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The Fifth Annual GRAMMY Charity Holiday Auction is available Dec. 1–11 and features an exclusive array of celebrity-signed music and entertainment memorabilia, VIP experiences and more. Presented in partnership with Kompolt, all proceeds raised through this special auction will benefit programs and services of the MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundations.
Featured items include an Ultimate 51st GRAMMY Awards VIP Experience package for two including Platinum-level seating, post celebration passes, GRAMMY rehearsal passes, and tickets to the 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Neil Diamond; 51st GRAMMY Awards Mosh Pit passes for two; a 51st GRAMMY Awards Seat Filler Experience for two; VIP Lunches with actor John Stamos as well as "American Idol" finalist Jason Castro; select autographed memorabilia from Alice Cooper, Fergie, Foo Fighters, the Jonas Brothers, Avril Lavigne, Yoko Ono, Robert Plant, Rascal Flatts, Keith Richards, Slash, Carrie Underwood and more; a Donny and Marie Osmond Valentine's Day VIP Experience in Las Vegas including tickets to their show at the Flamingo Las Vegas and meet and greet accommodations; a Ricky Martin stage outfit worn on his Black & White concert tour; an Ozomatli VIP Concert Experience including the opportunity to play percussion onstage with the group; and VIP Coachella and Stagecoach Festival packages featuring parking accommodations, VIP lounge access and festival passes.
The GRAMMY Foundation and Do Something have launched Key Change Grants, a program created by students who attended the 2008 GRAMMY Camp that encourages young people to create and promote social change through music. The program will award a total of $25,000 to young people across North America for grassroots projects in communities that use music to foster social change. A total of 20 finalists will each receive a $500 community action grant to further develop their projects and ideas. Five grand prize winners will take home grants of $3,000 for their projects and will be flown to Los Angeles for two nights where they will attend the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 8, 2009, at Staples Center. Grant applications are currently online at www.dosomething.org and the program is open to all U.S. and Canadian citizens age 19 and under. The deadline to apply is Dec. 15. Winners will be chosen by a panel of music industry professionals and will be announced on Jan. 9, 2009.
The Recording Academy recently named Chinese pianist Lang Lang as its GRAMMY Cultural Ambassador to China, harnessing the combination of his powerful cultural influence along with the stature and recognition of the GRAMMY Awards and The Recording Academy to promote music education and cultural understanding between the United States and China.
 This honor was celebrated with a special performance by the 26-year-old virtuoso at New York's Town Hall on Oct. 20. The concert was presented by the GRAMMY Foundation and sponsored by the Starkey Hearing Foundation and also celebrated the official launch of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, which was created to enrich the lives of children through a deeper understanding and enjoyment of classical music and to inspire and financially support the next generation of musicians through targeted outreach and educational programs.
The partnership between the GRAMMY Foundation and the Starkey Hearing Foundation was officially launched at GRAMMY Career Day this past Feb. 7 at the University of Southern California. Starkey Hearing Foundation's team, led by founder William Austin, donated approximately 300 hearing instruments (with a retail value of more than $900,000) to an estimated 150 Los Angeles-area children experiencing hearing loss. Starkey Hearing Foundation will also support MusiCares by providing hearing tests, screenings and information at health fairs and clinics around the country.
The GRAMMY Foundation recently received the Help Group's Champion for Children Award for its support of a groundbreaking new study entitled "Music As The Doorway To Emotion Understanding In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder." This study, conducted by the Help Group — UCLA Autism Research Alliance, is the first to investigate the fundamental neural components of emotion understanding through music and face perception in both typically developing children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Individuals with ASD experience challenges with the communication and understanding of emotion such as difficulties in interpreting emotion from facial expressions. In contrast, individuals with ASD show no deficits in processing emotion in musical stimuli, presenting an interesting disassociation between these different types of emotional communication. "The ability to enjoy music is a universal human trait — we relate to music spontaneously and effortlessly," noted Dr. Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, who led the research initiative. "Music also has the powerful ability to awaken emotions, trigger memories and intensify our social experiences. These qualities give music extraordinary potential as a therapeutic tool, and yet little research has examined the power of music to alleviate human illness and suffering. Through our study, we hope to acquire knowledge leading to new treatments for ASD and other developmental disorders." For more information, visit www.thehelpgroup.org or click here.
The GRAMMY Foundation is currently accepting applications for the fifth annual GRAMMY Camp. Held in Los Angeles from July 11–25, 2009, GRAMMY Camp will be sponsored in part by Epiphone and is part of the Foundation's GRAMMY in the Schools offerings.
With instruction from top music professionals, GRAMMY Camp is a two-week residential summer camp that offers an immersive experience in a variety of music industry careers. Students interested in participating in the 2009 GRAMMY Camp can apply now at www.grammyintheschools.com. The final application deadline is March 31, 2009. Over the past two years, approximately 80 percent of camp attendees who applied for financial aid received assistance.
This past July, 63 students selected by the GRAMMY Foundation from high schools across the United States attended the 2008 GRAMMY Camp. For a complete list of GRAMMY Camp selectees, click here. For blogs posted by students in the GRAMMY Camp Music Journalism track, click here.
Adam Zuckerman (guitar), Taylor Barner (vocals), Edwin Carranza (bass), Alexandra Kelly (vocals), and Richard Saunders (background vocals) perform at the GRAMMY Camp showcase concert
Photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
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Joseph LeMay (guitar), Adam Gertner (drums) and Edwin Carranza (bass) perform at the GRAMMY Camp showcase concert
Photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
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The GRAMMY Foundation has launched its 11th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Essay Competition, a program that will award more than $10,000 in scholarships to promising entertainment law students.
Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association, the competition invites law students to write a 3,000-word paper on a compelling legal topic facing the music industry today. The competition will culminate with the winning student authors presenting their essays at the prestigious ELI Luncheon & Scholarship Presentation on Feb. 6, 2009. Additionally, each winner will receive airfare, hotel accommodations, and a ticket to the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2009, the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, as well as invitations to other GRAMMY Week activities.
For the first time in program history, the Foundation has added ELI writing competition workshops at prominent law schools around the country with the goal of helping students with their essays. Dates have already been secured in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Santa Clara, Calif. For additional information regarding dates or setting up a workshop, e-mail Loren Fishbein at loren.fishbein@grammy.com.
 Also for the first time, ELI has partnered with www.box.net to allow students to upload their submissions directly over the Internet. Box.net's mission is to provide the tools to enable people around the world to share and exchange information and content online.
Submissions for the 11th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Essay Competition must be postmarked by Jan. 2, 2009. Winners will be announced on Jan. 30, 2009. For complete contest rules, send an e-mail to eli@grammy.com or click here.
Presented by the Gibson Foundation, the GRAMMY Foundation's annual signature gala, Starry Night, honoring legendary GRAMMY-winning producer/arranger/composer and author Sir George Martin took place on July 12 at the University of Southern California. This intimate dinner and concert benefited the GRAMMY Foundation, which provides programs that foster future generations of music professionals and helps preserve our nation's musical heritage. Multi-GRAMMY Award-winning producer and former GRAMMY Foundation Board member David Foster served as the evening's musical director. An array of musical luminaries performed including acclaimed pianist and singer/songwriter A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sudol), GRAMMY-winning group America, multi-GRAMMY-winning artist Burt Bacharach, multi-GRAMMY-winning musician Jeff Beck, two-time GRAMMY nominee Chris Botti, multi-GRAMMY nominee Kurt Elling, multi-GRAMMY-winning arranger/composer Dave Grusin, GRAMMY-winning artist Sir Tom Jones, pianist William Joseph, multi-GRAMMY-winning artist Michael McDonald, vocalist/actress Renee Olstead, singer/songwriter Naomi Sommers and multi-GRAMMY-winning artist Jimmy Webb. In addition, members of the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles performed and guitarist
Joe Walsh of the GRAMMY-winning group the Eagles made a surprise appearance.
The evening prior to Starry Night, Sir George Martin hosted a special multimedia presentation, "The Making Of Sgt. Pepper," at the University of Southern California campus. Sponsored in part by Best Buy and Harman International, this special event was showcased by the GRAMMY Foundation with the Los Angeles Chapter and the Producers & Engineers Wing and featured an exclusive look at the Beatles' classic recording.
Artists House Music has entered into a special partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation that will make free online educational opportunities available to musicians worldwide. ArtistsHouseMusic.org — the first free, comprehensive and interactive online community for musicians and music business enthusiasts — is a treasure trove of articles, videos, and expert instruction from current and past leaders of the music business. The site's conception and development funding comes courtesy of the Herb Alpert Foundation. The GRAMMY Foundation will provide Artists House Music with instructional video content from GRAMMY Pro Sessions. The first release is titled "How To DJ" and features content from a recent GRAMMY Pro Sessions with DJ Shortee, one of the world's most prominent female DJs. Visit www.artistshousemusic.org for more information.
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CD Pulse.com and Black Mountain Productions Inc. recently announced that they will generously contribute a percentage of proceeds from their programs and services throughout the year to benefit the education and preservation programs of the GRAMMY Foundation. Every artist who joins CD Pulse.com and every artist who signs with Black Mountain Productions Inc. will become a benefactor as well. Visit CD Pulse.com or Black Mountain Productions Inc. for more information.
Throughout the year, the GRAMMY Foundation presents GRAMMY SoundChecks with a wide range of artists on tour in cities across the country. GRAMMY SoundChecks provide young people with a glimpse into the realities of music careers by inviting them to attend rehearsals and concert sound checks of major artists. GRAMMY SoundChecks have featured a host of artists, including Babyface, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, the Dave Matthews Band, Destiny's Child, Macy Gray, Billy Joel, Jack Johnson, Juanes, John Mayer, No Doubt, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, U2 and Kanye West. Visit our events page for information on upcoming SoundChecks.
 The Celebrity Vault, preeminent purveyors of celebrity fine art, is now open in Beverly Hills, featuring artwork by: Malcolm Farley, Danny Clinch, Gered Mankowitz, Lynn Goldsmith, Bob Freeman, Elliott Landy, Robert Knight and Richard Aaron with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the GRAMMY Foundation and the MusiCares Foundation. Please visit www.thecelebrityvault.com for more information.
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