Non Profit’s Tentpole Campaign Centers On Awareness For The Importance of Nationwide Music Education
CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, February 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Let Music Fill My World, the nonprofit founded by GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting and Cayley Tull of the Tullman Family Office, is thrilled to announce the return of their annual “Music Matters Challenge” campaign launching on February 19th. The pair founded the non-profit organization with the purpose of ensuring that every student—regardless of ZIP code—has access to high-quality music education and the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The online challenge invites individuals and schools across the country to create an original rendition of the chorus of the song“Let Music Fill My World” along with sharing a personal story about how music has positively influenced their lives. The song was originally written and recorded by students from the Farragut Career Academy in Chicago. Through this initiative, Farragut received funding for a full-time music educator for three years—igniting creativity, amplifying student voices, and opening the door for people everywhere to celebrate the lasting power of music to inspire, connect, and change lives.
“The Music Matters Challenge is more than just a campaign—it’s become a movement that shows how powerful music education can be. In just a few years it’s grown into a national conversation about the value of music in our communities and the role it can play in shaping our future. We look forward to further expanding the Challenge, reaching new audiences, and allowing music to impact even more lives across the country” – Cayley Tull, co-founder of Let Music Fill My World and President of Tullman Family Office.
Research consistently shows that expanding access to arts education delivers powerful academic, behavioral, and social-emotional benefits. Students with greater exposure to the arts experience fewer disciplinary incidents, stronger writing skills, and increased empathy, as well as higher engagement, motivation, and aspirations for college. Despite this evidence, arts programs remain among the first to be cut, which is why the Music Matters Challenge pairs storytelling, creativity, and sustainable investment to help restore music education where it’s needed most.
Two Grand Prize winners will be awarded–one for individual entries: $10,000 in cash, plus the opportunity to participate in selecting a music teacher for an under-resourced school to receive a salary of up to $300,000 for three years; and one for school entries, where the winning school receives a $25,000 school grant. The top 10 winners will be selected through a panel of esteemed judges, including Ondrasik, Tull, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, indie pop-star Tiger La Flor, and others yet to be announced.
2025 Individual Winner, Ramón Campos, helped select an under-resourced school to receive a three-year, $300,000 music teacher salary grant, restoring access to music education for students who had gone years without any program. Since winning, Ramón has been selected for a young classical musicians fellowship, earned a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, and attended Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 National Youth Orchestra summer program.
2025 School Winner, Mozart Elementary School, spearheaded by music educator Louis Frank, led a school-wide, multi-grade submission involving nearly 160 students at Mozart Elementary School in Boston. The school’s $25,000 grant has already supported live performance experiences for students and instructional technology to expand music education capacity.
The 2026 Challenge will follow the same submission process, allowing 5 individual entries and 5 school entries to be selected by the judging panel for the finals, and voted on by the general public. This year’s submission period will run through May 1, 2026, followed by Grand Prize winners to be announced the week of May 18th 2026.
Full details about the Music Matters Challenge and how to participate are available by visiting https://letmusicfillmyworld.org/ or following along on social media at @letmusicfillmyworld
Michael Corrigan
MCPR
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