Bio : Music Will

Music Will is the largest nonprofit music education program for schools in the United States. Since 2002, we have provided teacher training, curriculum, and instruments to over 6,000 schools across all 50 states, impacting over 1.8 million students to date. Our mission is to transform lives by transforming music education, while making it equitable and accessible to all students. Music Will's inclusive modern band curriculum is as diverse as the students we serve, spanning a wide range of genres, including rock, hip-hop, pop, R&B, Latin, country, and more. The program's inception dates back to 1996 when Dave Wish, a first-grade teacher in East Palo Alto, CA, began giving free guitar lessons to his students in response to the lack of a formal music education program at his school. What started in one elementary school in a single city has spawned a national movement, expanding to more than 1,000 school districts nationwide. Through partnerships with teachers, districts, departments of education, and industry leaders, we’re expanding opportunities for students to engage in music programs that reflect their diversity and interests. Our collaboration with over 100 colleges and universities also ensures future teachers are prepared to foster student-led, culturally responsive learning from day one.
Over the next five years, Music Will aims to impact 11 million students annually through our direct programs and Music as a Second Language® pedagogy. Learn more at musicwill.org.

 

Dave Wish
Founder & Chief Visionary Officer

Fueled by his belief that all people are innately musical, Dave Wish founded Music Will, a nonprofit organization that funds and runs one of the largest instrumental and vocal music programs in US public schools today. Music Will is also a leading provider of free instruments and curriculum. Dave has initiated and managed the launch of campaigns to restore, expand and innovate music education for more than 1,000,000 children in 44 states.

While working as a public school teacher in California, Dave developed a revolutionary new approach to teaching music known as “Music as a Second Language.” Today, dozens of colleges and universities across the United States use Music as a Second Language in their music education programs. This methodology focuses on the linguistic aspects of music and focuses heavily on teaching children to play the music that they already know and love. By utilizing music that is culturally relevant and sustaining for youth, this approach brings greater equity and inclusivity into music classrooms.

In 2008, Dave conceived and launched a new type of school-based music program known as “modern band.” Modern band is a new category of instrumental, vocal, technological, and performative music education that is offered alongside existing programs such as jazz band, marching band, and orchestra. Since that time, modern band programs have been written into the music curriculum of school districts across the country, and a number of state departments of education have partnered with Music Will to make modern band a statewide feature of their educational offerings.

As a recognized social entrepreneur, Dave has been awarded numerous honors for his work in the field, including prestigious fellowships from Ashoka, The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, The Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation, and The Goldhirsh Foundation, as well as receiving the 2014 New Jersey State Governor’s Jeffersonian Awards in the ‘Ambassador’ category for his exemplary volunteer service beyond the borders of New Jersey.

Dave’s work has been highlighted by national and local media outlets including The New York Times, CNN Headline News, Time Magazine, MTV, A&E, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Dr. Phil Show, and National Public Radio. He has also been a speaker at the LEGO Idea Conference, Imagine Solutions Conference, Social Innovation Summit, TEDxSantaCruz, and the Net Impact Conference.

Dave is active in the broader field of music education. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, the Governance Committee of Amp Up NYC as well as the Advisory Boards of SpreadMusicNow and Oberlin’s Music in America Initiative.

Music will always be here for – all of us – as close as our own breathing and as steady as our beating hearts.

 

Janice Polizzotto

Chief Relationship Officer

Janice Polizzotto joined Music Will in 2017 and brings more than 25 years of experience working in both the private and public sectors with an emphasis on social impact, nonprofit management, fundraising, event planning, and strategic partnerships.

As the former Interim Chief Executive Officer of Music Will, Janice managed the organization’s operations by delegating and directing goals and objectives, supporting revenue generation to achieve financial sustainability, managing organizational structure and strategy and communicating with the board. She’s also forging new relationships with major donors and partners and stewarding educational leaders to support the organization’s continued growth and expansion.

Janice’s years of experience in start-up ventures, corporate philanthropy, fundraising, strategic partnerships and stewardship will serve to further the impact and mission of Music Will.

Prior to Music Will, she held a senior management position as Vice President, Social Impact & Public Affairs with CBS EcoMedia, directing strategic partnerships and national programs. Janice also founded two successful endeavors, Social Wisdom and The Polizzotto Group, with clients including Niagara Bottling, Volunteers of America, Uncle Kory Foundation, Toy Industry Association, Toy Industry Foundation, White Plains Hospital, California Pizza Kitchen, Weingart Center, and Little Company of Mary Hospital. Janice also served as the inaugural Executive Director of Children Affected by AIDS Foundation which later merged with Keep A Child Alive.

Janice began her professional career in corporate philanthropy with American Honda Foundation and later Mattel Children’s Foundation, where she was instrumental in redesigning the foundation’s philanthropy and expanding its activities overseas.

Janice currently lives in Hermosa Beach, CA with her husband Daniel. As recent empty-nesters, they enjoy traveling, entertaining, and relaxing on the sandy beaches of the South Bay…oh, and music, too!