GAMA Joins MEPR

The members of GAMA have decided to join the Music Education Policy Roundtable (MEPR), which advocates to make music education a key focal point and discussion topic among elected officials and government agencies so as to promote the value that is inherent to quality arts education programming in schools and communities.

“GAMA has invested heavily in building classroom guitar programs in schools across the U.S.,” said Robert Sulkow, executive director of GAMA. “GAMA’s affiliation with the Music Education Policy Roundtable is a strategic move through which we seek to protect those programs from budget cuts. Right now, all music programs can be undone by the stroke of a lawmaker’s pen; we want to change that.”

Under the direction of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the MEPR is a group of music education organizations that have come together to institute a music advocacy infrastructure dedicated to ensuring the presence and perseverance of music education programs in schools. The MEPR unites numerous music organizations under a single banner with one voice and provides an opportunity for members to participate in advocacy initiatives, primarily via the efforts of the NAfME’s trained policy staff.

Through its affiliation, GAMA joins a distinguished and growing roster of music education organizations that make up The Music Education Policy Roundtable such as: NAfME, American String Teachers Association, GRAMMY Foundation, The Recording Academy, NAMM, League of American Orchestras, Chorus America, American Choral Directors Association, Percussive Arts Society, and VH1 Save the Music Foundation.

For more information about GAMA visit www.discoverguitar.com.