• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, Adrian Belew Announce Additional 2023 ‘Remain In Light’ Tour Dates

January 31, 2023

Bill Harden – Blues-Inspired Guitars at Harden Engineering

January 31, 2023

Exclusive: Guitarist/Singer-Songwriter Ally Venable Premieres Video for Title Track ‘Real Gone’

January 31, 2023

Barbara Blue Is a Piece of Work, A Very Talented One

January 30, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»Blues Foundation President and CEO Stepping Down
News

Blues Foundation President and CEO Stepping Down

AdministratorBy AdministratorOctober 29, 2014Updated:April 10, 2020No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Jay Sielman (second on left) presents Ghost Town Blues Band with second place band award during 2014 International Blues Challenge
Jay Sielman (second on left) presents Ghost Town Blues Band with second place band award during 2014 International Blues Challenge
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
Jay Sielman (second on left) presents Ghost Town Blues Band with second place band award during 2014 International Blues Challenge
Jay Sielman (second on left) presents Ghost Town Blues Band with second place band award during 2014 International Blues Challenge

(MEMPHIS, TN) — Jay Sieleman, The Blues Foundation’s President and Chief Executive Officer, announced today he will step down from leading The Blues Foundation organization in September of 2015.

Jay joined the Foundation in March 2003 and will leave as the longest serving executive in the Foundation’s 35-year-history. Under his leadership, the Foundation has enjoyed substantial programmatic and economic growth. The international status of The Blues Foundation has also increased and now has members in more than fifty countries.

The organization has experienced an impressive financial resurgence, growing from a net worth of less than $200,000 to over $4 million, annual revenues of $1 million dollars and positive net income each year since 2004. Individual memberships have tripled (4000) and affiliated blues societies have more than doubled (200).

During his tenure, Foundation programming has similarly progressed. It annually stages its critically-acclaimed Blues Music Awards and the International Blues Challenge, latter of which has grown from three to five days and from 70 acts to 250. The HART Fund now disburses as much as $50,000 annually to Blues musicians and their families for medical, dental and funeral expenses. Generation Blues has awarded financial scholarships to 70 young performers in the past five years to study their instruments of choice at reputable Blues camps. Each of these has contributed to a strong and growing reputation both in the blues community and among the general public. In 2011, The Blues Foundation was the recipient of the prestigious Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award.

One of The Blues Foundation’s most impressive achievements is the new Blues Hall of Fame set to open May 8, 2015. The design, construction and opening of the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis (a long-held dream of blues musicians and fans) will be the culmination of Jay’s efforts to bring sustainable, well-deserved attention and recognition to the Blues as an art form and to Blues musicians. Through the Raise the Roof! capital campaign he led, The Blues Foundation secured pledges and donations of more than $2.8 million, two-thirds of which came from individual blues fans around the world, for construction of the Blues Hall of Fame.

Jay is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and practiced law for more than 20 years, including some 13 years with the Panama Canal Commission, both before and after the 1999 Panama Canal transfer. He served as a Legal Advisor to the Solomon Islands as a Peace Corps Volunteer (1983-85).

The Board of Directors has formed a committee to begin the process to find a new chief executive.

The Blues Foundation

Jay Sieleman Memphis The Blues Foundation
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleBREAKING: Blues Blast Music Awards 2014 Winners
Next Article France’s Mammoth Blues-Sur-Seine Festival Begins
Administrator

Related Posts

Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, Adrian Belew Announce Additional 2023 ‘Remain In Light’ Tour Dates

January 31, 2023

IBC 2023 Winners Announced

January 29, 2023

Listen: Colemine Records to Posthumously Release Fred Davis LP, ‘Cleveland Blues’

January 26, 2023

Savoy Brown to Release ‘Blues All Around’ After the Passing of Legendary Founder

January 24, 2023

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.