TEXAS HERITAGE MUSIC FOUNDATION; CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF STORIES AND SONGS
The Texas Heritage Music Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation, was established in July 1987 to preserve and perpetuate the traditions of Texas music, to examine the background of Texas music, to trace influences and patterns in Texas music to document the role Texas music has played in society, and to provide free educational programming to the Texas community. 2012 is the 25th anniversary year.
Dr. Kathleen Hudson founded the non-profit Texas Heritage Music Foundation (THMF) out of her vision that stories and songs can transform the world and bring together culturally and ethnically diverse communities. The foundation provides another way of learning using stories and songs.
THMF celebrates the birthday of Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music, each September with a Texas Heritage Music Day. Other projects include a monthly Coffeehouse concert at Schreiner University, a Peabody award-winning rockabilly radio series, the Bard project, a house concert series, an oral history collection, and a photo collection of musicians throughout the state. Thanks to donations from the private sector and from local foundations, these programs have grown every year.
2012 will have new events to celebrate the anniversary including a house concert on the Schreiner campus on Feb. 24, a songwriting workshop on September 29 as part of the Texas Heritage Music Day, and other special events throughout the year.
Join us in celebrating the 25th anniversary at the annual Texas Heritage Music Day to be held September 28 & 29, 2012, at Schreiner University in Kerrville, TX. A Songwriting workshop on Saturday is an added feature in 2012. This weekend brings students and the community together to experience the power of stories and songs in celebrating community and in creating community. Combined attendance since 1997 exceeds 35,000 students, teachers and public. This vision continues throughout the remainder of the school year via THMF’s The Bard Project (a unique in-school performance/outreach program) that presents songwriters, performers, storytellers, and demonstrations in area schools, classrooms, and organizations that work with kids at risk.
Hudson, author of two oral histories on Texas music, published by University of Texas Press, also teaches in the English Department at Schreiner University where the foundation is now housed in Kerrville, Texas. Her book, Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs, is the only book on the women of Texas music. She integrates her work with musicians in all her classes at Schreiner, initiating a new composition class on Texas music and a class on the literature of American music.
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