Introducing: The Groupmuse Foundation
Since the very beginning of Groupmuse, a question that has surfaced again and again is, “Are you a nonprofit?” In the early days, I balked a bit at the question — after all, the whole premise of Groupmuse was a maximally efficient means of gathering people all over the country in a soulful and enriching way. Indeed, we’ve organized over 5,000 concerts, becoming one of the most prolific classical music concert presenters in the country’s history, and for the vast majority of our years, we’ve only had 3 full-time staff. So why should we be a nonprofit? Just because we’re radically values-oriented? And doing work of social, cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance? Does that necessarily preclude us from the possibility of functional profitability? Because if so, I can’t think of a more depressing indictment of our market society.
So we forged our own path, and after years of dedication and experimentation, we in fact found a modestly profitable model that allowed us to grow our team and expand our impact organically, no 501c3 needed. We decided to incorporate as a Public Benefit Corporation en route to being a cooperatively-owned enterprise, growing slowly and healthfully — paying our own way and scaling only at the rate our cashflow would allow for. This past February was our most profitable month up to that point, so the plan was coming along swimmingly. But then March rolled around, and the world changed forever.
Without missing a beat, we raised $25,000 for our Musician Relief Fund, and made a prompt pivot to online events. The results were staggering: we found that musicians were making over twice what they’d been making in the living room — a trend that has held for 6 months. And all this at a time when practically every other performance opportunity had evaporated.
Suddenly the urgency of our work intensified dramatically. Groupmuse was no longer a slow and steady effort to bring generational change to classical music culture. Practically overnight, we became a desperately needed lifeline for classical musicians and the calling became clear: We need to expand this mothership to give as many players safe passage through these turbulent times as we possibly can.
That means no longer taking the slow and steady route. Yes, we could continue our fiscally sound approach to scaling our impact, but musicians need us right now.
So that is why we are launching The Groupmuse Foundation — out of a recognition that Groupmuse needs the resources to meet the immediate challenges that musicians in our community face immediately. While Groupmuse will continue to be a Public Benefit Corporation, The Groupmuse Foundation is a 501c3 that will allow us to rapidly expand our capacity to support musicians in the old fashioned way — through arts philanthropy.
But there’s more to this moment than just COVID-19, and as we began the process of building out the Foundation’s board and bylaws, our nation watched as George Floyd was murdered, and the world changed forever again. The Groupmuse Team threw itself into a series of serious reflections around anti-racism work and this classical music we love so much — and launched an initiative within Groupmuse called the Planetary Music Movement that:
“seeks to guide Groupmuse’s work in helping to overcome the historical, cultural and social dominance of European ethnocentrism within the classical music tradition, primarily through broadening our society’s capacity to celebrate historical and contemporary musical traditions of the planet, particularly and imminently through the inclusion and celebration of works by artists of African descent.”
We also naturally brought all of this unfolding energy into our new Foundation’s mission, which is as follows:
The Groupmuse Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a two-fold mission:
First, The Groupmuse Foundation will provide Groupmuse musicians the technology, tools, and training to cultivate and connect to listeners online and achieve greater financial success so that they may thrive in these times and into the future — through livestream training, new platform tools, individualized support, and more.
Second, through concerted outreach efforts and expanded educational offerings, The Groupmuse Foundation will support efforts to welcome people of all backgrounds into the Groupmuse community, so as to diversify the complexion of the wider classical music world — the performers, the composers, and the listeners.
To reiterate: Groupmuse is not becoming a 501c3. Rather, we’ve instantiated a parallel 501c3 to help us deliver on our mission in a manner and at a scale that our current revenue model wouldn’t allow for in short order.
To explain without getting too lost in the legal niceties, the Foundation will issue grants to the Groupmuse PBC that are in furtherance of the Foundation’s mission.
We see this Foundation as a bridge between the Old World and the New — a way to honor the elders of this art form in the service of true regeneration. The Groupmuse PBC is a squad of millennial cultural activists — no one on the team is older than 40. We’ve got the energy, the tech-savvy, and the fresh thinking to build something unprecedented. But we don’t need to erase the old to create the new. We need to honor and make space for all the work that has been done by those that came before us. Classical music has always been supported by patrons and communities who understand there are some things that are too important to be buffeted by economic forces, and that is what The Groupmuse Foundation is ultimately about.
This whole vision is rooted in something so much bigger and older than our wonderful team of 6. It’s rooted in all of the devoted musicians out there who have devoted their lives to making this world a richer and more beautiful place. It’s rooted in Bach and Beethoven. And Florence Price. It’s rooted in every ancient violin. It’s rooted in the hosts, and all of the adoring groupmusers and supporters.
It’s rooted in you. The Groupmuse Foundation is a place to hold these roots — so that our community can stand in support of whatever wild and beautiful world might grow from all of us now.
Yes, The Groupmuse PBC will continue to pursue a dynamic, independent, and — dare I say it — efficient way of bringing together art and community.
But we’re more than a business model. Groupmuse is an actual community — at a time when that word is constantly being taken in vain — and that is too sacred to be left entirely to the whims of the market.
We need to go to every length available to us to ensure that the musicians are provided all the support they need to thrive in this current crisis and beyond, because they hold together our community and the long story of this art form. And we need to make sure that we’re building this community in a way that reflects the abundance and diversity of this Planet and its beautiful peoples — regardless of efficiency or profitability.
We continue moving into the 21st century working to bring forth the depth of the old world with the energy of the new, and we couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter.
So we humbly ask, if ever you’ve loved a groupmuse, if ever a neighbor brought you into their home to share an ancient masterpiece with friends old and new, if ever your week was brightened and deepened by Ludwig van Beethoven delivered live to you from only a few feet away, if ever our humble project made your world feel both more expansive and more tightly knit, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Groupmuse Foundation so that this beautiful path can continue to unfold.
And yet: If you do want to support our mission but can’t in this way right now, we understand entirely and we’d still love your support in any of these ways:
- Forward this email to an arts lover and supporter you know, with a word or two about what Groupmuse means to you.
- Become a virtual host to support musicians for their livestreams
- RSVP to an upcoming groupmuse (and invite a friend!)
We are immensely grateful for the care and support from you all in the past 8 years. Groupmuse is healthy and growing, but we are now embarking on a new journey to be better stewards of this art form. And we hope to see you in a living room before too long!
Best,
Sam and the Groupmuse Team
