Save The Music Raises More Than $400,000 at Its Seventh Annual Nashville Benefit
Amy Grant, Chris Isaak, Nat Zilkha, and Cesar Gueikian were honored as Champions of the Year at the “Hometown to Hometown” event supporting public school music programs.
Music industry artists, songwriters, and executives packed City Winery Nashville on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, for the seventh annual “Hometown to Hometown” benefit from Save The Music. The evening raised more than $400,000 to fund music education programs in under-resourced public high schools. That is more than the roughly $300,000 raised in 2024 and the more than $250,000 raised last year.
The 2026 Champions of the Year
Save The Music honored four music figures as its 2026 Champions of the Year. The structure of the night is what gives it its name. Each honoree picks a hometown community, and the money raised supports public school programs there.
- Amy Grant: The Christian and pop music star, a Nashville fixture for decades, is supporting schools in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Chris Isaak: The singer-songwriter behind “Wicked Game” is supporting schools in his hometown of Hayward, California.
- Nat Zilkha: The co-founder and executive chairman of Firebird Music is supporting schools in New York City.
- Cesar Gueikian: The former CEO of Gibson is also supporting schools in New York City.
The mix of honorees reflects how the benefit works. Artists and executives are recognized together, and each one is tied to a real community that will receive grants.
The Performances
Music executive Leslie Fram and singer Julie Williams co-hosted the evening. The concert featured live sets from Williams, Amy Grant, Chris Isaak, and Amanda Shires. Fram is a Save The Music regular who has helped lead the Nashville event, and she was herself an honoree at the 2023 edition.
How “Hometown to Hometown” Grew
The event began in Nashville on February 13, 2020, as a partnership between Save The Music and SongFarm.org. The first edition rallied the city’s songwriting and producing community and raised over $200,000 for new music technology programs in public high schools. The pandemic moved the second edition online in May 2021, and the third took place in April 2022 at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, honoring songwriters Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.
In June 2023, the fourth edition honored Leslie Fram, Mickey Guyton, and Trisha Yearwood. The fifth, held October 15, 2024, at City Winery, raised more than $300,000 and honored Maren Morris, Brittney Spencer, and Live Nation Women’s Ali Harnell. The sixth, on November 11, 2025, raised more than $250,000 and honored Old Dominion, Lee Ann Womack, and mtheory CEO Cameo Carlson, with funds directed to programs in Nashville, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.
Each year, students and teachers from grant-recipient schools take the stage to describe what the money has done. At the 2024 event, educators and students from James Lawson High School in Nashville shared how their music technology grant has changed the school, and at the 2025 event, students from Johnson Alternative Learning Center spoke about a J Dilla Music Technology Grant that gave them podcasting and production tools.
About Save The Music
Save The Music Foundation was founded in 1997 by MTV executive John Sykes, with the goal of restoring music education in public schools. Its core belief is that every child deserves access to music. Today it provides instruments, music technology, and other educational resources to schools that have little or none, and it works with partners across the music industry, including Gibson Gives and SiriusXM.
The Nashville benefit has raised nearly $1.7 million to date, according to the organization, and the funds have helped provide instruments, music technology, and educational resources to 21 public schools across the country. This year’s total of more than $400,000 will add to that, and the money will go to the honorees’ chosen cities.
More information on the foundation’s programs and how to get involved is available at savethemusic.org.
