December News! | Music For Everyone

December 4th, A Full day of fundraising for MFE!
Be sure to join MFE on December 4th as we will be raising funds to support the Festival of Voices! It all starts at Rachel’s Café & Creperie. There a portion of the entire day’s sales will be donated to support the Festival of Voices. So, Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner, be sure to swing in and grab a crepe to support MFE’s Festival of Voices. Also, later that evening, the Mysterious Willie Marble and the Xperience will be rocking the house at Tellus360 with their unique swampadelic fonky blues. Rumor has it that even the world famous Marblettes will take the stage with Mr. Marble, all to raise funds for this year’s Festival of Voices. The Tellus360 doors open at 7pm and the cover is a suggested donation of $10 and a minimum donation of $5. So grab some of the tastiest food in town, and then head over to Telus360 for a rockin’ good time!

Shop MFE!
The holidays are fast approaching and what better way to shop than with MFE. Give a gift that is both awesome looking and helps cultivate the power of music. There are two ways to “Shop MFE”. You can visit Building Character (342 N. Queen St.) and check out our new store! There you can find the latest MFE gear in a comfortable unique environment. Prefer to shop online? You can skip the crowds and have the latest MFE gear shipped to your front door! The online store is also a great way to send MFE gear as a gift! Choose sizes and colors and send them directly to a family member or friend, knowing that you are supporting music programs in our schools and community! To check it all out visit the new online MFE Store!
Also, you can feel good about your purchase through MFE. 100% of the proceeds go back to MFE to strengthen music programs in our schools and community.

MFE and “The Extraordinary Give”!
We would like to thank everyone who donated to MFE through the November 21st “Extraordinary Give” sponsored by the Lancaster County Community Foundation fund. While the totals are not yet final MFE was able to net over $14,000 as a result of your generosity. This translates into more grants to improve music programs in Lancaster County schools and community organizations.

Mike Lockhart Receives the MFE Award
We are proud to announce that MFE has awarded its fifth annual “MFE Award” to Mike Lockhart. The MFE Award honors individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary efforts to cultivate and celebrate the power of music in Lancaster County. Mike Lockhart has been a very strong supporter of MFE since day one. Congratulations Mike, and thank you for helping us to cultivate the power of music as an educational and community building tool.

MFE Community Chorus Holiday Sing-A-Long
On Friday December 19th, at 7pm, The MFE Community Chorus, accompanied by Dan Stauffer and the Holiday Brass Quartet, will perform their holiday sing-a-long concert in the Marriiot Penn Square Lobby in downtown Lancaster. So come on down and join the chorus in song and random merriment! For more information on the Community Chorus visit their website HERE.

MFE Grants Are Available!
Need some money to enhance your school or community based music program? Starting this month, MFE will begin accepting applications for our 2014-2015 grant cycle. This year we hope to award $80,000 in grants. For more information and guidelines visit the Grants section of our website.

MFE is Thrilled to Announce a New Monthly Songwriting Workshop Hosted at Tellus360!
Beginning January 21st MFE will host a singer-songwriter workshop on the third Wednesday of every month at Tellus360. This workshop is a great opportunity for musician to bring some fresh material in front of objective ears and professional songwriters. This workshop a great way for musicians to hone their songwriting skills, but it is also a yearlong competition! The four artists that bring in the largest audiences will have the opportunity to perform at the October showcase, which is also a benefit for MFE! So break out those axes, dust off the songwriting pad, tune up, and get on down to Tellus360 for the MFE Singer-Songwriter nights!

The Schedule for the Singer Songwriter Nights:
January 21 — Mike P Ryan
February 18 — TBD
March 18 — Robert Bobby
April 15 — Jessica Smucker
May 20 — Olds Sleeper
June 17 — Jean Synodinos
July 15 — Corty Byron
August 19 — Dave Lefever
September 16 — Steve Chambers

October 14 — Sing-off

You don’t have to be a musician to attend the singer-songwriter nights just a music lover. Come support local music at its roots and have a great time while doing so!

Reminders: MFE’s Ukulele Uprising
Join the MFE Ukulele Uprising on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm at the Vision Corps building (244 N. Queen St.) All are welcomed to this community building initiative. For more information please contact Steve Patterson at: JSP1213@gmail.com.

Monthly Download
This month we are digging way back into the vault to MFE Compilation Volume I. This month’s guest artist for download is the notorious Slimfit, with their song, “Never Learn”.
You can download this gem for FREE at the MFE Website! It’s only a click away, and while you are there check out some of the new additions to the site.
As always Lancaster, carry on and practice random acts of music! Y’all sound great!