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03/14/09
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Mission
The mission of the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association (KVBA) is to
promote, educate, and preserve the rich history of blues music as it concerns
Kalamazoo and its impact on American culture and commerce in musical arts and
industry.
Purpose
As a not for profit organization the Kalamazoo Valley Blues
Association (KVBA) is staffed and run entirely by unpaid volunteers. The board
of directors maintains a monthly meeting schedule and these meetings are open to
the membership and interested parties.
Originally formed for the sole purpose of putting on the first Kalamazoo
Blues Festival in 1994, the resulting success of our first festival gave birth
to the notion that the KVBA can do much more in our community. Our membership
comes from southwest Michigan, but we have many members from Indiana, Ohio, and
other parts of the country. The association is pretty much made up of people
like you. We are teachers, janitors, construction workers, lawyers, students,
politicians, appliance repair technicians, business owners, families, and more.
What holds us all together is our love of the blues.
We're best known as the producers of the very popular
Kalamazoo Blues Festival which is held annually in July. We also:
- co-produce and underwrite blues performances in local area nightclubs and
other venues
- award an annual musical scholarship
- send area musicians to local schools and libraries for workshops and
presentations
- send the winner of our Annual Blues Talent Competition to Memphis to
compete in the International Blues Talent Competition
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