I am glad to introduce my next guest who is involved in a most worthy and interesting musical project. please welcome Ann Hackler of the Institute of Musical Arts

Welcome to the ezine how is your day?

Great and pretty busy, it's the night before the rock n' roll camp for girls begin. Folks are already starting to arrive, just had the final staff meeting

Please first of all tell us about the project?

This is the pilot program for a longer and larger camp that will take place once we have expanded our facilities. The camp is geared toward teenage girls (but we have a 12 year old and a 20 year old) who are interested in expressing themselves through music.

Explain the wonderful philosophy behind it?

We feel that rock n roll is a great way to empower young women in lots of ways ---It's a way to channel feelings and ideas in a creative way and to get your message out to other people, in working with other musicians you also have to learn to listen and communicate directly on a one to one basis and collaborate on your ideas.

Give us a brief history please?

The Institute for the Musical Arts was formed in 1987 as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting women in music and music related businesses. One of its co-founders and the current artistic director is June Millington who has been a musician since she was a child playing ukulele with her sister Jean in the Philippines. Her family moved to California in the 60's and they eventually turned in their ukes for electric guitars and formed a series of all-girl bands which eventually became the band Fanny which was the first self-generated all female band to be signed to a major record label (Warner Brothers) and tour extensively through North America and Europe.

When June left fanny she became involved in the early women's music movement in the mid-1970's and aside from continuing with a solo recording career, began to produce albums for other female artists. It was her desire to begin to pass on the information she had gained as a pioneer for women in both mainstream music and the alternative feminist music movement that was the seed for forming the Institute for the Musical Arts. Ima found its first home in an old creamery in Bodega, California that had been converted into an artist colony. It rented space there for 10 years and ran a recording studio and BI-monthly concert and workshop series and two week long summer sessions one on studio recording and the other on songwriting and composition.

It lost its lease on that space in 2000 and because rents and property were so expensive in California, began to look elsewhere. in 2001, Ima found and purchased its own site in Goshen, Massachusetts (just outside of the Amherst/Northampton area) and is in the process of raising funds to convert the large barn on the property into a recording studio, performance venue and bunkhouse. Because it finally owns its own space which is completely up to code, it could finally fulfill the long-held dream of holding a rock n roll camp for girls

How do you select your participant?

This year we just took individuals on a first come first serve basis, though several scholarships were awarded to outstanding young women who had been recommended by their teachers. As word of the camp grows, we will probably have to pick on the basis of the passion and motivation to become musicians that the applicants show.

Being a non profit organization could you tell our readers how they can participate and support this effort?

There are many ways to help out, first just get on our mailing list and attend some of the events we put on like the divafest which is a benefit for Ima and is held the third weekend in September in Guerneville, California every year, second tell someone else about us and of course sending money always helps. We are currently in the process of raising $400,000 for the barn conversion. The sooner we get the barn done the sooner we can resume the work we've been doing recording women and teaching studio engineering

Could you give us an idea of the services offered by the institute?

Recording facility, performance venue, workshops on everything from instrumental and voice skill development, to music business (law, booking, promotion, etc.), to album production and recording, to songwriting.

You have a sister site where you also distribute recordings tell us more about it?

Another fantastic way for our readers to participate. Yes, musicwomen.com is where artists that either teach at Ima or have recorded here can distribute their Cd's. $10 goes directly to the artist and the other $6 goes to support ima's programs (no corporate fat cats are lining their pockets here)

Tell us a few word about your in house concerts and also Divafest Which truly sound like a celebration not to be missed?

The concerts are in an intimate setting and the goal is to provide a place that artists can try out material before they head out for major tours and also to break down the barrier that sometimes exists between artists and audience. To do this we always have a question and answer period at the beginning of the second set. The music featured is as diverse as the performers, everything from rock to European classical music has been performed at ima concerts. Divafest is again a place to feature both the faculty and students or new recording artists that have come through Ima's doors. Any well known alumni came out of this project?

Ima isn't a formal school, it's really just on a workshop to workshop basis---many of the artists that teach are nationally know as part of the women's music movement: Chris Williamson, Tret Fure, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, June Millington, Ferron, Holly Near etc. Younger artists like Copperwimmin and Amy Simpson are known mostly in California. Since Ima's move to the east coast, where there seem to be more touring artists in need of a place to just hang their hat for a bit, many have stopped in to either teach or just hang out: Bitch and Animal, Erika Luckett, Catie Curtis, Doria Roberts, Nadine Zuckermann, Toshi Reagon, Joules Graves come to mind right now.

Thank you for participating in this zineterview :-)any last words for our readers?

One thing that I think is really exciting about what we are doing, is that we are building an actual place that is forming organically out of the needs, concerns and visions of women from a diversity of backgrounds. This isn't just an organization but a physical place that will be passed on to those that come after us. and for any guys that might be reading this, the doors are open to you as well!!! And finally, our ima.org website is woefully untended, but I hope to remedy that within the next few months. We'll have pix of the camp up as well.

Please I urge the readers to visit the website:http://www.ima.org And send your comments to this email:Imabodega@aol.com And do what you can to help out!!!