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Building Today For Tomorrow

Our building should reflect the excellent programming we provide. Your support will help us to make necessary renovations and improvements.

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Building Today For Tomorrow

Building Today For Tomorrow

Building Today For Tomorrow

Building Today For Tomorrow

Building Today For Tomorrow

Our building should reflect the excellent programming we provide. Your support will help us to make necessary renovations and improvements.

Our building should reflect the excellent programming we provide. Your support will help us to make necessary renovations and improvements.

Our building should reflect the excellent programming we provide. Your support will help us to make necessary renovations and improvements.

Our building should reflect the excellent programming we provide. Your support will help us to make necessary renovations and improvements.

Pam & James Johnson
Pam & James Johnson
Pam & James Johnson
Pam & James Johnson
1 Campaign |
Pittsburgh, United States
$3,005 USD 35 backers
5% of $55,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Your Home For Afro American Music

For 31 years, Afro American Music Institute has experienced continued and steady growth. We started in a church basement and within six years grew into the annex of a health center.  It became clear that we needed a permanent home.  

In 2003, AAMI purchased a perfect home in the heart of Homewood at 7131 Hamilton Avenue.  After purchasing the building, we made improvements and created a musical home for people who love to learn about Afro American musical traditions and our contributions to the world.   

AAMI has, for 31 years, consistently generated a better quality of life for Pittsburgh musicians. We would define quality of life to include: training, engaged and knowledgeable audiences, skill to obtain life sustaining income, and local/national/international awareness.

Within these walls children, youth, adults and seniors learn and practice everything from Jazz, Blues, R&B, Gospel, Hip Hop, Classical and Negro Spirituals.  And then, we share the results in the community for everyone's enjoyment. We are fortunate to receive almost enough funding for the important, exciting and visible things we do such as:

  • AAMI Boys Choir,
  • Saturday Youth Jazz Lab,
  • Summer Youth Intensive Camp,
  • Scholarships for musical instruction,
  • Community concerts and the "Come Sunday" Performance Series

As you know, buildings need maintenance, updates and improvements.  So when we talk about: patching the roof, laying new carpet, replacing doors on classrooms, painting the walls, choir chairs designed to assist with correct posture for singing, it might not sound as interesting.  But, these things help us remain

Beautiful & Strong, Inside & Out.

Homewood has more than its fair share of challenges.  Our building is a symbol, that together, we will face these and any challenges with strength, dignity, and grace.  We are not tenants in Homewood.  We will not be displaced by the winds of revitalization.  We have an ownership stake in this community.  We are proof that staying focused on our mission through delivering excellent programming generates measurable results. 

It has been made clear to us that people who believe in the relevance, legitimacy and importance of Afro American music must be our own caretakers.  The systems in place for SOBs (Symphony, Opera/Orchestra, Ballets) do not apply to us. This makes your contribution even more important.  Your contribution is a pledge and a declaration that Afro American contributions to the world deserve and will receive support.

For Everyone's Benefit

Unlike Langston Hughes’ “ A Dream Deferred”, this dream is alive and well as evidenced via a curriculum that provides specialized training in all styles of African-American music.   AAMI will continue to provide programs of excellence under the guidance and tutelage of its committed, professional staff and board members.  Our experience indicates that youth who participate in AAMI programs gain a better sense of self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity and problem solving skills.  

And like our music, our history, and our culture, we must safeguard the home in which the dream is made manifest.  Thank you!

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Forward, together!

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Choose your Perk

Thank you!

$10 USD
Your name on our website for the school year.
4 claimed

Hear It For Yourself

$25 USD
You will receive the CD of beautiful music by our 2011 National Championship Boys Choir. (Only $15 dollars of this gift is tax deductible.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
5 out of 500 of claimed

Walking The Talk

$50 USD
With your Boys Choir CD, you'll also receive a t-shirt.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
4 out of 500 of claimed

Just Get Me To Gumbofest!

$60 USD
Two tickets for Louisi-Ann's Gumbofest. Join us for a taste of Southern hospitality. Enjoy Louisi-Ann's Gumbo with music from Five Guys Named Moe. (None of this donation is tax deductible.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
2 out of 50 of claimed

Man Up

$100 USD
You will receive a CD, T-shirt and two tickets to our annual Father's Day concert. The perfect gift to celebrate all of the men who step up everyday to help our youth. Only $25 of this level is tax-deductible)
5 out of 200 of claimed

Get Down At GumboFest

$250 USD
You get one CD, one t-shirt, and four tickets to GumboFest, our exciting Louisiana style festival full of fun music and flavor. ($160 is tax deductible)
1 out of 100 of claimed

Stitching Africa To America

$500 USD
You get a CD, t-shirt, and a beautiful handcrafted, one of a kind Ghanian stitchwork art piece suitable for framing from our fans in Ghana. Approx. 11 X 14 (See picture in the gallery. Only $380 is tax deductible)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 50 of claimed

Patron Of the Portals

$1,000 USD
We will put your name or the name of a loved one on the new classroom doors. Each door has a window to check on progress, prevent interruptions and make the flow of the building more open. (Gift is 100% tax deductible)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
1 out of 8 of claimed

Private Concert

$3,000 USD
The Afro-American Music Institute is the home for some of the most exciting musicians in the city of Pittsburgh. With a gift at this level, we will provide a quartet and vocalist to perform at your home, company function, banquet, or wedding. (Does not include transportation costs outside of the city of Pittsburgh. That would entail a different agreement. This level is not tax deductible.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 4 of claimed

Space Is the Place

$5,000 USD
Great musicians are nurtured at AAMI. A gift at this level allows you to name one of our classrooms. Plus, you get join the founders and Board members at AAMI for lunch and a tour to choose your room. (This gift is 100% tax deductible.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 8 of claimed

A True Homie

$10,000 USD
AAMI has three primary areas which are used for performances, rehearsals and gathering. Some of the best contemporary musicians - both in Pittsburgh and on tour - come to AAMI to jam, play and rehearse for shows. Currently, currently known as the Loading Dock, Jam Room, Hub (Kitchen), you can rename one these rooms. Plus, come over to AAMI for lunch with the founders and a tour. (This gift is 100% tax deductible.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 3 of claimed
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