T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello at Music Will benefit gala, photo by David Kindler

Legendary musicians and the students following in their footsteps shared the stage last night at Music Will’s 2026 benefit gala. Continuing a 24-year tradition, the largest nonprofit music education program for schools in the United States honored T Bone Burnett, Master P, Maren Morris and Bruce Eskowitz with stirring speeches and performances. Through an auction and an inspiring number of direct donations, the benefit surpassed its aim of raising one million dollars, bringing Music Will closer to its goal of reaching 12 million students by 2030.

Once the crowd of donors, music educators and other guests filed in from the red carpet to the New York Marriott Marquis’ Broadway Ballroom, the house lights dimmed to spotlight the first performers: a group of students from The Bronx’s TAPCo elementary school, who set off the show with a ukelele chorus cover of John Legend and Common’s “Glory.”

N’Kenge, the evening’s host and celebrated song stylist, welcomed the audience with a shout-out to the native New Yorkers in the room and testimony about her own transformative music education experience. To introduce the evening’s program, she joined Music Director Michael Bearden and his house band, the Big Time All-Stars, for a take on Cab Calloway’s “Hi De Ho Man,” with verses committed to each honoree and a sing-along chorus, then called up Music Will CEO Mike Wasserman.

In his opening address, Wasserman expressed his gratitude and shared first-hand accounts of how music education can change young people’s lives. Looking back on a recent trip to visit schools in Nashville, he established central themes for the event by distilling what students had told him – and what several would express through the course of the program: “Music [gave] them confidence, belief in themselves, and a reason to show up at school when they might not find that anywhere else.”

Wyclef Jean, an Honorary Benefit Chair and 2025 Music Will Honoree, stood behind the podium next to welcome another student group, a guitar ensemble of TAPCo students and a vocalist, Dylan, who led the band through an enthralling cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Can’t Stop” and later took a moment to express that Music Will “allows me to train like professional. Working hard together has been amazing… This is something I will truly value for the rest of my life.” After the auction, Bearden and the Big Time All-Stars whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a Motown medley as student performers danced through the tables.

When legendary rapper and No Limit Records founder Master P took the stage to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, he voiced how early encounters with music helped him believe in his limitless potential. “These kids inspire me and are mastering their future,” he shared, then cleared a lane for two Passaic Prep Academy students, who brought the crowd to its feet with the verses they’d written in collaboration with the hip-hop mogul for his stone-cold classic “Make ‘Em Say Uhh.”

In an undeniable testament to his influence, Red Light Management COO Eskowitz’s acceptance of the inaugural Music Icon Award was preceded by personal stories from Nile Rogers, Coran Capshaw and, by video, Lionel Richie. When Elvis Costello followed to introduce his old friend and longtime collaborator Burnett, he lovingly referred to him as “Henry [Coward], my taller, smarter, more successful brother… Each encounter that I’ve had in his company has given me something.”

Addressing the crowd to accept his Cultural Impact Award, Burnett delivered a curious, galvanizing speech that expressed just why he’s committed a lifetime to creating music – “the language beneath all other language.”

“As you know, our bodies are made up of about 60% water,” he observed. “If you’ve seen how music reorganizes water, then you realize how music reorganizes our bodies on a quantum level.  These are the stakes that musicians are playing for. The music we have created in the United States is our most profound contribution to the world. It is exponentially more powerful than all the sadistic weapons we have created. We have spread out ideas of liberty and innovation around the world with the soft power of American music. One of the worst mistakes that the United States has made is to take the arts out of our education.”

Burnett demonstrated his gratitude for Music Will’s mission and the affective power of music through an intimate acoustic performance backed by three acclaimed returning collaborators and peers in the “school of Dylan,” Amy Helm (mandolin), Larry Campbell (violin) and Tony Garnier (upright bass). On vocals and guitar, Burnett led the quartet through his 1991 essential “Humans from Earth,” which resounded potently in light of his speech and embodied the deliberate candor and immediacy that runs through his discography. With “Everything and Nothing,” a standout from his 2024 album The Other Side, Burnett emphasized tenderness and contradiction – a more sympathetic side of the human condition.

Morris was the final honoree to take the stage; her entrance was heralded by friend and educator Karina Argow, who spoke to the country-pop trailblazer’s deeply held commitment to supporting youth music education programs. Visibly moved by the experience and its connection to her early opportunities to learn music, Morris said that as the students played, “I felt like I was watching myself onstage.” After accepting her Creative Dreamers Award, she closed the show on a resounding high note with anthemic treatments of “The Bones” and “My Church.”

“Twenty-four years ago, Music Will began with a simple belief: when young people have the opportunity to channel their creativity and make the music they love, music can become a place of belonging, a confidence-builder, and a form of self-expression,” Wasserman reflected in a press release. “Tonight was a powerful reminder of that promise, and we are deeply grateful to our honorees, performers, educators, supporters, and of course our student musicians. The support raised through this event enables our programs to reach 1.4 million students this year alone, with a goal to bring music, joy, and opportunity to tens of millions of students in the years ahead.”

Learn more about Music Will and support its mission of bringing equitable and accessible music education to students across the country at musicwill.org. Get an inside look at the 2026 benefit gala in the gallery below, courtesy of photographers David Kindler and Brian Mantle.