Great American Songbook Foundation
{{short description|American organization}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = The Great American Songbook Foundation
| image = Great American Songbook Foundation logo.jpg
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| formation = 2007
| formerly = Feinstein Foundation for the Education and Preservation of the Great American Songbook;
Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative
| founder = Michael Feinstein
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| type = Non-profit organization
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| purpose = The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation is to inspire & educate by celebrating the Great American Songbook.
| headquarters = The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts
| location = Carmel, Indiana
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| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = Christopher Lewis
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| affiliations = Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts;
| website = {{URL|thesongbook.org}}
}}
The Great American Songbook Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the music of the Great American Songbook. The Songbook Foundation's administrative offices and Songbook Exhibit Gallery are located on the Gallery level of Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana. The Songbook Library & Archives are housed offsite nearby.
Previously known as the Feinstein Foundation for the Education and Preservation of the Great American Songbook and as the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, the organization took its current name in 2014.{{Cite web |title=Foundation History |url=https://thesongbook.org/about/foundation-history/ |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
The Songbook Foundation's mission is "to inspire and educate by celebrating the music of the Great American Songbook."{{Cite web |title=Home Page. |url=https://thesongbook.org/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
History and operation
Michael Feinstein founded the organization in 2007. Upon Feinstein's appointment as artistic director of Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in 2009, the organization made a commitment to move its headquarters and archives on the center's campus in Carmel, Indiana.Jay Handelman, "Behind the Scenes: Feinstein Works to Preserve Classic Music", Herald-Tribune Sunday, March 31, 2013, retrieved from http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2013-03-31/featured/behind-the-scenes-feinstein-works-to-preserve-classic-music/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702033752/http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2013-03-31/featured/behind-the-scenes-feinstein-works-to-preserve-classic-music/ |date=2013-07-02 }}.
The Great American Songbook Foundation's administrative headquarters houses a reference library, study and listening rooms for researchers, archival storage space, and the Songbook Exhibit Gallery, an exhibit space featuring rotating interactive presentations about the music, its creators and the performers of the Great American Songbook.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|919205138}} |last1=Henning |first1=Joel |title=A Cultural Conversation / With Michael Feinstein: Saving the Songbook |work=Wall Street Journal |date=2 February 2012 |page=D.4 }}
In 2023, the Songbook Foundation announced its agreement with the City of Carmel to open a stand-alone music museum.{{Cite web |title=Songbook Foundation reaches agreement for museum site |url=https://thesongbook.org/about/news-media/news-release-items/site-selected-for-songbook-museum/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
Education and outreach
= Songbook Exhibit Gallery =
File:Songbook Gallery- Blast From the Past.jpg
The Songbook Exhibit Gallery features rotating exhibits. These exhibits helps guests to place the music of this era in context with the events that occurred in the 20th-century United States. The Songbook Foundation offers corresponding educational programs and guided tours for school groups, civic and professional organizations, and members of the general public.
Since 2011, the Songbook Foundation has presented the following exhibits: "G.I. Jive: The Music and Entertainers of World War II" (2011), "The Great American Songbook" (2012),{{Cite web |title=Past Exhibit History |url=https://songbookexhibit.wordpress.com/past-exhibit-history/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203003624/https://songbookexhibit.wordpress.com/past-exhibit-history/ |archive-date=3 December 2024 |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=The Songbook Exhibit Blog}} "Blast from the Past: Roaring Hot '20s Jazz" (2013),{{Cite news |title=Jazz exhibit opens at Palladium |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2013/03/13/jazz-exhibit-opens-at-palladium/ |access-date=13 March 2013 |work=Current Publishing}} "A Change Is Gonna Come: 1960s Broadway Musicals" (2014),{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Karen |date=7 January 2014 |title=New Palladium exhibit chronicles '60s theatre changes |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2014/01/07/new-palladium-exhibit-chronicles-60s-theatre-changes/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Current Publishing}} "Gus Kahn: The Man Behind the Music" (2015),{{Cite web |title=2015 Exhibit – Gus Kahn: The Man Behind The Music |url=https://songbookexhibit.wordpress.com/gus-khan/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128171929/https://songbookexhibit.wordpress.com/gus-khan/ |archive-date=28 November 2022 |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=The Songbook Exhibit Blog.}} "The Great Indiana Songbook: Two Centuries of Hoosier Music" (2016),{{Cite news |date=19 February 2016 |title=The Great Indiana Songbook exhibit celebrates two centuries of Hoosier Music |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2016/02/19/the-great-indiana-songbook-exhibit-celebrates-two-centuries-of-hoosier-music/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Current Publishing}} "Ella Sings the Songbook" (2017),{{Cite news |last=Lindquist |first=David |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Carmel exhibit celebrates Ella Fitzgerald centennial |url=http://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/01/19/ella-fitzgerald-centennial-carmel-indiana-palladium-songbook-verve-feinstein/96776082/ |access-date=2017-02-22 |newspaper=Indianapolis Star |language=en}} "The Unsinkable Meredith Willson" (2018), "The Andrews Sisters: Queens of the Jukebox" (2019){{Cite news |date=18 January 2019 |title=Andrews Sisters exhibit on display at Palladium |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2019/01/18/andrews-sisters-exhibit-on-display-at-palladium/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Current Publishing}} "Of Thee I Sing: Politics on Stage" (2019–2021).{{Cite news |last=Ambrogi |first=Mark |date=25 November 2019 |title=Exhibit examines mix of theater and politics |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2019/11/25/exhibit-examines-mix-of-theater-and-politics/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Current Publishing}} The current display, "From the Jazz Age to Streaming: The Soundtrack of the 20s-20s," was first installed in 2021.{{Cite web |title=Current Exhibit |url=https://thesongbook.org/exhibits/current-gallery-exhibit/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617031140/https://thesongbook.org/exhibits/current-gallery-exhibit/ |archive-date=17 June 2024 |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}} Additionally, the Songbook Foundation lends traveling exhibits and provides adapted online exhibits and Songbook Library & Archives collections highlights.{{Cite web |title=Exhibits |url=https://thesongbook.org/exhibits/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
These exhibits focus on different time periods, styles, and artists.Jay Handelman, "Behind the Scenes", 2013. In addition to the interactive display which houses clips and short biographies of several decades of singers and songwriters, each exhibit displays artifacts from the Songbook Library & Archives that relate to the music and musicians being highlighted in the Songbook Gallery exhibits.Michael Grossberg, "Archive Promotes Classic American Songs", The Columbus Dispatch Sunday April 21, 2013, retrieved from http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/travel/2013/04/21/1-archive-promotes-classic-american-songs.html.
= The Songbook Academy =
File:2014 Songbook Academy.jpg and Grammy-winner Cheryl Bentyne of The Manhattan Transfer coaching participants in the 2014 Songbook Academy]]
The Songbook Academy is an educational summer music intensive held by the Great American Songbook Foundation. Formerly known as the High School Vocal Academy and Competition, the program originated in 2009 and trains cohorts of up to 40 high school vocalists annually.Joel Henning, "A Cultural Conversation", 2012. The Songbook Foundation states on its website, "At the Songbook Academy, we believe that every young singer has a unique story to tell through music."
The Songbook Academy has undergone significant evolution since its founding. During its inception, the program invited high school students to compete in regional competitions to culminate in a final competition at the Songbook Foundation's headquarters.{{Cite news |date=19 January 2012 |title=Know + Tell: Sngbook Academy Launches Search |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/126367923/?match=1&terms=%22songbook%20academy%22 |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=The Indianapolis Star |pages=10}} The program changed in 2015 to accommodate 40 students in a single location at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts.{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Wei-Huan |date=25 July 2015 |title=American Songbook lessons |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/118238174/?terms=%22songbook%20academy%22 |work=The Indianapolis Star |pages=A3–A6}} In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program temporarily transitioned to an online format in 2020, eliminating its competitive element.{{Cite web |title=Songbook Academy® Online 2021 |url=https://thesongbook.org/education/songbook-academy-online-2021/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518171508/https://thesongbook.org/education/songbook-academy-online-2021/ |archive-date=18 May 2021 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}} The summer intensive has maintained a non-competitive focus on education since resuming in-person programming in 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-14 |title=Songbook Academy changes final concert format • Current Publishing |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2022/07/14/songbook-academy-changes-final-concert-format/ |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=youarecurrent.com |language=en-US}}
Winners of the earlier competition format were commemorated as Great American Songbook Youth Ambassadors. Each Youth Ambassador won a $3,000 scholarship and a trip to New York City to perform alongside Michael Feinstein. Today, the Songbook Foundation celebrates the professional growth of each student by providing alumni avenues to share achievements and coordinating additional networking and performance opportunities.
= Songbook Hall of Fame =
File:Songbook Hall of Fame exhibit- landscape.JPG
The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame is a tribute to people who have contributed to the genre, memorializing composers, performers, and lyricists who have added to the history of the Songbook."Songbook Hall of Fame Names 2013 Honorees", The Indianapolis Recorder May 14, 2013, retrieved from http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/aroundtown/article_76b47d2a-bcb9-11e2-bd51-0019bb2963f4.html. Artists are nominated and selected based on the following criteria:
- Legend Award: Artists who made a significant contribution to the Golden Age of American popular music, typically defined as the period from the early years of the Twentieth century through the 1960s;
- Songbook Award: Living songwriters, both lyricists and composers, who have made a significant impact on American pop culture by creating the most beloved songs from the American popular songbook; and
- New Standard Award: Artists, songwriters and/or performers who continues to create the soundtrack of our lives by writing and/or performing music that will become the pop standards of tomorrow.""Songbook Hall of Fame Names 2013 Honorees", 2013.{{Cite web |title=Songbook Hall of Fame Award Categories |url=https://thesongbook.org/hall-of-fame/songbook-hall-of-fame-award-categories/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
In the past, the Songbook Foundation and Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts hosted live performances in celebration of the lives and careers of the artists selected for induction into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. Nominees, or their representatives, were invited to Carmel and honored with tribute performances celebrating their achievements.{{Cite news |date=8 June 2023 |title=Judy Garland named to Songbook Hall of Fame [Press Release] |url=https://thesongbook.org/about/news-media/news-release-items/judy-garland-named-to-songbook-hall-of-fame/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Great American Songbook Foundation}}{{Cite news |last=Pauszek |first=Amy |date=17 October 2016 |title=Where's Amy attends Songbook Celebration Gala |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2016/10/17/wheres-amy-attends-songbook-celebration-gala/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=Current Publishing}} In recent years, the Songbook Hall of Fame has evolved into an online educational resource for fans around the world with programming to celebrate inductees hosted virtually and in-person year round.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Songbook Hall of Fame Honorees !Artist(s) !Years Active !Award !Year !Area of Achievement !Ref. |
| Barry Manilow
|1964–present |New Standard Award |2012 |Creator of ten chart-topping singles and five best-selling albums in the 1970s, while simultaneously producing albums for Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson (jazz singer), and Dionne Warwick. |
| Cole Porter
|1920s–1958 |Legend Award |2012 |Composer and lyricist of several successful Broadway shows and films, such as Paris (1928) and Kiss Me, Kate (1948) |
| Rita Moreno
|1943–present |New Standard Award |2013 | |
| Liza Minnelli
|1949–present |New Standard Award |2013 | |
| Jimmy Webb
|1965–present |Songbook Award |2013 | |
| Frank Sinatra
|1935–1995 |Legend Award |2013 | |
| Alan and Marilyn Bergman
|1950s–2017 |Songbook Award |2014 |Longstanding career of more than 50 years. Recipients of sixteen Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, and one Ace Award. |
| Johnny Mathis
|1956–present |Songbook Award |2014 | |
| Shirley Jones
|1950–present |New Standard Award |2014 | |
| Linda Ronstadt
|1965–2011 |New Standard Award |2014 | |
| Nat King Cole
|1934–1965 |Legend Award |2014 | |
| Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé
|1950–2019 |New Standard Award |2015 | |
| Chita Rivera
|1950–2024 |New Standard Award |2015 | |
| George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
|1910s–1950s |Legend Award |2015 | |
| Diahann Carroll
|1950–2016 |New Standard Award |2016 | |
| Dionne Warwick
|1955–present |New Standard Award |2016 | |
| Hoagy Carmichael
|1918–1981 |Legend Award |2016 | |
| Ray Gilbert
|1940s–1960s |Legend Award |2017 | |
| Mitzi Gaynor
|1944–2021 |New Standard Award |2017 | |
| Ella Fitzgerald
|1934–1993 |Legend Award |2017 | |
| Marilyn Maye
|1946–present |New Standard Award |2018 | |
| Jimmy Van Heusen
|1930s–1970s |Legend Award |2018 | |
| Rosemary Clooney
|1946–2002 |Legend Award |2018 | |
| Paul Williams
|1964–present |Songbook Award |2019 | |
| Duke Ellington
|1914–1974 |Legend Award |2019 | |
| Doris Day
|1939–2012 |Legend Award |2019 | |
| Tony Bennett
|1936–2021 |New Standard Award |2019 | |
| Meredith Willson
|1921−1982 |Songbook Award |2020 | |
| Peggy Lee
|1936–2000 |Songbook Award |2020 | |
| Billy Strayhorn
|1934–1964 |Legend Award |2021 | |
| Melissa Manchester
|1971–present |New Standard Award |2021 | |
| Sammy Cahn
|1935–1982 |Legend Award |2021 | |
| Straight No Chaser
|1996–2000 2008–present |New Standard Award |2022 | |
| The Manhattan Transfer
|1969–2023 |New Standard Award |2022 | |
| The Lennon Sisters
|1955–present |New Standard Award |2022 | |
| Judy Garland
|1924–1969 |Legend Award |2023 | |{{Cite web |title=Judy Garland: 2023 LEGEND AWARD |url=https://thesongbook.org/hall-of-fame/songbook-hall-of-fame-honorees/judy-garland/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}} |
= GRAMMY Museum Cultural Affiliation =
In July 2017, the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum announced that the Great American Songbook Foundation has been designated as a Cultural Affiliate, joining four other institutions worldwide: the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica; the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OH; The Beatles Story in Liverpool, UK; and the National Blues Museum in St. Louis, MO.{{Cite web | url=https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2017/07/19/grammy-museum-adds-carmels-great-american-songbook-foundation-elite-group/491631001/ |title = Grammy Museum adds Carmel's Great American Songbook Foundation to an elite group}} The relationships allows for collaboration between the organizations on exhibits and educational and research programs, among other amenities.
= Perfect Harmony Music Program =
Founded in 2015, the Songbook Foundation's Perfect Harmony program offers music activities to people with Alzheimer's, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. This program was initially launched in collaboration with the Greater Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association,.{{Cite news |date=26 May 2017 |title=Applegate Elder Law signs on as sponsor of Songbook Foundation's 'Perfect Harmony' |url=https://youarecurrent.com/2017/05/26/applegate-elder-law-signs-on-as-sponsor-of-songbook-foundations-perfect-harmony/ |access-date=2 December 2024}} and has since evolved to independently offer monthly resources online.{{Cite web |title=What is Perfect Harmony? |url=https://thesongbook.org/programs/perfect-harmony/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}} Each Perfect Harmony resource is designed for participants and caregivers to become involved in social singing, discussions, and low-impact movement exercises to a thematic selection of popular music. As a group, people share experiences related to memorable songs and the monthly theme.{{Cite web | url=http://www.alzheimers.net/2014-07-21/why-music-boosts-brain-activity-in-dementia-patients/ | title=5 Reasons Why Music Boosts Brain Activity| date=21 July 2014}}
= Songbook Film Series =
The Great American Songbook Foundation partnered with Indianapolis-based Heartland International Film Festival to present classic movie musicals to the public, cultivating a new generation of movie lovers. Some screenings included guest speakers, who enlightened audiences on the nature and creation of the movies shown.{{cite news |first1=Jill |last1=Disis |title=Heartland Pictures Launches the Great American Songbook Movie Series at the Palladium |work=Indianapolis Star |date=27 September 2012 |url=http://www.indystar.com/article/20120927/THINGSTODO04/209280311/Heartland-launches-Great-American-Songbook-Movie-Series-Palladium |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223052120/http://www.indystar.com/article/20120927/THINGSTODO04/209280311/Heartland-launches-Great-American-Songbook-Movie-Series-Palladium |archive-date=23 December 2015 }}
Archives, library, and preservation
The Songbook Library & Archives serves as a repository for the papers of significant Songbook figures including Meredith Willson, Hy Zaret, and Gus Kahn, as well as special collections covering such artists as The Andrews Sisters in the following formats: sheet music, photos, scrapbooks, posters, music magazines, books, LPs, 45s, lacquer disc, personal papers, theatre playbills, film, video, analog tape, and recordings. Many of these items are currently approaching one hundred years of age.
The Songbook Foundation's non-circulating research library houses a wide variety of reference materials. In addition, students, teachers and researchers from around the world visit the Songbook Foundation's website to view and research selections from the Archives, which contains over one hundred collections, 35,000 pieces of sheet music, and 3,000 reference books.{{Cite web |title=Library & Archives |url=https://thesongbook.org/library-archives/ |access-date=2 December 2024 |website=Great American Songbook Foundation}}
Several items housed in the Songbook Foundation's Archives include:
:* 7,000 audio recordings in thirteen different formats, including Rudy Vallée's radio transcription discs dating from 1932;
:* Meredith Willson's personal papers, scripts, and recordings, including The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown;
:* Musical orchestrations from Bob and Dolores Hope's decades of live performances across the globe;
:* Pianos owned by Songbook composers Richard A. Whiting, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, and Irving Berlin;
:* Hy Zaret's original lyrics for "Unchained Melody", one of the twentieth century's most frequently recorded songs.{{Cite book|last=Tyler|first=Don|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76961274|title=Hit songs, 1900-1955 : American popular music of the pre-rock era|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2946-2|location=Jefferson, N.C.|pages=338|oclc=76961274}}