History
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015
2007
April: Kiff Gallagher begins promoting a “musical Peace Corps”, through his micro-indie record label PeaceLabs Music, Inc, and his work as a singer/songwriter.
- November: With support and leadership from friends and volunteers, Music National Service Initiative is established in San Francisco to develop and implement the idea.
2008
- January: MNS hosts MusicTank ‐ Vol. 1 at The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. to discuss the MusicianCorps concept with 50 leaders in music/arts, national service, social innovation, education and philanthropy.
- June: The Aspen Institute names MNS 1 of 10 nonprofit innovations that will strengthen U.S. communities.
- September: Center for American Progress hosts an event promoting music as a strategy to build a better America. MNS was endorsed at the event by Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY), who played together on bass and guitar. Huckabee says of MusicianCorps, "This is a program that we cannot afford not to have."
- December: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation awards $500,000 to MNS to launch MusicianCorps San Francisco Bay Area and support national development and advocacy for MNS.
2009
February: Early MNS staff members Kiff Gallagher, Brittany Borcherdt, and Vanessa Morrison, and interns Jenna Weakland and Jillian Bletz begin building the organization.
- April: Bipartisan congressional supporters of MNS, led by MusicianCorps champion and New York Rep. Joseph Crowley, add an amendment to the House version of the bill that would become the Kennedy Serve America Act that provides for the creation of "a musician and artist corps program that trains and deploys skilled musicians and artists to promote greater community unity through the use of music and arts education and engagement through work in low income communities, education, healthcare and therapeutic settings, and other work in the public domain with citizens of all ages.” The majority of the language was carried over to the final Act signed by President Obama.
April: MNS helps launch the bi‐partisan Congressional Musicians Caucus to support “innovative policy strategies that incorporate music in the fields of education, health and social policy as well as the use of music for increased civic engagement, volunteerism, diplomacy and peace.”
- April: In partnership with the Center for American Progress, MNS hosts an ArtistCorps Informance at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The event was a celebration of President Obama’s signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and its provision for musicians and artists to serve through AmeriCorps. MNS was joined by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Josh and Cora Dunham from Prince’s rhythm section, and Shirley Sagawa, Visiting Fellow at Center for American Progress.
May: MNS convenes MusicTank ‐ Vol. 2 in Chicago to present the MusicianCorps program model, and plan the national pilot with key stakeholders, including pilot partners Urban Gateways, Arts Corps and the Ruth U. Fertel Foundation.
- May: MNS awarded AmeriCorps*VISTA grant to support program development, evaluation, and communications in pilot cities.
August: MNS’s flagship program, MusicianCorps, launches its national pilot with a two week training camp in San Francisco, California. Over the next ten months, 20 MusicianCorps Fellows serve in high-need community settings in San Francisco/Oakland, Seattle, Chicago, and New Orleans. Sites include 26 public schools, 7 parks and recreation centers, 2 public housing communities, 4 hospitals, 2 hospice residences, and 10 community-based organizations.
2010
- March: NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams runs a "Making a Difference" story on MusicianCorps titled, Making Music with a Mission.
- June: MusicianCorps completes its national pilot, hosting a year-end National Gathering for MusicianCorps Fellows in San Francisco to share experiences, review lessons learned and make music. Pilot evaluation results show that 95% of partner sites agreed that MusicianCorps is a high-quality program.
August: MNS launches MusicianCorps Bay Area program for the 2010-11 school year with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Foundation, Corporation for National and Community Service, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, and individual schools and school districts.
- November: After one year demonstrating program success, MNS innovation and leadership is recognized. MNS is featured in U.S. News and World Report. Additionally, MNS is recognized with a Humanitarian Award by GQ’s Gentlemen's Fund, and named a Top National Nonprofit Start-up by Philanthropedia.
2011
January: MusicianCorps hosts first MLK Day of Song & Service in partnership with Oakland School for the Arts, bringing together 200+ volunteers, including students, parents, community members, and corporate employees to paint murals and learn and perform "Lean On Me."
- February: The Corporation for National and Community Service awards MNS a national expansion planning grant.
March: Center for Music National Service opens new HQ in San Francisco's Mission District.
- May: President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities highlights MNS in national report, “Reinvesting in Arts Education.”
May: MusicianCorps Bay Area completes its 2010-11 program year. Evaluations show that 7 out of 10 high school students say they want to come to school more because of MusicianCorps.
- June: MusicianCorps hosts first Summer Band Camp, provided free of charge for low-income middle school students in San Francisco.
June: MNS’s commitment to expand MusicianCorps to 3-5 cities nationally is featured at the first annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America conference, held June 29-30th, 2011 in Chicago, IL.
- August: MusicianCorps Bay Area program for the 2011-12 year begins.
- August: By a 7-0 vote, the City of Austin's City Council and Mayor commits to launching a local MNS office and MusicianCorps program. Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell: “Sometimes you run across a program or effort that you know is a perfect fit. MusicianCorps was made for Austin.”
- December: MNS Board & Host Committee throw MusicianCorps "Friendraiser" for Bay Area programming.
2012
January: MusicianCorps partners with San Francisco VA Medical Center to bring full-time, ongoing music therapy to veterans through one-on-one and group sessions.
- January: MNS hosts 2nd annual MLK Day of Song & Service at John O'Connell High School in San Francisco, California. The event engages over 200 volunteers, including local musicians, students and parents, community members, and 50 employees from Google.
- February: MusicianCorps in hospitals is featured on PBS NewsHour on the growing recognition of music therapy’s efficacy.
- May: MusicianCorps Bay Area completes 2011-12 program year.
- July: James Irvine Foundation awards MusicianCorps a $130,000 grant through its Exploring Engagement Fund to support expansion to Los Angeles.
- July: North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism & Community Service awards MusicianCorps a NC statewide planning grant.
- September-December: MusicianCorps featured at several thought-leadership platforms, including Clinton Global Initiative, TEDx, Independent Sector, Big Ideas Fest, Case Foundation's Social Citizens, and Social Innovation Summit.
- October: MusicianCorps Los Angeles begins programming with a focus on the Boyle Heights neighborhood.
- November-December: 2011-12 Impact Report is published, featuring outcomes for students, veterans, and hospitalized children. MusicianCorps LA publishes holiday videogram (right).
2013
April: MusicianCorps attends Clinton Global Initiative University in St. Louis and makes a comittment to launch a network of student-led music service clubs on college campuses across the country. Student musicians from UCLA, Duke, and UNC lead the initiative.
- April-May: MusicianCorps serves as a National CoSponsor of Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. That day, POLITICO publishes Op-Ed by MusicianCorps' Kiff Gallagher, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy features the organization for its resilience. In May, MusicianCorps Founder/CEO speaks to executives at GEO Summit about effective philanthropy.
August: The North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service awards MusicianCorps an AmeriCorps grant to launch MusicianCorps North Carolina.
- October: MusicianCorps North Carolina hires a State Director and three full-time MC Artists to serve in the Raleigh-Durham area.
2014
January: MusicianCorps expands its MLK Day of Song & Service beyond the Bay Area, to include events in Los Angeles and Durham, North Carolina.
- February: MusicianCorps North Carolina expands to nine full-time MC Artists, four in the Winston-Salem with new lead collaborator, UNC School of the Arts' Kenan Institute of the Arts.
- May: MusicianCorps Bay Area focuses programming in Tenderloin District, including Song Squad Saturday, Classical Music at Public Library, and High Schoolers Sing for Seniors.
2015
- January: MusicianCorps open-sources MLK Day of Song & Service as #musicMLK and 50 cities participate; commits to expanding to 150 cities in 2016.
- February: MusicianCorps "transitions to spiritual form." The organization throws a huge party and sheds its physical assets; maintains 501(c)(3) nonprofit status as a volunteer-driven movement. See Letter from Founder >>
