Aspire to Inspire

Aspire to Inspire: the Catie Curtis Endowment

Catie Curtis understands how the gift of an instrument can forever change a young person’s life. When Catie was 15-years-old, growing up in a small town in southern Maine, she was given a guitar with the only catch being that she had to learn how to play it.

Now, in the midst of a musical career that has seen her travel all across the U.S. and Europe, release nine studio albums to critical acclaim – including a 2006 International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize – Catie has a desire to give the same gift she once received. Catie has created one of Hope Equity’s newest Interests, the Catie Curtis Aspire To Inspire Endowment, to provide continuous, ongoing funding for the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Foundation so that guitars can be given to budding young musicians that can’t afford to buy their own.

“My passion is to put guitars in the hands of aspiring young musicians. They can use it as a vehicle to create a life for themselves, if they so choose,” Catie said.

A Boston-based singer-songwriter, Catie plays a hopeful, yet honest brand of grassroots folk music that has been influenced by the likes of Cheryl Wheeler, Greg Brown and John Gorka. But it was a woman passing through her sleepy hometown as stage manager of a traveling theater troupe that made her an offer that would forever change her life.

“I remember she held it up and said ‘you can have it, if you learn to play,’” Catie said. “It was an artist speaking to an artist, really deliberate and really intense. I couldn’t accept it unless I committed myself to learning to play.”

Catie says she wonders what her life would be like now if not for that fateful day – if she would have ever became a singer-songwriter. For Catie, music is something that helped her make sense of the world and find meaningfulness in life, which is what she hopes to provide to others.

“Many successful people have a story like that, where somebody gave them a leg up,” she said.

To that end, the ASCAP Foundation provides funding for the teachers that take part in summer camps for inner-city youth where children are given the opportunity to discover their talents. These teachers will identify those with a desire or inclination to play the guitar. “We want to put guitars in aspiring musicians’ hands, as an unexpected gift, to convey the confidence that comes from someone believing in them. As a non-profit organization, the ASCAP Foundation buys the guitars tax-free and awards them to specific students who really want to learn.” she said.

It doesn’t end there for Catie, as she will be able to send a message of support to the young musicians chosen to receive a guitar. Just as students are specifically chosen to receive guitars, the Catie Curtis Aspire to Inspire Endowment is specifically designated to support the ASCAP’s efforts to put instruments in the hands of burgeoning musicians.

“I have had success as a touring singer-songwriter, but I don’t have millions to donate. I have a voice in the community, and so I can raise interest in supporting good causes. People don’t have to be Bill Gates in order to feel like they have something to give.” Ultimately, Catie views Hope Equity as a way to provide “an ongoing funding source for a mission I really believe in.” All charitable gifts to the Endowment will be invested, with a percentage of the interest generated being made available each year to the ASCAP for the purchase of guitars.

“It’s a unique model of charitable giving, that as people put money in it, they can watch it grow year after year,” Catie said. “I love the fact that the growth of the endowment will ensure that students are given guitars each year through this program, forever.” For more on Catie Curtis, please visit www.catiecurtis.com.