MMI News

Last night, our In-Schools program director, Lawrence Blackwell, appeared on Local 24 News via Zoom to chat about our work, our impact, and our upcoming fundraiser, MMIxTape Live. Click here to watch the full interview! Be sure to grab your tickets now for the December 10 event! It’s going to be an inspiring night full […]

New funding for Memphis Music Initiative and Stax Music Academy will support holistic music education programs during COVID-19  The Lewis Prize for Music — a creative arts philanthropy — announced today the recipients of its COVID-19 Community Response Fund. A total of $1.25 million will be awarded to 32 Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations across […]

“Each year at Memphis Music Initiative, we have the honor of working with over 4,000 young people across Memphis, with a focus on improving black and brown students’ equitable access to high quality music engagement. In 2019, we continued to grow as a direct service provider, and as a funder, and as advocates for our […]

MMI is back in the news. This morning, our Executive Director Amber Hamilton appeared on Channel 24’s Local Memphis morning show via Skype. She spoke with anchor Kelsie Cairns about how COVID-19 is impacting Memphis artists, musicians, and young people, and how MMI is responding to the challenge. Click here to watch the full interview! […]

Thanks to a generous gift, Memphis Music Initiative (MMI) has established an Emergency Relief Fund to provide some short-term, immediate relief for individual musicians and young people who are part of our extensive network of programs. We recognize that creatives and the arts have been disproportionately negatively impacted by restrictions taken in response to the […]

On Friday, the Memphis Business Journal published an article on how COVID-19 is impacting local arts and community organizations. The piece featured insights from our very own Director of Grantmaking and Capacity Building, Rychetta Watkins, as well as Tonya Dyson, Executive Director at Memphis Slim House, and Sabrina Norwood of the Young Actors Guild. The […]

Page 2-3: Table of Contents and Letter from our Executive Director & Board Chairperson  Page 4-5: Grantmaking & Capacity Building Page 6-7: MMI Works  Page 8-9: In-Schools  Page 10-11: Our Approach + Finance and Operations          

Commission of Murals for Memphis Music Initiative/Memphis Equity Through Arts CALL TO ARTISTS Request for Proposal Deadline: February 15, 2019 Eligibility: Artist or artist teams, established or new to the field, living or working in the greater Memphis region. Artists of color are strongly encouraged to apply, but all submissions will be considered. Budget: $3000 for […]

by Kiesha Davis I’ve been pondering over a challenge posed by Susan Taylor Batten during the opening plenary of this past ABFE Annual Conference – The Fierce Urgency of Now, held here in Memphis a few weeks ago. When detailing the themes for the conference, she made reference to “investing in the leadership versus the labor […]

Job Title: Director, Development Job Location: Memphis, Tennessee   MMI Overview: Memphis Music Initiative (MMI) invests in youth, local communities and Memphis’ musical legacy by broadening and strengthening existing music engagement offerings in and out of schools and supporting youth-centered, community-based music education. Our approach is three tiered–Through various unique interventions, MMI seeks to: 1) […]