Music Will Announces 15th Annual Benefit On May 2nd At The Novo In Los Angeles, CA

Event Honors Tony-Award-winning Singer/Actress/Philanthropist Idina Menzel, Influential Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter/Activist Tom Morello, Grammy Award winning Songwriter/Producer/Recording Artist Babyface 

Musical Direction from Michael Bearden (Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston)

Benefit Supports Music Will’s Mission to Transform Young Lives Through Innovative, Multi-Genre Music Education Programs in Public Schools

April 10, 2023---Music Will (formerly Little Kids Rock), the largest non-profit music education program for schools in the United States,---will hold its annual benefit on May 2nd at The Novo in Los Angeles. This year, Music Will is proud to honor Tony-Award-winning, powerhouse multi-hyphenate Idina Menzel, iconic guitarist/songwriter/activist Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman) and music legend and 12-time Grammy Award winner Babyface, with music direction from Michael Bearden (Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston).

Each of this year’s honorees will also be expanding Music Will’s programming in local schools — Babyface will be focused on launching programs in his hometown of Indianapolis while Tom Morello has split his 20 schools between Chicago and LA, and Idina Menzel will be splitting between schools in NY and LA.

Read more at Variety: 

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/idina-menzel-tom-morello-babyface-music-will-1235577216/

Presented by the Hot Topic Foundation, the annual May benefit will feature special guest performances to be announced, along with a silent online auction, and remarks from key artistic and business supporters. The benefit will provide essential funding for Music Will’s ongoing mission to provide teacher training, diverse curriculum, and free musical instruments to students---connecting them with the music that ignites their interest. Over one million young people across the U.S. have been impacted by the organization’s programs to date.

The Music Will annual benefit committee includes Richard Foos (Founder, Rhino Records and Shout! Factory), Craig Kallman (CEO, Atlantic Records), Gregory Hall (Managing Director & Head of U.S. Global Wealth Management, Pimco) and Ken Umezaki (CEO, Verifi Media) The event is produced by MBM Entertainment and emceed by xxx and xxx. Tickets are available at www.musicwill.org/benefit and bids for the benefit’s silent auction items---including one-of-a-kind donations from music icons---can be submitted on the Music Will website.

“We are thrilled to present our first benefit under our new name, Music Will, and to bring our mission to Los Angeles on May 2nd," says Janice Polizzotto, Music Will Interim CEO. 

“At Music Will, we are committed to driving meaningful, systemic change in the field of music education, with a focus on equity and access for all students. We are grateful for the unwavering support of teachers, school districts, local and state governments, corporations, and private philanthropists who share this vision. Additionally, we are delighted to have the ongoing support of leading contemporary talent who personally relate to the value of the unique music programs we offer to young people in all 50 states. With their support, we have been able to witness the positive impact our work has on children from diverse backgrounds, and we are proud to be making a difference in the lives of young people across the country." 

Music Will’s annual benefit events have continually attracted an exciting range of top artists. Past honorees have included Bonnie Raitt, Smokey Robinson, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes, Usher, Steven Van Zandt, Mavis Staples, Joan Jett, Trombone Shorty, Wiz Khalifa, and Clarence Clemmons, among others. Renowned performers and presenters have included Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Carlos Santana, Yo-Yo Ma, Brian Wilson, Jack Black, Graham Nash, Steve Miller, Todd Rundgren, Alice Merton, Darryl McDaniels (Run-D.M.C.), Harry Connick, Jr., and more. Special guest appearances have featured comedians David Letterman and Tracy Morgan.

Of their past galas, Rolling Stone has described Music Will benefits as “raucous and celebratory,” and Billboard noted past speakers are “intent on asserting the value of music not only as art, but as a key to communication, a crucial part of human nature, a cornerstone of democracy.” 

Since Music Will was founded in 2002, its mission has remained steadfast while the population it serves has grown exponentially. It is now the largest non-profit music program in U.S. public schools. With a vision that music education should be as diverse as the people it serves, the organization rebranded in 2022 with its new name, reflecting service to kids of all ages, across all genres of music.

About Music Will 

Music Will runs the largest nonprofit music program in the U.S. public school system. Its teachers currently serve over 500,000 students in more than 600 cities and towns across the country. They believe that music education is a right, not a privilege, and it should reflect the cultures of the students it serves. That’s why, for two decades now, their programs have taught students such popular American genres as rock, pop, R&B, Latin, rap and country—alongside styles already taught in schools, such as classical and jazz. Today, a national network of K-12 districts has adopted the Music Will program as their own. Additionally, more than 70 colleges and universities now use their approach to music education majors. Several state departments of education have partnered with Music Will to grow music education in the schools they serve. Its mission of transforming lives by transforming music education has grown into a movement.

Music Will began as an informal effort by former Palo Alto schoolteacher, Dave Wish, who was frustrated by the lack of music programming in his school. Borrowing from friends and scouring area flea markets for instruments, he began offering free guitar classes after school using the popular music the students wanted to play. Many school teachers in Dave’s area were inspired by his program’s incredible impact, so he began offering training to help them start their own music classes. He coined the term "modern band" to describe his unique curriculum, later publishing Modern Band Method textbooks with Hal Leonard. Dave left the classroom in 2002 to found “Little Kids Rock,” the nonprofit that became Music Will in 2022. In 2023, Dave took on the new role of Chief Visionary Officer, focusing on strategy and organizational evangelism.

About Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel is a Tony-Award winning, powerhouse multi-hyphenate: a singer, an actress in film and TV, a songwriter, a Broadway star, and a philanthropist. She rose to fame for her role as Maureen in the popular Broadway musical Rent, and her career took off when she won a Tony Award for her role as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the smash musical Wicked. Her voice can be heard as Elsa in Disney’s Oscar® winning Frozen, the second highest grossing animated films of all time, with more than $1.2 billion in worldwide box office revenue. The film’s song “Let It Go”, voiced by Menzel, became an instant international phenomenon, winning the Oscar® for Best Original Song – where Menzel performed it at the ceremony – and the Grammy® Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The track reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Menzel the first artist with both a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting.

A skillful songwriter, Menzel’s prolific recording career includes multiple cast albums and the solo albums: Still I Can’t Be Still, Here, I Stand, idina, and her latest album, Christmas: A Season of Love, which was released October 2019 via Schoolboy Records/Decca Records, US. Produced by veteran A&R legend Ron Fair (Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, The Pussycat Dolls, Keyshia Cole, Vanessa Carlton, Fantasia), the album features Ariana Grande, Billy Porter, Josh Gad and Idina’s husband, Aaron Lohr. Christmas: A Season of Love is the second holiday album from Menzel, following her October 2014 release of Holiday Wishes, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Holiday Albums chart and gave Menzel a Top 10 album on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. Her third studio LP of original songs, idina, landed in the Top 30 on Billboard’s Top 200 charts upon its release in 2016. Menzel received the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at Billboard’s annual Women in Music event in 2014 and performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLIX. Philanthropy is also important to Menzel, who co-founded the A BroaderWay Foundation in 2010. The organization is dedicated to offering girls from underserved communities an outlet for self-expression and creativity through arts-centered programs. The emphasis is on building self-esteem, developing leadership qualities and striving for personal and social achievement. In 2014, Menzel was recognized as one of Variety’s Power of Women honorees for her work with the organization.

About Tom Morello

Tom Morello is living proof of the transformative power of rock’n’roll. Known for his innovative guitar solos and thunderous chords, Morello is a groundbreaking artist whether in his solo career or as an original member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two acts responsible for multiple Grammy Awards and a combined 30 million albums sold worldwide. His trademark style -- elastic slapping, atmospheric distortion, and effects that resembled turntable scratching -- was a crucial component of Rage Against the Machine's rap-metal sonic attack in the late '90s, helping launch Morello and the band to Grammy-winning, multi-platinum success and leading to his recognition by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time” (#26). Outside of that influential outfit, Morello's signature guitar could be heard in supergroups Prophets of Rage, and Street Sweeper Social Club. Additionally, Morello is a vocal political activist and solo artist who first performed as the Nightwatchman before using his given name for projects like 2021's companion albums The Atlas Underground Fire and The Atlas Underground Flood. 

“I’ve been devoted both musically and as an activist to fighting injustice at every turn,” says Morello. “Amid this heightened sense of impending doom, it’s now time to rally the troops in a last-ditch effort to save the planet, and our artistic souls. By challenging the boundaries of what music is and has sounded like before, you can open people’s eyes to changing the status quo in society.”

About Babyface

Babyface is a 12-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, producer, and one of the most celebrated creative forces in music history. He is the only producer to win the ‘Producer of the Year’ category four times, three times in consecutive years---a record he holds to this day. Babyface is also co-founder of the legendary record label LaFace, which launched the careers of artists like Usher, Toni Braxton, TLC, Outkast, and Pink. From humble beginnings in Indianapolis, Babyface developed his love for music early on when he began songwriting at the age of 12. Upon graduating high school, he was signed to his first record deal after joining the band Manchild. In the 1980s, he broke into the music world as guitarist and songwriter for R&B band The Deele, where he met future LaFace co-founder LA Reid. Over the years Babyface has contributed to over 800 million records sold and over a billion records streamed. He has produced and written 125 Top 10 Hits, 44 #1 R&B hits, and 16 #1 pop hits. In addition to winning a total of 12 Grammys, he has been nominated 80 times. Throughout his career, Babyface has won the BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year trophy seven times, received a total of 51 BMI Awards, as well as four American Music Awards, five Soul Train Awards, and five NAACP Image awards. He also produced and co-wrote the Oscar-winning song “When You Believe,” sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Earlier this year Babyface released the Extended version of his Capitol Records debut album Girls Night Out which features Ella Mai, Queen Naija, Ari Lennox, Kehlani, Doechii and many others. The album was produced by Babyface and co-produced by Rika Tischendorf.

www.babyfacemusic.com

Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/TikTok/YouTube: @Babyface

For more information please contact Rebecca Shapiro or Grace Fleisher at Shore Fire Media at rshapiro@shorefire.com or gfleisher@shorefire.com.