FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 16, 2009

Community Music School of Webster University Receives Grant from PHISH Fans

On June 2nd, 2009, a group of Phish fans mailed an unsolicited $1,000 check to a music education program in each of the cities included on Phish's Summer 2009 tour, including a program in St. Louis, Missouri. Distributed by the all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation, the $19,000 in grants are part of a concerted effort to support communities touched by Phish tours, to encourage support for music education, and to help generate that support in press surrounding Phish shows.

As Phish comes to St. Louis tonight to play at the Fox Theatre, the Community Music School of Webster University is celebrating the receipt of a $1,000 grant to support music education in their school.

With a history spanning more than 80 years, the Community Music School of Webster University (CMS) offers outstanding music education and performance opportunities to students of all ages and abilities. Faculty members of the Community Music School include world-class performers who are more than accomplished musicians. They are professional teachers trained to teach students of all ages. The entire St. Louis metropolitan region and beyond is served with four locations, including the new headquarters and concert hall located on the Webster University campus in historic Webster Groves.

“This grant will be applied to our Young Years Music Program, an exciting and innovative early childhood music and movement program that includes several sequential classes where parents and children experience the joy of singing, moving, listening and playing music as they develop into expressive, creative, strong, intelligent, sensitive musical beings,” said Carol Commerford, Director of the Community Music School of Webster University. “This program not only lays the important foundation for future musical study, but prepares students for all learning experiences.”

With these grants, the Mockingbird Foundation has distributed a total of $609,750.40, through 191 grants, in 42 states. Reflecting the organization's mission and history of diverse funding, the newest recipients vary not only in locale but in size, host, age, genre, and more.

"The recipients also share several things," notes Executive Director Ellis Godard: "proximity to the tour, an understanding of the magic and wonder of music, a commitment to convey that understanding to children, and the earnest need for your support."

The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, both in print and online. It fundraises through books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, special events, and the Phish.net website. Operated entirely by volunteers since incorporation in 1996, the foundation has no paid staff, salaries, or office, and disburses more than 99% of funds raised to charity. Funds solely support music education for children.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation before performing a "final show" August 15, 2004. They returned last March, and are now engaged in a summer tour that includes two performances at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and 25 other shows nationwide. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.