$520 raised by 4 donors
3% complete
$20,000 Goal
For over a decade, iAM MUSIC has been building a vibrant, inclusive music ecosystem in the Four Corners — one that nurtures creativity, creates opportunity, and strengthens community through the power of music.
This year, your support is more important than ever. As demand for music education and youth programming grows, we’re working to expand access, deepen our impact, and ensure every student — regardless of background or resources — has a place to learn, create, and belong.
Your Gift Supports Three Core Pillars
More private lesson scholarships for high school students and emerging artists
Additional classes and creative pathways through partnerships with GOAL High School, Animas High School, and regional youth programs
New internship and mentorship opportunities that build real-world skills in music, leadership, and production
🎶 Performance Opportunities That Build Confidence
Students don’t just learn here — they take the stage.We’re growing our student showcases, ensemble programs, and live performance experiences so young musicians can gain hands-on experience, teamwork, and the joy of sharing their art with the community.
We proudly support independent musicians across the region through events, workshops, and our flagship iAM MUSIC Fest. Earlier this year, we celebrated the festival’s 10-year anniversary (May 1–4, 2025), bringing student bands together with more than 30 professional artists for an unforgettable four-day experience that strengthened connections across the local and regional music community.
And the momentum continues. We’re already gearing up for the next iAM MUSIC Fest, happening the first week of May 2026 — expanding performance opportunities, student showcases, and professional artist collaborations to keep growing a thriving music ecosystem in the Four Corners.
iAM MUSIC is more than a school — it’s a launchpad.Your donation:
Removes financial barriers for young musicians
Creates safe, creative spaces for youth expression
Fuels workforce development and arts-based career pathways
Strengthens the cultural heartbeat of Durango and the Four Corners
Every dollar directly impacts students, educators, and the local music community.
We believe music changes lives.Our mission is to cultivate self-driven artists, leaders, and creative thinkers who go on to inspire positive change — locally and globally. Through education, collaboration, and community-centered events, we are building a sustainable ecosystem where music isn’t just taught — it’s lived, shared, and celebrated.
When you give to iAM MUSIC, you’re not just funding lessons or events — you’re investing in confidence, creativity, mentorship, and opportunity. Together, we can ensure that the next generation has the tools, support, and stage they need to thrive.
Thank you for helping us keep music alive, accessible, and impactful in our community.
Mission: A Music Ecosystem
Cultivating the power of music and collaboration with a vision to create local and global change through Empowerment, Education and Events
iAM MUSIC is an ecosystem founded by artists for artists serving as a creative hub for collaboration. We empower and connect youth, elevate and showcase career-minded musicians, and host events to stimulate the local creative economy. We are always innovating and evolving to stay current with the wider music community.
Vision: Empowerment Through Music
iAM MUSIC cultivates artists with a focus on social entrepreneurship. We envision driven, self-actualizing artists and leaders who embody our philosophy of inspiring change through positive rhythms and actions. The collaborative music ecosystem model will sustain a powerful network of organic relationships that will spark the fire in the next generation of young musicians in our local, regional, and global community.
Founded by artists, for artists...
iAM MUSIC was founded in 2013 by two professional musicians
After several years of relentless touring and spearheading with Colorado-based independent project Hello Dollface, bassist Jesse Ogle, and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ashley Edwards began to notice a lack of connection and support opportunities in the music industry for hard-working, talented, independent musicians. In 2011, the two founded Independent Artist Management, a by-artists-for-artists networking and tour management cooperative for like-minded, unsigned musicians pursuing careers in original music. This is the origin of the “iAM” in iAM MUSIC. The name has become an affirmation of the organization’s deepest goals and principles.
In 2013, they free-formed what is now the iAM MUSIC Outreach Programming with “passion presentations” at high risk youth correction facilities, alternative education programs, project based middle schools and high schools, and have since created accredited 3-5 day per week dedicated band coaching full music education and production at Animas High School, Big Picture High School, Liberty School, Boys and Girls Club Ignacio, and the La Plata Youth Services Therapeutic Day program with multiple coaches , ZERO-Obstacles programming which includes free instrument rentals, full-rehearsal space and sound gear, no-cost-to-student education and mentorship with a focus on writing original music, theory, recording and production, networking, and team development in the classroom. Each semester, the program presents #YOUTH Student Showcase free to the community featuring all of theIn-House and Outreach Programming Student Performances and the #YOUTH Original Student Showcase in the Spring to feature young talented songwriters, producers, and composers.
iAM MUSIC is committed to its mission to pursue innovative ways to empower and encourage mutual support among musicians of every level while cultivating originality, and creating opportunities and space for collaboration and mentorship for both youth and aspiring as well as professional musicians. In addition, iAM MUSIC Fest! was launched in 2015 as a festival-format iAM MUSIC benefit to recycle funding back into education while presenting the community a special event bringing world-class independent musicians, visual artists, performing artists, local eateries, and businesses together for the purpose of sharing ideas, creating meaningful relationships & exchange, and social activism through creative expression in the Southwest.
In 2017, The iNDIGO Room listening space was added to the iAM MUSIC studio space bringing an intimate, independent listening room style music venue to the region. Each month iAM MUSIC brings weekly and monthly ongoing community events such as Songwriter’s Series, Songwriting Panels, Jazz/Funk/Soul Jams, Saturday Concert Series, Ongoing Music Workshops, Internship programming, and coaching and lessons As of 2020, iAM MUSIC is an established living wage employer in Colorado and produces over 50+ ongoing events each year hiring 200+ musicians from all over the US, and in turn the revenue generated is re-invested into the education and empowerment of the voices and musicians of the next generation.
Organization name
iAM Music Institute
2013
Tax id (EIN)
46-4504205
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, Youth Development, Public & Societal Benefit
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
1315 MAIN AVE STE 207Durango, CO, US
La Plata County, CO, US
CO, US