Founding Sponsors

UMEM wouldn't have been possible without sponsorship from Chip Davis, founder and creator of the industry’s largest independent record label, American Gramaphone.  He is also the founder of of Mannheim Steamroller, an American music group known for its albums combining classical music and rock and for its Christmas music.  Mannheim Steamroller is the #1 Christmas music artist in history with 28 million records sold; total records sold by Mannheim Steamroller is over 40 million albums. The Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Tour has celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2014 and is the longest running consecutive tour in the music industry.

Bill Chiesa was another important founding sponsor of the UMEM program.  He was general manager of the MetraPark in Billings, Montana, from 1986 to 2002.  Bill sparked the creation of the MetraPark Foundation to help raise funds for improvements to the facility and to fund events at MetraPark that have had a significant local financial benefit.