I’d like to invite you to be a part of launching something that Karl, Ingrid, and Ornette could only dream of when they first founded CMS 50 years ago.
It’s a learning experience platform that might break some long-standing rules.
And we’ve partnered with a team of chiseled internet marketers and entrepreneurs who’ve adapted their knowledge, experience, and connections to work with the mission, the rules, and the ethic of a nonprofit:
- Start with our 50-year legacy of creative music learning: From events like our infamous in-person workshops to events like CMS Live, we’re practiced at helping anyone think, listen, and play like a musician who sounds like nobody else.
- Reach any and every musician that uses the internet: Invest significantly on advertising so we can reach musicians and music lovers all the way to the far corners of the internet.
- Consistent financial support: Because advertising is predictable and reliable, we can then generate revenue for CMS so we can rely less on donations and grants.
- No paywall. No one turned away: Using a “pay what you can” membership model, we can make sure no one is turned away due to a lack of money.
Here’s where you come in:
The Opportunity: If we raise $20,000, we’ll have the capital to finish this project AND launch our marketing campaign to spread it across the world. I want your help, and I’m prepared to make it worth your while.
It still takes investment to get us off the ground. And we need your help to push us over the edge:
Will you choose a tax-deductible donation from the list below?
On behalf of Karl, Ingrid, and everyone here at CMS, we are all grateful for your support. It wouldn’t happen without you.
With love,
Billy Martin
Note about Paypal: Unfortunately, this system doesn’t currently accept Paypal. If you’re more comfortable donating through Paypal, you can do so by going to our main donation page.
Once you’ve donated, send us an email at [email protected] with the Paypal email you used and how much you donated. We will shoot over your donation gift package ASAP.
Yttrium Donation Gift – $25
*CMS Archive Anthology Records (Digital format – originally on 6 CDs – normally sold for $57)
Performances from:
- Ed Blackwell/Charles Brackeen
- David Izenson
- Karl Berger
- Ingrid Sertso
- James Emery/Leroy
- Jenkins
- Ursula Oppens/Fred
- Rzewski
- Oliver Lake
- Olu Dara
- Roscoe Mitchell
- Foday Musa Suso
- Nana Vasconcelos
- Ismet Siral
- Anthony Braxton/Marilyn Crispell
- Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
- Frederic Rzewski/Karl Berger
- Paul Motian/Charles Brackeen/David Izenzon
- Lee Konitz/Karl Berger/Peter Apfelbaum
- Don Cherry
- Baikida Carroll
- Gerry Hemingway
- Ismet Siral/Steve Gorn/Trilok Gurtu
- Collin Walcott/Aiyb Dieng/Nana Vasconcelos/Trilok Gurtu
- Amadou Jarr
- Aiyb Dieng/Karl Berger
- Paulo Moura
Terbium Donation Gift – $50
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
Have a question about music? About their career? Advice for a fellow musician? A challenge you’re facing in your musical path? Anything where you know they’d have wisdom to offer?
We can’t guarantee your question will be answered if the guiding artist feels it’s not appropriate for some reason. But CMS tends to attract an open-minded bunch.
PLUS:
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Lutetium Donation Gift – $75
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
- 1976 Don Cherry masterclass at CMS (audio)
- 1980 Cecil Taylor masterclass at CMS (audio)
- The “Mystery” Ensemble
- Karl And Ingrid’s 5-week “Music Mind Experience” @ CMW Live 2020 (video)
- 5 weeks of Medeski Martin & Wood @ CMW Live 2020 (video)
- 5 weeks of CMS All-Stars (8 guiding artists) @ CMW Live 2020 (video)
- Audio and video of the recent CMS 2020 Benefit Concert
PLUS:
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Erbium Donation Gift – $100
*Audio, transcriptions, and cheat sheets from CMS Live 2021
- Audio files of all CMS Live 2021 workshops (regardless of what you just registered)
- Searchable transcriptions from all CMS Live 2021 workshops
- The big ideas and takeaways in printable PDF cheat sheets
PLUS:
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Lanthanum Donation Gift – $250
*Private Lesson With A CMS Live Guiding Artist
Is there someone in the CMS Live roster you’d like to study with? Or have always wanted to study with? While we can’t promise anything about their schedules, we can certainly play matchmaker and get you a free lesson on us.
PLUS:
*Audio, transcriptions, and cheat sheets from CMS Live 2021
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Praseodymium Donation Gift – $500
*CMS Live Lifetime Access
This CMS Live event is now a regular part of the CMS calendar. Multiple times a year for years to come, we’ll be putting on these special events. And you’ll have an all access pass to every single one of them.
PLUS:
*Private Lesson With A CMS Live Guiding Artist
*Audio, transcriptions, and cheat sheets from CMS Live 2021
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Promethium Donation Gift – $750
*3 private lessons with a guiding artist
Want 3 lessons with the same guiding artist? Or a single lesson with three different guiding artists? This is how you do it….
PLUS:
*CMS Live Lifetime Access
*Private Lesson With A CMS Live Guiding Artist
*Audio, transcriptions, and cheat sheets from CMS Live 2021
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records
Dysprosium Donation Gift – $1000
*A Mentoring Session with CMS Co-Founders Karl Berger & Ingrid Sertso
Studying with Karl or Ingrid separately is enlightening and transformative by itself. But, as people who’ve spent time with them in our live workshops can tell you, the two of them together is a completely different experience: Their unique talents and philosophies combined with their shared understanding of music’s universal nature means you will receive a perspective on you and your music that very few people ever receive.
PLUS:
*3 private lessons with a guiding artist
*CMS Live Lifetime Access
*Private Lesson With A CMS Live Guiding Artist
*Audio, transcriptions, and cheat sheets from CMS Live 2021
*CMS Streaming Audio And Video Collection
*Ask a Guiding Artist Anything
*CMS Archive Anthology Records