Music Education Initiative

The Music Education Initiative offers Production education & Techinal Training Workshops. The workshops offer training to program pareticipant by upskilling them with training & delvelopment for potential career paths such as live music performance technicians, production lighting technicians, & logistics support (crew & stage hands for loading & unloading equipment & cases, ect). Participants are trained by live performance preduction professionals in the region, who are in need of additional trained workforce personnel. Our training allows participants to get hands-on experience & develop relationships with production & technical companies, venue operators, stage & theatre companies with the ability to be hired for entry level employment at an hourly rate higher than the current minimum wage. Since 2022, we have provided 56 workshops.

Juke Joint was originally commissioned by the Clinton Library in 2020 as a reproduction of a music joint of the south in early American history. The Clinton Library Foundation donated the Juke Joint to The Music Education Initiative in 2021 for use in music education. The Juke Joint Project, provides year around programming & activiations taht have included live performances, poetry, open mic sessions, Humanities lectures, film screenings, lectures, community engagement events, & cross cultural shows. This initiative honors historical Black music spaces while creating new opportunities for local, regional, & touring artists. This project acts as a living classroom where audiences of all ages engage with the roots of American music and its modern day interpreters, fostering cultural literacy & community cohesion.