The UUAA Board of Trustees authorized the establishment of a Geisenhainer Music Fund in 2016 to honor our retiring Sr. Minister the Reverend Gail R. Geisenhainer. This fund will support current and future music programs and music community outreach, in tribute to Rev. Gail Geisenhainer’s eight years of loving nurture of UUAA’s outstanding music ministries.
The first goal of the fund was to purchase a much needed new piano for the Phifer Sanctuary. That goal was reached and the Geisenhainer Steinway Grand Piano was christened in June of 2016 and will allow expanded music program opportunities.
Longer term, the fund will support music lessons for children from the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor communities who could not otherwise afford them. Money from the fund could employ music students from local universities to provide piano lessons on the Geisenhainer piano.
Our Director of Worship & Music, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, had his first opportunity to study music through affordable piano lessons offered at his neighborhood church in South Baltimore. He has been inspired by the W.O. Smith Music School of Nashville (see wosmith.org), which has made affordable, quality musical instruction available to thousands of young people from low-income families for over 30 years.
We launched this fund in 2016. Ongoing funding will be through benefit recitals and ongoing donations. We hope future recitals might feature students from the program, as one measure of the program’s success.
If you would like to contribute toward this fund, you can do so by clicking on the "Donate Now" button here.
In April, 2016, the UUAA Board of Trustees authorized the establishment of the Geisenhainer Music Fund (GMF) to honor Rev. Gail Geisenhainer, our Senior Minister from 2008 to 2016, who nurtured and supported UUAA's outstanding music ministries during her tenure.
The fund's main goal was to purchase a new piano for the Phifer Sanctuary, and the Geisenhainer Steinway Grand Piano was welcomed in June 2016!
The remaining money,there was intended to support music programs that reached students in the Ann Arbor area--especially those who did not have the financial means to participate. In early 2019, a task force was formed to decide how best to embody the spirit of the GMF. They decided to partner with the Community Music School of Ann Arbor (CMSA2). CMSA2 provides need-based assistance to students who wish to play music in ensembles during the school year and over the summer. Their history includes holding classes at UUAA at our former location on Washtenaw Avenue! The GMF will provide three summer and three school-year scholarships in 2019-2020, donating $2,370. In addition, CMSA2 will receive rent-free space for two concerts in 2020. This is a one to two-year plan so the relationship between UUAA and CMSA2 can be developed, and new opportunities for collaboration may be explored. At the end of May, there was $11,605 in the fund.
Donations to the Geisenhainer Music Fund can be made by writing a check to UUAA with "GMF" on the memo line or online using this link. For more information about the Community Music School of Ann Arbor, go to www.cmsa2.org
