Congratulations to the Roots of Music for winning this year’s Adolf Busch Award. This organization empowers the youth of New Orleans through music education, academic support, and mentorship while preserving and promoting the city’s unique musical and cultural heritage. Since 2007, they’ve been working to provide youth aged 9 to 14 with the resources they need to lead positive, productive, self-reliant lives. 

In addition to their focus on music, Roots truly meets the needs of their community by providing students with hot meals and round-trip transportation to reduce common barriers to participation. Five days a week, 12 months a year, Roots delivers over 2,500 hours of music education and other academic tutoring, over 30,400 nutritious hot meals, 1,400 bus journeys, and supplies over 150 instruments for student use.

Also recognized this year is the Berlin-based Al-Farabi Music Academy. Their work aims to promote a shared artistic and societal vision between young refugees and German youth through music-making and intercultural dialogue.

“The Al-Farabi Music Academy embodies the spirit and values of my great-grandfather Adolf Busch. The fact that this organization is committed to improving the lives of refugees in Germany through music is something that would have been very meaningful to Busch–himself a political refugee who fled terror and injustice. The Adolf Busch Award found Al-Farabi to be deserving of recognition, as its work aligns so well with the ABA mission to support organizations that use music to promote a more civil and just society.” – David Ludwig

Thanks once again to everyone who applied. Each year, we are faced with the daunting challenge of choosing a winner amongst so many worthy organizations.