by Nancy Cardwell It was a joy to see many of you in person at World of Bluegrass week in Raleigh, North Carolina, September 24-28! As usual, the priority was on seeing old friends, making new connections, discovering new music, and recognizing industry and musical achievements during the past year. We hope you enjoy the ..read more

Dear Ms. Cardwell: Thank you and the IBMA Foundation for the project grant to support Chamber Dance Project and our collaboration with the North Carolina-based string/bluegrass band, the Red Clay Ramblers. We greatly appreciate this first-time award and recognition of our efforts to combine live music and dance. It helped afford us the opportunity to ..read more

Applications for project grants awarded by the IBMA Foundation are due December 2, 2024. The Foundation awards project grants annually to nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) status or qualified governmental agencies such as public schools and colleges. Link to application form HERE.   A total of $25,600 in project grants was awarded in 2024 to the ..read more

Blue Highway Fest in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, named IBMA Bluegrass Event of the Year in 2023, is holding an on-site guitar raffle October 9-12 to benefit the IBMA Foundation. Built by luthier Rufus Thames of Bristol, Virginia, the prize guitar is a replica of Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford’s 1934 D-18 Martin guitar. Raffle ..read more

September 26 at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass Week in Raleigh, North Carolina, the IBMA Foundation announced the launch of two exciting initiatives. The Terry Baucom Bluegrass Education Grant, created by Cindy Baucom, will help cover expenses of lessons, educational materials, instrument repair, workshops, and camps for bluegrass musicians of all ages. The Mike Auldridge Memorial Scholarship, created by Howard Parker, will benefit individuals studying the resophonic guitar, steel guitar, or acoustic guitar on the college level with a bluegrass or roots music focus.  Baucom is pictured in ..read more

You love bluegrass. You would like to see bluegrass live forever. We have a way you can do that! We’ve had a strong year at the IBMA Foundation. Over 600 supporters shared in our work, with contributions totaling $161,732. We distributed more than $81,000 in grants, scholarships, and programs. Since the beginning of the IBMA ..read more

Thanks so much for the generous grant awarded to the three Beck kids, Eliza, Rachel, and Andrew. We used the funds to attend a wonderful bluegrass camp in June of 2024 in Weiser, Idaho. We worked with the band in residence, Missy Raines & Allegheny. We learned so much about bluegrass music and made fantastic memories that week ..read more

Following are two letters we recently received from Fletcher Bright Memorial Grant recipients from North Carolina.   Dear Ms. Cardwell and the scholarship committee: Thank you so much for selecting me to receive the Fletcher Bright Memorial grant for young musicians! It was an honor to represent the IBMA Foundation at Bela Fleck’s Blue Ridge ..read more

By Sara Trapani, The Ashokan Center, Inc. We are grateful for the grant provided by the IBMA Foundation that enabled the Ashokan Center to expand access to bluegrass traditions to an economically diverse community. Hosted by IBMA Mentor of the Year, Kimber Ludiker, the program was an amazing success! More than 100 participants of all ..read more

New landing page for the Foundation at CFMT.org Our friends at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (“CFMT”) have designed a special landing page at https://cfmt.org/ibmafoundation/ for all nine of the IBMA Foundation endowment funds that CFMT hosts and administers for us. Revenue from these endowment funds ensures that Foundation scholarships and grants will be ..read more