The Music Man Foundation

06/01/2026

Join us at the 5th Annual LA County Arts & Health Week Summit:
📅 June 12, 2026
📍 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Hosted by LA Opera in partnership with Renée Fleming, world-renowned soprano and LA Opera's Special Projects Advisor; Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis, 1st District; the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; and the Jameel Arts and Health Lab, the Summit will explore the intersection of creativity and wellbeing.

"As we look forward to the fifth anniversary of this important summit, we are proud to support LA Opera’s continued efforts to permanently change the way music is embedded in our schools, healthcare system and community," said The Music Man Foundation Executive Director Sarah Lyding.

Remembering this 2024 panel with:
🎺 Renée Fleming
🎺 Sarah Lyding
🎺 Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and bestselling author
🎺 Indre Viskontas, neuroscientist and operatic soprano

📷 Monica Almeida, June 14, 2024

Register now: LAOpera.org/Summit

05/19/2026

Happy birthday, Meredith Willson! The creator of “The Music Man” would have been 124 years old today! 🎂 Celebrating with Miracle Music Man by sharing this new webinar! 🎶 Please check it out!

Join the State Historical Society of Iowa for an online learning series that focuses on the past lives of Iowans. In our recent webinar, author Mark Cabaniss...

05/16/2026

Your next great listen: LA Opera "Behind the Curtain" podcast on how the arts transform healing and promote wellbeing in our communities. 🔊

Featuring, from left to right:
🎤 Kristin Sakoda, director of Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
🎤 Gabriella Reyes, who starred as Maria in LA Opera's "West Side Story"
🎤 Renée Fleming, legendary soprano and arts and health advocate
🎤 Shavonda Webber-Christmas, former director of community benefits at L.A. Care Health Plan
🎤 Sarah Lyding, executive director of The Music Man Foundation

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-arts-and-community-wellness-with-ren%C3%A9e/id1212620844?i=1000745067116

04/15/2026

Every California student deserves access to high-quality arts education. Right now, we have an opportunity to realize that goal with a new donor collaborative.
We're proud to announce the launch of the Arts Ed Accelerator Fund (AEAF)!

Led by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Music Man Foundation, The Herb Alpert Foundation, and Fox Giving — with additional support from the California Community Foundation — AEAF is a new donor collaborative supporting the successful implementation of Proposition 28, the Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) Act.

The early years of AMS Act implementation are a critical window. By aligning philanthropic resources now, we can help schools address near-term implementation challenges while building long-term, sustainable arts education systems for students across California.

Support high-quality arts education in California through the Arts Ed Accelerator Fund, promoting arts and music access in schools with the help of donors and strategic initiatives.

04/07/2026

Join our Executive Director Sarah Lyding as she moderates "Supporting Creative Communities in a Shifting Policy Landscape" at the Southern California Grantmakers 2026 Public Policy Conference on April 16 in Los Angeles!

Featuring:
Veronica Alvarez, Executive Director, Create CA
Julie Baker, CEO, California for the Arts / CA Arts Advocates
Erin Harkey, Chief Executive Officer, Americans for the Arts

About the session:
📣 2025 saw significant shifts across financial, political, and social lines, requiring the arts and culture sector to heighten its advocacy efforts and policy work.
📣 This session will bring together leading state and national arts advocacy voices to discuss the most urgent policy issues shaping the sector today, including public funding and legislative trends, as well as the evolving needs of arts workers, educators, and creative communities.
📣 Attendees will learn where progress is being made, the challenges creative leaders are facing, and how funders can support their efforts.

https://socalgrantmakers.org/events/event-calendar/scgs-2026-public-policy-conference-unify-and-mobilize

03/31/2026

March is Music In Our Schools Month®! Check out The Music Education Advocate Podcast from the National Association for Music Education to honor and support the role of music in all schools.

🎤 Download here:

Tune in today to The Music Education Advocate Podcast, hosted by Jazzmone Sutton, NAfME Senior Manager for State Advocacy and Equity! Each episode features inspiring, real-world conversations with music education advocates from across the country. Listen in as Jazzmone invites guests to share practi...

03/26/2026

Reserve your spot today! Join the CA Arts & Culture Summit on April 19-20, hosted by California for the Arts.

CA for the Arts is excited to announce its flagship ACCM event: the 4th Annual CA Arts & Culture Summit. The Summit will take place on Monday, April 20, 2026, in Sacramento, at both the Memorial Auditorium and the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.

03/24/2026

🎤 New podcast! 🔊 Curious about The Music Man Foundation's approach to supporting systems change? Our Executive Director walks through it in the Catalytic Philanthropy podcast from Exponent Philanthropy.

When board and staff of The Music Man Foundation shifted from funding immediate needs to focusing on long-term systemic change, the foundation went all-in. Engaging partners in open-ended conversations revealed opportunities to integrate music and the arts into the nation's fabric in new and permane...

03/21/2026

Meredith Willson's papers are preserved by the Great American Songbook Foundation! Willson wrote "The Music Man" and "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas." 🎹

Watch to learn about Great American Songbook Founder Michael Feinstein's love for American music. And check out the entire CBS Sunday Morning interview: https://cbsn.ws/4fi3jxZ

03/20/2026

Join our team! We're hiring two temporary positions:
📣 Administrative & Events Coordinator
📣 Database Coordinator

You might be a good fit if you:
✅️ Are highly attentive to detail
✅️ Have strong organizational and multitasking skills
✅️ Share an interest in music, the arts, arts policy, musical theatre, and Meredith Willson’s work!

Learn more: https://www.musicmanfoundation.org/careers