EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: Thursday, April 10, 2014

EVENT: SpringFest 2014, the MUSIC Matters year-end day of festivities at the University of Michigan with a lineup of live music and dance, a TED-like speakers series, a live shark-tank style event, a student entrepreneur product launch area, interactive events and a food truck face-off.

The festival, modeled after South by Southwest in Austin, Tex., leads up to the day’s capstone event, MUSIC Matters’ third annual benefit concert. This year, 2 Chainz will take the stage in Hill Auditorium at 8 p.m. to support a summer camp for at-risk youth.

SpringFest 2014, taking place on U-M’s Diag 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., will feature a mash-up of student groups from the innovation, arts, sustainability, music, identity and social justice communities on campus.

“SpringFest is designed to bring together all of the cutting-edge things that are happening in all corners of our campus, in the arts, technology, entrepreneurship and sustainability communities. We combine them into a spectacular one-day festival, capped off with a blowout evening charity concert, and we get a signature event that highlights the best of the University of Michigan,” said MUSIC Matters founder and president Phillip Schermer.

Alternative-rocker Grizfolk is set to headline the live music portion of SpringFest. They will be joined by Ann Arbor native Dan Henig and U-M student and Top 10 finalist on Season 3 of NBC’s “The Voice,” Sylvia Yacoub. Grizfolk is recently back from a European tour supporting the group Bastille.

Student acts San Cristobal, Matt Daniels and Silent Affair also will perform. The innovation portion of the event will include a Start-Up Village, a student-entrepreneur product launch area. Mike Muse, member of President Obama’s National Finance Committee and co-founder of Muse Recordings, will be one of the highlighted speakers. MPowered, Black Student Union, Solar Car Team, Ice Carving Team, optimize and MRelay will all be presenters.

MUSIC Matters (Michigan Undergrads Serving In the Community) is in its third year at U-M. Its goal is to bring one concert to U-M per year and donate the proceeds to charity. MUSIC Matters’ inaugural concert in 2012 brought Grammy-nominee J. Cole to Hill Auditorium, resulting in a $10,000 gift to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. In 2013, MUSIC Matters brought piano-rock legend Ben Folds and donated $50,000 to endow a student-funded, need-based scholarship at U-M, making it one of the first of its kind.

SPONSORS: FM 98 WJLB is this year’s media sponsor. The official sponsors for SpringFest 2014 are: Office of the President, Office of the Provost, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Central Student Government, Michigan Hillel, College of Engineering, Ross School of Business, Zaragon Apartments, LSA Student Government, TechWeek, 5-Hour Energy, Whole Foods, Verizon, Office of Student Life, Center for Entrepreneurship, School of Natural Resources, Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Information, Law School Student Government, Office of University Development, GrubHub, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Alumni Association, College of Pharmacy, University Health Service, Ford School of Public Policy, Nonprofit and Public Management Center, Spotify, Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, University Honors Program, University of Michigan Law School and School of Dentistry.

CONTACT: Phillip Schermer (412) 352-5710, [email protected]