Along with working nonstop the past two months to transfer files, information, procedures, banjos, and as much encouragement as possible to new IBMA Foundation executive director Cassie Wright (who is great, by the way), I’ve been thinking a lot lately about rocket science.
As those of you know who have watched these events on television or in person, a three-stage launch process is a highly efficient method for sending payloads into space. As each stage exhausts its fuel, it is jettisoned to reduce the rocket’s total mass, allowing the next stage to accelerate more efficiently and reach orbital speeds.
The first stage (liftoff and initial ascent) of the IBMA Foundation has been in progress since our beginning in 2007, including my tenure as executive director from 2016-26. During this first phase of the Foundation’s growth, we were like a rocket breaking through the densest part of the atmosphere, fighting earth’s gravity as we fought to raise enough funds to survive and thrive. Fueled by the leadership and commitment of board members, we launched a new bluegrass music foundation into the edge of the atmosphere with a shared mission to make the future of bluegrass music brighter—to truly have an encouraging and supportive impact on the bluegrass community (present and future) and “play the music forward,” as our Vice-chair Alan Tompkins is fond of saying.
As of spring of 2026, we have increased the net assets of the Foundation for Bluegrass Music (known as the IBMA Foundation since late 2017) five times. To plan for the future, we set up a quasi-endowment fund and, in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, 12 agency endowment funds (with #13 on the way).
Since 2011, the Foundation has awarded more than $570,000 in grants and scholarships, and we have more than half a million dollars in permanent or semi-permanent investments to fund future efforts. Twenty people in our “Legacy Club” have kindly let us know that the IBMA Foundation is in their estate plans.
Our early accomplishments included “Using Bluegrass Music in the Classroom” teacher workshops at festivals across the country, the Discover Bluegrass: Exploring American Roots Music educational DVD (hosted by Sierra Hull and Ryan Holladay, both age 13 at the time), and a bluegrass lesson plan competition with cash prizes. Bluegrass in the Schools Mini-grants and annual project grants were created—the latter to help support programs and initiatives in bluegrass-related education, art and culture, academic/literary events, and historic preservation.
During my ten years on staff we have launched eight college scholarships (named for Mike Auldridge, Gloria Belle, J.D. Crowe, Katy Daley, Sally Ann Forrester, Rick Lang, the Planning Stages company, and IBMA); three educational grants (named after Fletcher Bright, Terry Baucom, and Bill Breen); the Arnold Shultz Fund; and we agreed to take over from IBMA the Neil Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award. The Foundation continues to support an annual round of project grants and Bluegrass in the Schools Mini-grants awarded throughout the year.
The Foundation’s work is supported by more than 500 donors, plus two annual fundraising events: the Strings for Dreams Bluegrass (instrument) Raffle in the spring and the Biscuits for Bluegrass breakfast fundraiser in the fall during World of Bluegrass (WOB) week. Milton Harkey (ATS Records, First Class Bluegrass) re-launched the Bluegrass Showdown band competition and mentoring program in 2026, with proceeds to benefit the IBMA Foundation.
During WOB the Foundation also hosts the annual Bluegrass College Band Showcase featuring bluegrass students from a dozen or more colleges and universities across the country. We continue to learn about new university-level bluegrass ensembles and programs every year—the most recent at the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, and strong interest at Makerere University in Uganda! We also host a luncheon for college-level bluegrass educators, a jam session and reception for college musicians, a reception to honor the year’s scholarship and grant recipients, and a Bluegrass College Info Session open to the public.
Of course, nobody builds and launches a rocket by herself. To read more about the hard-working, engaged members of the IBMA Foundation board (past and present), please check out this page of the website: About Us | IBMA Foundation. And don’t forget about the important work of the members appointed to 12 Foundation committees who keep the rocket flying on a day-to-day basis.
The second stage of a rocket launch ignites after the first stage separates. Thirty years at a bluegrass day job seems to be a good time for that to happen, for me. I’m incredibly proud of what the IBMA Foundation has accomplished during my years at the helm, but I’m even more excited about the new heights the current board and executive director Cassie Wright will achieve in their continued mission to support the future of bluegrass music.
I’d like to thank each of you personally for your friendship and support during the past 10 years with the IBMA Foundation for Bluegrass Music, and the 20 years before that onboard our mother ship, IBMA, as special projects director and executive director. I’ll be seeing you on the pages of a magazine article or at a festival or concert somewhere—probably with a bass fiddle on one shoulder. It’s been a great rocket ride so far, and it’s really just beginning!
Thanks for caring about the future of bluegrass, and please contact cassie@bluegrassfoundation.org with your donations and ideas!
-Nancy Cardwell
March 22, 2026
RETURN to the April 1, 2026 issue of The Cornerstone.
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