Reach. Lift. Inspire.

The Faith Centered Music Association was formed in 1997 by a group of local musicians with those objectives in mind.

Since then the quantity of inspirational music has increased dramatically, but so has the quality, says Earl Madsen, a member of the FCMA board of directors. "I think the people who have been producing the music are more aware of ensuring quality, (they) put more effort into making a product that is the best it can be, (and they) are working longer at honing their craft instead of rushing it to the shelf."

But those core values have not changed. That's evident, says Madsen, if you look at the nominees for this year's Pearl Awards, which are given annually by the FCMA. Nominees include names familiar on the local stage, such as Jessie Clark Funk, Michael Dowdle and Hilary Weeks, but also names prominent on the national scene, such as Diamond Rio's Dan Truman, Gladys Knight, William Joseph, Billy Dean and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The Pearl Awards, which are nominated and voted on by members of the FCMA in much the same way as the Grammys, will be presented July 25 during a ceremony held in the Madsen Recital Hall on the Brigham Young University campus.

The awards are exciting and fun, says Madsen, and they complement well the other two missions of the organization — education and service.

"FCMA was organized to unite and provide support for the artists, musicians and service providers," he says. But it also creates opportunities for members to serve within their communities, to mentor young and upcoming musicians, to encourage dialogue among music business professionals, as well as to recognize those who share their skills and talents to create music.

Membership in FCMA is open to anyone interested in music. "Many FCMA members do not create music that is overtly faith-centered in lyrical or musical content, but are faith-centered musicians and artists working in a variety of genres."

The majority of members belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but that is not a requirement, says Madsen. "Anyone who shares our core values is welcome. The LDS community is most active in producing this kind of music, but we hope others might see the value and want to participate."

In fact, one of this year's nominees, Billy Dean, is not a member of the LDS Church (although Marvin Goldstein and Thurl Bailey, with whom he collaborated, are LDS).

And in 2002, two Pearl Awards were given to Kevin Kiner for his soundtrack to "The Other Side of Heaven." "He's Catholic," says Madsen, "and he was very honored."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com