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Live the Music Foundation Keeping the Beat in Royal Oak
(Mark Stowers, April 2, 2019)
Check out our “Get Involved Guide” for more stories about local organizations. Thank you to Bosco Lounge for sponsoring this series.
Royal Oak, MI- Music has been called a universal language, if so the Live the Music Foundation in Royal Oak is a master linguist. The non-profit has been in existence for nearly a decade and has helped scores of children and adults get introduced to music on all levels no matter if it’s singing or playing and even performing. With a diverse five-member board, the foundation seeks to help those interested in music.
Back in 2010, Jason Gittinger launched the non-profit while working at his Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music. One of his adult students had a terminal illness and his dream was to play a live concert covering all his favorite songs. Gittinger worked tirelessly to give bass player Kevin Rushton that final dream. Setting up a concert with faculty members of the school, Gittinger filled the Magic Bag in Ferndale with an audience and fulfilled the dream.
“It touched an amazing amount of people and generated enough money to buy a PA system for the Foundation,” Gittinger said. “I want music to be that positive, uplifting thing that keep people from doing stupid things like alcohol and drugs,” he said. “Music propels people to come together in community with each other.”
With the mantra, “Stop Practicing. Start Performing,” Gittinger and his wife Sheri oversee the DSRP and walk through the musical doors that the foundation opens for them. Currently, the foundation supports music scholarships for private lessons and band production at the DSRP. They also support music equipment grants along with Summer Camp Scholarships at the school.
One of the foundation’s main goals is to increase the availability of live music. The foundation supports live music by producing concerts and events in conjunction with their partners at The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music. Each winter and fall the school presents their “LIVE at The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music” concert series. It’s an intimate night of music with some of the best professional music artists from Metro Detroit and beyond. The school’s space is transformed into an intimate candle-lit concert venue. Students are invited to help the artist prep for the show at soundcheck and hear their stories and music at no cost as a means of inspiration and motivation to keep working hard.
Through equipment and grant support, the school is also able to participate in many community concerts, festivals and events each summer in Metro Detroit. The school’s Summer Rocks! program takes the show on the road each August on trip across the country to bring music to many under-served audiences. Without the foundation’s support, none of this would be possible.
Live The Music Foundation is located at 1109 S. Washington in Royal Oak (Office located at The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music). For more information, email: info@LiveTheMusicFoundation.org, check out their website, http://www.LiveTheMusicFoundation.org or give them a call at (888)-988-ROCK (7625).