Apollo Theater’s Post

A brilliant article.

#APTipTuesday – Integrating music into your gala program adds fun, energy and entertainment value to the guest experience, and can also help inspire generosity. Here are three ideas for enhancing and elevating your program with music: 1. Use live music to help connect your guests with your mission. An inspiring song right before your fund-a-need can provide the right emotion to set the stage for generous giving. 2. Work with your AV partner to identify upbeat “walk-on” music to play as your speakers are entering the stage. 3. Identify a song that ties in with the theme of each of your live auction items. Playing a snippet of a song as each item is described is a great way to add playfulness and a little drama to your auction.     #AnnPlans #TipTuesday #NonprofitEvent #FundraisingEvent #CommunityEngagement #Philanthropy #EventPlanning 

THEY SIMPLY ASKED!!! Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, Mario Cipollina, Johnny Colla, Sheila E., Bob Geldof, Bill Gibson, Chris Hayes, Sean Hopper, Jackie Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, Anita Pointer, June Pointer, Ruth Pointer, Smokey Robinson. Collectively, this group represents BILLIONS of records/albums sold. They represent BILLIONS of dollars generated. In January of 1985, Harry Belafonte decided to raise money for those starving in Africa. So he enlisted a few close friends, and asked them to reach out to their friends. They had ONE NIGHT to get all these entertainers together and record We Are The World. They did and it was a smashing success. Some of us are old enough to remember that is was special, even in real time. This project gives us so many wonderful lessons. Here are just a few: 1. Harry Belafonte simply asked his friends for help. This may seem unimportant, but don't overlook its power. Do you ask your friends for help? 2. Mr. Belafonte had a LOT of credibility with his friends and peers. Do you have credibility? 3. The vision and "bigness" of this project was quickly and properly conveyed. Do you properly lay out vision? Does your team "get" it? 4. Logistically, it was like herding cats. But they found an open window, directly after the American Music Awards, when most of these stars would already be right there in L.A. Do you look for opportunities of convenience? 5. Knowing that he would be dealing with a lot of HUGE egos, Quincy Jones hand wrote a sign and hung it over the door that read: "Check Your Egos At The Door". He also didn't allow any assistants, managers, etc. in the studio. ONLY performers. This put everyone on equal footing and made them more comfortable. How do you lead your team which is full of lots of different personalities? 6. No one got paid for this project. No one! How do you inspire people to think outside themselves? Do you create an environment of excitement that people just want to be a part of? #askgreatquestions #wearetheworld #leadership #friends

There are a couple of new blog posts on our site. I invite you to see what we have recently done in Burundi and Pakistan! https://lnkd.in/gw8e6iMD #musicians, #support #nonprofit

Last week I wrote a post on my blog Row X about Press Forward, a $500 million fund from several prominent foundations to save and reinvent the local news industry. I discussed some reasons why I thought the nonprofit arts sector had not yet inspired a similar initiative. Maybe call it Arts Forward. (Link to my blog post in the comments.) 💲 Now the Professional Non-Profit Theater Coalition is lobbying Congress for $500 million annually for 5 years to fund the equivalent of 20% of the annual budgets of eligible theaters. According to the quotes in this article, they're arguing that it's justified based on the economic impact and social good the theaters generate. Plus, other industries get bailed out, why not nonprofit theaters? ❓ What do you think about asking for this public funding? What about the amount and the timeline? Do you think it could work? Is there a risk in trying? #arts #nonprofit

Help out a great nonprofit! Visit the link to find out how and share this post. Let's get more people involved in our work! Spread the word!

Even as the world shifts constantly around us, our history grounds us in deeply rooted values. The below letter was written by The People's Music School's founder, Dr. Rita Simó. We discovered it in a recent excavation of our storage unit. Handwritten in June 1976, mere months after the original school opened in February, the letter highlights values that continue to define us nearly fifty years on: Our #community has always been there for us from far and wide, donating a big new rug here, a French horn there, a shipment of records all the way from Boston. Rita never skimped on #excellence, insisting that our students were constantly practicing and performing, putting on a flute and piano recital just five months after the school's grand opening. Rita’s #creativity shines through as she draws on resourcefulness to build her bold new enterprise. She took every #opportunity to say yes, to draw people in, to be open to whatever may come her way. And how could all of this happen without #hardwork, exemplified in this precise moment by the dirt under our fingernails as we dug through 48 years of history? These values - which we acronymize as #ECCHO - ground us to this day. Whatever evolves or is disrupted, values matter, and we are always guided by them. What are your organization’s guiding values? What are your own? How do they show up in your histories, your current actions? #musiceducation #values #history

Black Joy Silent Disco 🎧 Expressing joy in the face of oppression is its own form of resistance. If you believe that Black history is American history, and if you support the teaching of accurate history so we can move forward into a collective future, we want YOU to express joy with us at the Black Joy Silent Disco!  Date: Friday, August 2 from 8pm - Midnight at TEN20 Craft Brewery Butchertown   Do I have to be Black to attend? NO! If you support the work of (Un)Known Project, which honors the names and stories of enslaved Black people in America and the global African diaspora, we want you to dance with us!   What's a Silent Disco? Why go to a party with ONE DJ set when you could have THREE DJ sets going at once? Each DJ gets their own channel and each pair of headphones has access to each channel: The GREEN Channel, the RED Channel, or the BLUE Channel. Your headset will glow the color of whichever channel you're on. You can tell what everyone else is listening to based on the color of their headset. And not only can YOU control which channel you're listening to, but you can also control the volume! Want to talk with your friends? Easy! Just take your headphones off.   Is there an age limit? TEN20 is an all-ages space, and so is our Black Joy Silent Disco. However, please be aware that our DJs may play unedited songs. We recommend ages 15+.   Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by clicking here:

I am having a fun raiser (yes fun) for my film on the use of force "Resisting" at Tealee May 17, 18 and 19. The flyers are attached to this email. The link will have all of the details as well. https://lnkd.in/g9VxSuMx We would love to see you at one of the events or if you can't make it please consider making a donation. Director donnie l. betts is approaching RESISTING with an unwavering commitment to truth-telling and giving voice to those who have been unseen and oppressed. With a deep understanding of the impact of over-policing as a Black male artist, betts sees this film as an extension of his lifelong dedication to sharing authentic stories that are often overlooked or silenced. In the spirit of accountability, the film ensures the voices of the protagonists and impacted communities are respected and accurately represented. Ultimately, RESISTING aspires to create a transformative and healing experience for audiences. By courageously exposing the failures of the system and inspiring collective action, the documentary aims to contribute to policy change, raise awareness, and foster empathy and understanding. It seeks to ignite a revolution of the human heart, leading to a more just and equitable society, liberated from the grip of over-policing. RESISTING stands as a testament to the power of storytelling and the potential of film to challenge societal norms and catalyze meaningful change. With wide-reaching free and trusted accessibility, public media paired with a planned robust impact campaign would be the perfect home for this film to galvanize audiences. The question is What does or can the future of policing look like?

I am having a fun raiser (yes fun) for my film on the use of force "Resisting" at Tealee May 17, 18 and 19. The flyers are attached to this email. The link will have all of the details as well. https://lnkd.in/g9VxSuMx We would love to see you at one of the events or if you can't make it please consider making a donation. Director donnie l. betts is approaching RESISTING with an unwavering commitment to truth-telling and giving voice to those who have been unseen and oppressed. With a deep understanding of the impact of over-policing as a Black male artist, betts sees this film as an extension of his lifelong dedication to sharing authentic stories that are often overlooked or silenced. In the spirit of accountability, the film ensures the voices of the protagonists and impacted communities are respected and accurately represented. Ultimately, RESISTING aspires to create a transformative and healing experience for audiences. By courageously exposing the failures of the system and inspiring collective action, the documentary aims to contribute to policy change, raise awareness, and foster empathy and understanding. It seeks to ignite a revolution of the human heart, leading to a more just and equitable society, liberated from the grip of over-policing. RESISTING stands as a testament to the power of storytelling and the potential of film to challenge societal norms and catalyze meaningful change. With wide-reaching free and trusted accessibility, public media paired with a planned robust impact campaign would be the perfect home for this film to galvanize audiences. The question is What does or can the future of policing look like?