A Holiday High Note: $4 Million in Grants to Music and Arts Nonprofits

“It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” for nonprofits receiving $4 million in grants from The Music Man Foundation

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, December 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The holiday season just got a little brighter as The Music Man Foundation announced $4 million in awards to 26 organizations and announced an opportunity for nonprofits to apply for up to $2 million in new grants.

The Music Man Foundation is named for the Tony Award-winning musical “The Music Man,” written by Meredith Willson, who also wrote “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” in 1951.

“As an artist legacy foundation honoring Meredith Willson, the Foundation is proud to amplify the work of these 26 organizations. We celebrate the vast variety of their efforts including advocating for public funding for the arts, supporting veterans with PTSD, implementing creative aging programs for older adults, increasing awareness about the health benefits of the arts, and advancing equity in classical music. These organizations are having a major impact on communities through music, both locally and nationally,” said Sarah Lyding, executive director of The Music Man Foundation.

General Operating Grants
Meredith Willson Awards support nonprofits with the capacity to permanently change the way music is embedded in our schools, health care system, and community. A total of $2 million in two-year grants were awarded to CreatiVets, Equity Arc, Lead Guitar, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, Music Will, National Council for the Traditional Arts, and Sphinx.

Advocacy Grants
Additionally, $1.35 million was awarded to initiatives aiming to increase public funding for the arts and promote policies that affirm the value of the arts in our society. Americans for the Arts, Arts Education Partnership, Arts for LA, Chorus America, Create CA, Creative States Coalition, Creative West, Grantmakers in the Arts, Lifetime Arts, National Association for Music Education, and National Guild for Community Arts Education received funding.

Arts & Health Grants
The Foundation awarded $400,000 to organizations making significant strides in building social prescribing models (in which health care professionals write prescriptions for engagement in the arts and nature to improve health and wellbeing), as well as convening the growing field of professionals working at the intersection of arts and health. Funding went to Jameel Arts & Health Lab at NYU Steinhardt, host of the annual Healing Arts Week held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center, co-host of the 2025 Creating Healthy Communities Convening.

Meredith Willson Legacy Grants: Nurturing a Legacy and Seeding New Legacies
Five organizations nurturing new musical theatre artists and new musical theatre works received $250,000: American Theatre Wing, Maestra Music, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences USA, and The ASCAP Foundation. Mason City Foundation will also receive funding to support preservation in Meredith Willson’s hometown, which inspired “The Music Man” musical.

2026 Grant Opportunity
The Music Man Foundation also announced the opportunity for nonprofits to apply for up to $2 million in new grants for the 2026 Southern California Meredith Willson Awards. Two-year grants, ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, will provide general operating support to five to ten music organizations. Nonprofits in Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties are eligible to apply starting today. Visit https://musicmanfoundation.org for more information.

About The Music Man Foundation
The Music Man Foundation is named after the Tony Award-winning musical written by Meredith Willson. Meredith’s widow, Rosemary, started the Foundation in 1998 as The Meredith and Rosemary Willson Charitable Foundation. Today, the Foundation donates 100% of profits from licensing royalties to organizations using music to catalyze enduring change and to amplify our founders’ musical legacy. Over the last decade, the Foundation has awarded more than $25 million to 85 organizations. In addition to “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” and “The Music Man,” Meredith Willson wrote the music for “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and the University of Iowa fight song. Visit https://musicmanfoundation.org for more information.

Nerissa Silao
Haines & Co.
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