teacher ratios, never enough instruments, no budget for instrument repair and never enough time to give the individual attention that our children deserve. Yet, so many of our teachers tirelessly work to instill the values necessary for success in life – discipline, cooperation, dedication, and communication and leadership skills – through music. MFE believes that these individuals should be recognized as a way to thank them for all that they do.

This year’s recipient is Michael Jamanis,  Jr., former faculty member at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music and violinist for the internationally renowned Newstead Trio. Michael is being recognized for his work on behalf of PAM in the School District of Lancaster. He has worked alongside teachers in Washington, Wheatland, King, Lincoln and Wickersham Elementary schools as well as J.P. McCaskey High School, providing in class assistance, private lessons as well as leading various ensembles. He has also provided private lessons and conducted two summer music camps on behalf of MFE.

With the recent closing of PAM, Michael is going to continue his work in the schools under the auspices of Music For Everyone’s  “MFE in the Schools” program. The purpose of MFE in the Schools is to help address the music “mentoring/instructional gap” in our schools by placing professional musicians and instructors in the school system to work alongside music teachers to enhance both the quality and quantity of music education experiences for Lancaster children. As state funding for education continues to be slashed, this “gap” will only increase. Needless to say we are excited about Michael’s involvement with “MFE in the Schools”.

So, join us as we take a break from the music to recognize an individual’s extraordinary efforts to cultivate the power of music in Lancaster County.

 “Ten years ago on a cold dark night,

there was someone killed ‘neath the town hall lights.”

Well, it was a lot more than ten people, wasn’t it?

And it was in the morning, not under the lights.

A day that changed things as we once knew them.

For one brief, shining, blood stained moment, the country stood as one.

Today, we are a compound fracture.

That day in early September was just so strange.

What happened?

What was going to happen?

We were stunned.

We were afraid.

We were resilient.

We needed each other.

I remember being in Jethro’s and people were just dazed.

We congregated.

We talked.

We comforted.

WE LISTENED TO MUSIC.

I loaded the playlist with music from our younger years.

Warm music for cold times.

Music of the late 60’s and early 70’s.

James Taylor,”Sweet Baby James”.

Bonnie Raitt,, “Takin’ My Time”.

Grateful Dead, “American Beauty”.

Neil Young, “After The Goldrush”.

Randy Newman, “Sail Away”.

Jesse Colin Young, “Songs For Julia”.

Tom Waits, “Heart Of Saturday Night”.

Jackson Brown, “Late For The Sky”.

Joni Mitchell, “Blue”

C.S.N.&Y. “Déjà vu”.

Maria Muldaur, Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen.

THE BAND, “MUSIC FROM BIG PINK”

“Take a load off Fanny,

take a load for free.

Take a load off Fanny,

And and and Put the load right on me”.

BOB DYLAN, “BLOOD ON THE TRACKS”.

“Well I’ll see you in the sky above,

in the tall grass,

and the ones I love.

You’re gonna make me lonesome when you go”.

We hung out all night in the bar listening to this music.

I think we played that music right through the holidays.

I remember nights where not many words were spoken.

Friends and customers alike sat and ate and drank and listened to the music.

It was a quiet time. Not a lot of laughter.

Hushed voices talking amongst themselves.

Talking about what had happened.

Wanting to feel close to one another.

Seeking community.

I still have vivid recollections of those evenings.

Hanging in the dimly lit bar.

Looking at each other.

Listening.

We played our first Lingering Doubts gig of the fall

several weeks after 9-11. The room was packed.

It had the feeling of a church service.

It felt solemn.

We started to play our set.

The room started to shine.

There was undeniable magic in the air.

The power of music cannot be under estimated.

As the evening progressed, so did the warmth in the room.

I’m not really sure why, but during our last rehearsal for the show, we came up with the idea to try to do “The Boxer” by Simon&Garfunkle. I guess it reminded us of New York City. We had never attempted this song before. I think we tried to figure it out and ran through it once or twice. George and I practiced it over the phone a couple of times.

We closed the evening with it and the place just erupted.

The emotional impact of that song on that evening in that place in time was soul stirring.

“In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade

and he carries a reminder, of every glove

that’s laid him down or cut him

till he’s cried out, in his anger and his shame,

I am leaving, I am leaving,

But the fighter still remains……

THE FIGHTER STILL REMAINS.

and so it goes