By Barbara A. Schmitz
Flying Musicians is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019, all while singing the praises of pilots who perform.
John Zapp, president and CEO, said the idea for Flying Musicians was borne out of a chance meeting with country music musician Roy Clark, who was also a pilot, in 2008.
“We talked about how cool it would be for musician pilots to fly into his place in Oklahoma and sit around and play their guitars, harmonicas, and so on,” he said. They never did that, but it started John and a few others thinking about how many musicians are pilots, and the Flying Musicians Association, or FMA, officially began in 2009.
John said FMA was immediately embraced by the aviation community, and AOPA became its first corporate sponsor. But the music community also came on board quickly, and the association was selected to be a foundation partner of the National Association of Music Merchants, or NAMM, giving the FMA access to music merchants.
One of its first events was a fly-in music fest in Fort Worth, Texas, which included 115 musicians performing. Today, the FMA has more than 700 members from around the world, from fighter pilots to corporate pilots, student pilots to commercial pilots. Some members have become ambassadors for the group, like Aaron Tippin, country music artist; Louise Vickerman, principal harpist with the Utah Symphony; and Greg Knowles, record producer and professor at the Juilliard School, to name a few.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation is for pilot/musicians and spans the globe, proficiency levels, and genres. John said FMA has two passions and one goal: to bring aviation and music together. It inspires, educates, and encourages through performances, presentations, scholarships, and networking.
“At AirVenture, we talk about music, but at music events, we talk about aviation,” John said. “We feel like we are ambassadors wearing two hats.”
Since beginning their scholarship program five years ago, the FMA has given out 11 learn-to-fly scholarships.
“It’s a great way to introduce student musicians to aviation,” John said. Each award, valued at about $5,000, includes roughly 15 hours of dual instruction, or getting a student from 0 hours to soloing, online ground school, training materials, a headset, and additional products from sponsors. High school musicians must be nominated by their music director to be eligible, and nominations for 2020 will open in fall.
“We help scholarship recipients find a CFI and navigate the whole system, and then stay in touch to see if there is anything else we can do,” John said. “We want to make sure they have a positive experience.”
And they also want to ensure the student musician/pilots succeed and pay it forward, he said.
The scholarship is funded mainly by FMA professionals volunteering their time and talents to perform at various events, or through corporate donations, John said. Throughout the remainder of AirVenture, the Flying Musicians can be found sharing music and aviation stories around the campsite tonight, performing at a private party on Saturday, and playing taps at the Memorial Wall on Sunday.
FMA members pay a nominal fee to join but receive a shirt and swag from sponsors, John said. “This isn’t about the money; we’re just happy to have them in the network if they are passionate about music and aviation.”
They also sponsor student memberships for those not able to pay the $15 fee, he said.
For more information or to join, go to FlyingMusicians.org or email John at john@flyingmusicians.org.