New York, NY, November 6, 2008: ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and America SCORES have teamed up for a third year to present its national songwriting mentorship program,
ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES. The program was established in 2006 to create a collaboration between songwriters and students utilizing the craft of songwriting and music as another engaging and inspiring way for kids to express themselves, while teaching them to value and respect their own creative work and that of other copyright owners. The ASCAP Foundation, a public charity dedicated to supporting music education and talent development programs, funds the program.
As part of the program, ASCAP selects its talented songwriters from a variety of musical genres to teach three-day songwriting workshops during the America SCORES poetry classes. Each songwriter is given an assignment of co-writing and recording a song with the SCORES kids over the course of three days. The kids also learn about the importance of labeling their own creative work with the copyright symbol, year and their name just as they would see on any published, professional creative work.
This year's program features a diverse group of songwriters visiting schools in six cities across the country. The details are:
Dallas, TX
ASCAP member: Americana roots rock artist Johnny Lloyd Rollins
Dates: November 4, 11, 18
School: Hernandez Elementary School, 5555 Maple Ave., Dallas, TX
Recording Studio: Luminous Sound Studios, 17120 Dallas Parkway, Suite 100, Dallas, TX
ASCAP member: Songwriter/Film-TV composer David Rice
Dates: November 17, 18, 19
School: Obediah Knight Elementary School, 2615 Anson Road, Dallas, TX
Recording Studio: Maximedia Studios, 13300 Branch View Ln., Dallas, TX
Oakland, CA
ASCAP member: Hip-hop artist Psalm One
Dates: November 13 & 18, December 9
School: Reach Academy, 9860 Sunnyside St. Oakland, CA
San Francisco, CA
ASCAP members: Indie rock band Birdmonster
Dates: November 17, 19, 24
School: Bret Harte Elementary School, 1035 Gilman Avenue (off 3rd Street), San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA
ASCAP member: Rapper, actor and spoken word artist Saul Williams
Dates: November 18, 19 and 20
School: Braddock Drive Elementary School, 4711 Inglewood Blvd., Culver City, CA
Chicago, IL
ASCAP members: Hip-hop group Da Internz
Dates: December 2, 3, 4
School: Chalmers Elementary School, 2745 W. Roosevelt Rd. Chicago, IL
Boston, MA
ASCAP member: Hip-hop artist Dagha (aka Dwayne Simmons)
Dates: December 8, 11 and 12
School: Dearborn Middle School, 35 Greenville Street, Roxbury, MA
During the first two years of the program, songwriting workshops took place at schools in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Washington, DC, featuring Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer
Adonis Shropshire ( Mariah Carey, Usher, Ciara ); singer-songwriter
Algebra Blesset; rock/alternative/indie songwriter
Vince Scheuermen (from the band Army Of Me); songwriter/producer
Chris Keup (Jason Mraz, OAR); songwriter/producer
Dan Mackenzie (Joss Stone); songwriter/producer
Michael Pruitt songwriter
Dwayne Simmons; Latin music songwriter
Roberto Poveda; Americana/rock songwriter
John Francis; Grammy winning children's songwriters
Cathy Fink and
Marcy Marxer; and hip-hop songwriter
Lysette Titi.
ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES, Volume 1
To further support this unique program, ASCAP produced a special promotional CD of the songs created during the first two years, which was distributed to each of the schools involved, as well as to music industry decision makers. As indicated by the song titles -- "Don't Be A Thug," "The Environment Song," "Love is Pain," "Me and My KFC," "Vote For Me" -- a broad range of topics was explored during these sessions.
All 12 tracks from the CD can be heard in their entirety on ASCAP's website at
www.ascap.com/playback/2008/summer/action/america_scores.aspx.
About America SCORES
America SCORES is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to use soccer and poetry to inspire among urban youth a lasting dedication to health, literacy, and community service. America SCORES operates soccer teams in urban public schools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods across the country. Teamwork developed on the field is translated to the classroom and the community. The program operates five days per week after-school and has recently been recognized by Charity Navigator as one of the most administratively efficient nonprofits in the country. For more information, visit
www.AmericaSCORES.org.
About The ASCAP Foundation
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs. Included in these are songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, awards, recognition and community outreach programs, and public service projects for senior composers and lyricists. The ASCAP Foundation is supported by contributions from ASCAP members and from music lovers throughout the United States.
www.ascapfoundation.org
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 330,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
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