A Brighter Future for Bluegrass

Are you someone who cares about bluegrass music because it’s had a powerful impact on your life? The IBMA Foundation makes it possible for us to work together to support the future of the music we love through philanthropy and planned giving.

The IBMA Foundation helps individuals, organizations, foundations, and corporations work together in supporting the future of bluegrass music. In a nation and a world that is divided in so many ways, music can unite and heal us. Explore this website and learn about the interesting and important ways the IBMA Foundation is working to make a difference, with people just like you. Through grant-making, philanthropy and planned giving, we can make the world a better place by sharing bluegrass with future generations. Come join us!

The IBMA Foundation is proud to announce the launch of a new grant and a new scholarship for 2025. 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. The deadline to apply for Mike Auldridge Memorial Scholarship (along with all IBMA Foundation-hosted college scholarships) is June 1, 2025. Forms will be online at Bluegrassfoundation.org by March 1, 2025, and all seven scholarships plus the Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award will be awarded for the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year. Applications for the Terry Baucom Bluegrass Education Grant may be submitted year round at Bluegrassfoundation.org, starting January 1, 2025. MORE INFO: HERE. 

Don’t miss this valuable “Demystifying Grant Writing” webinar on November 14, 2024, noon – 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, free to the public, presented by the IBMA Foundation, the Eppes-Jefferson Foundation, and Leadership Bluegrass alumni! No need to register in advance. Just log on to the link (url code or QR code on the poster) 5-10 minutes early, and we’ll see you there! 

Congratulations to the recipients of the IBMA Foundation college scholarships in 2024

The IBMA Foundation is proud to announce The Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship, launched June 1, 2024, with more info HERE  The scholarship will be for students enrolled in a college, tech, or trade school who are also engaged in the bluegrass music community, either as a musician/singer or behind the scenes as a DJ, event producer, graphic designer, videographer, photographer, or luthier. For a donation of $100 or more, you will receive a Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship T-shirt! THANKS to all of you who made a donation so far, which has allowed us to endow the scholarship at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The first Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship will be awarded the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year.

I feel fortunate to have grown up in a time and place where people were so supportive of those playing bluegrass music. Band members and fans became great friends. The IBMA Foundation is helping develop that same kind of music community now and for the future. The Foundation helps connect resources to programs and activities that involve our next generation of musicians. I am glad to partner with the Foundation by being a board member, donor and supporter! The IBMA Foundation is a great place to make a difference.

Ruth McLain

Adjunct professor & Musician, Morehead State University & The McLain Family Band

I know first-hand what great work the IBMA Foundation does because I was a board member for a number of years. There’s not an organization anywhere that makes a bigger investment in the future of bluegrass music by supporting educational programs.

Tim Stafford

guitarist/vocalist/songwriter, Blue Highway

I choose to support the IBMA Foundation—and the Arnold Shultz Fund, in particular—because I believe that it’s important to continue investing in the future of this music and to deliberately cultivate opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color musicians to reclaim ownership over the traditions we hold dear. As a bluegrass educator, I believe that cultural sustainability is paramount, and that means that we need to do everything we can to make sure that bluegrass music is a safe and supportive environment for everyone, not just people who look like me.

The late Travis Stimeling, PhD

Associate Professor of Musicology & Director of WVU Bluegrass and Old-Time Bands, West Virginia University

I’ve been playing bluegrass since I discovered the San Diego Bluegrass Club as a 12-year-old. These days I wear several hats: co-founder of Compass Records, producer and, of course, banjo player. When I was learning to play, there were so many people who went out of their way to help me, from my biggest musical heroes to countless parking lot pickers. The “play it forward” spirit of our community is one of its great treasures and it is a privilege for me to be able to help up-and-coming players. Building community is key to the future of bluegrass music. What better way to do that than to support those who will play the music forward, through the 21st century and beyond?

Alison Brown

Co-Founder, Compass Records

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Join the street team working together to create a brighter future for bluegrass.

Anyone willing to share information with friends and colleagues about IBMA Foundation-hosted scholarships, grants, and programs is WELCOME to sign up as a “Friend of the Foundation” and use the logo above. Fill out the form below to request a free brochure, sticker, and magnet. 

Please display the Friend of the Foundation logo on your websites, social media pages, marketing messages, liner notes, and fliers.

The Friends of the Foundation group is open to all individuals, companies, and organizations interested in helping bluegrass music grow, sharing it with future generations and new audiences around the world. CLICK HERE to read about ways you could help as a Friend of the Foundation.

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The IBMA Foundation
1183 University Drive #105-215
Burlington, NC 27215
615.260.4807