MSNBC
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams featured Music National Service and MusicianCorps on a piece last night called “Making music, with a mission.” Music National Service (MNS) is a national nonprofit that supports music as a strategy for public good. MNS recently launched a domestic “musical Peace Corps” called MusicianCorps in five cities: Chicago, New Orleans, Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle. Twenty MusicianCorps Fellows serve full-time in public schools, parks and recreation centers, children’s and veteran’s hospitals, public housing communities and elsewhere in return for a living stipend, health benefits and professional development. Also be sure to watch NBC’s web-extra which offers more from students and MusicianCorps Fellows in their own words. To check out the on-air version of the program, follow the above link. [vodpod id=Video.3210483&w=425&h=350&fv=launch%3D35770532%26amp%3Bwidth%3D400%26amp%3Bheight%3D320]

Pepsi Refresh Project
MusicCorps is in the running to win $250,000 from Pepsi Refresh Project. Currently in Chicago, New Orleans, Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle, MusicianCorps Fellows receive a living stipend, health care and training for a year of teaching in underserved communities. To sustain and expand, MusicianCorps must provide national standards and support for recruitment, training and evaluation for 30 MusicianCorps Fellows (full time) and up to 200 MusicianCorps Mentors (part time volunteers). With the grant money, MusicanCorps hopes to turn the lessons of a 5-city pilot into a sustainable national program that improves thousands of lives by engaging musicians in direct service. To vote for this idea today and everyday in March, follow the above link.