Our Mission
Music Unites, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is dedicated to bringing music education to underprivileged children in underfunded inner city school systems.
Our goal is to connect people through the universality of music by providing communities with opportunities for a rich musical experience. This is achieved through education programs and by offering established and emerging musicians performance opportunities in a variety of venues and locations, including schools, where they act as mentors to the students.
We also nourish the next generation of performers by providing audiences and performance opportunities, while at the same time enriching the listening experience of the public, allowing them to experience new forms and genres through exposure to an increasingly diverse world of music.
Performance Opportunities
Music Unites will host a series of live performances designed to introduce new audiences to a variety of musical styles and genres and help them cultivate an appreciation for the diversity that exists in our modern society. With a vast network of members in numerous industries, Music Unites has the capabilities to bring together talent, press, and industry professionals, which will provide performance artists with the necessary access to tastemakers, potential benefactors and brands.
Philanthropic Initiatives
The Music Unites Youth Choir
Young Audiences New York presents The Music Unites Youth Choir, a free after-school vocal ensemble, led by Music Director Deepak Marwah, which offers comprehensive programming to a diverse group of teens through the study, creation and presentation of music in an array of styles including R&B, gospel, pop and Western classical. With participants from over a dozen schools, the program provides supplementary music education and promotes self-expression and creativity among its members by developing original choral pieces. The group meets once a week throughout the academic year in preparation for the program’s winter and spring concerts. Along with these culminating events, The MUY Choir performs additional public shows throughout the year at such esteemed venues as Carnegie Hall, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Tribeca Performing Arts Center and The Bronx Zoo. Music Unites aids in programming and hosting educational workshops through an array of special opportunities including panel discussions with industry professionals from organizations such as MTV, Bowery Presents and Epic Records; private performances by recording artists (including John Forte, Jaicko and Reni Lane) and an end-of-year recording session at a New York City studio. Young Audiences New York, with the generous support of Music Unites and The Matisse Foundation, provides the youth choir with the tools and opportunities to envision the role of music in their lives, today and in the future. Along with these culminating events, The MUY Choir performs additional public shows throughout the year at such esteemed venues as Carnegie Hall, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Tribeca Performing Arts Center and The Bronx Zoo.
Empowering Women Through Music
The Empowering Women Through Music initiative will help platform emerging and established female artists and professionals that are determined to give back to their community. The initiative kicked off in March 2010 with an intimate concert featuring Music Unites Ambassador, Melanie Fiona. Music Unites will work with workshops and panels and help create strong effective programs where top executives across industries will share stories and inspire women to work toward their dreams. Women in Music, a dynamic group of music industry professionals, has partnered with Music Unites in this initiative.
Nationwide Instrument Drive
Music Unites will host a series of crossover fundraising showcases partnered with sponsorship donations that will support the Music Unites Instrument Drive and the Five City School Search. These initiatives will be a nationwide campaign to support music education in under-served communities where music programming and instruments are needed. The main objective of this instrument drive is to collect instruments, both donated and those purchased through fundraising, and distribute them to schools throughout the country to support music education programs in local public high schools. Funding for this sustainable program will go towards enhancing teaching capabilities, such as professional development for the performing arts program's staff.
Five City School Search
The Music Unites Five City School Search will launch in five major cities beginning with Chicago and later including New York, LA, Austin, and Boston. Music Unites will provide instruments and music education programming and resources to enable their participation in the music curriculum. Through the Music Unites School Search, the charity will identify five schools that meet this need and void that Music Unites will support. In January 2011, Music Unites launched their Pilot School Program in Chicago by purchasing instruments for the Benito Juarez Community Academy high school. Instruments will continued to be donated to the incoming freshman class and a music curriculum will be developed for the school. The primary focus for 2011 includes raising sufficient funding for all four grades of students along with revamping the music curriculum with the principal, music teachers, and the department of education. The Benito Juarez Community Academy will institute a model program that will be used across the country in five major cities.
Who We Are
With Music Unites, Founder and Executive Director Michelle Edgar aims to foster a lasting and profound love of all musical expression with people from all walks of life.
A lifelong musician herself, Edgar began formal training in classical piano at age five and attended high school at the Manhattan School of Music. After graduating from Northwestern University, where she received training as a concert pianist, she moved back to New York where she was disappointed to find such an electrifying city still segregated by genre, style, and idiom. As a fan of all music—from jazz to rock, classical to hip-hop—she dreamed of an organization that might provide audiences with a unique, inclusive way to experience music in all its hues and flavors. Projects including Blue October, Tamarama, Chester French, Universal Motown records, among other A-list acts planned for the very near future, ranging in diversity. Michelle created Music Unites to support talented artists who are struggling to get their music heard and, in turn, to support communities in need of musical rejuvenation.
The Music Unites team is a talented group of professionals from diverse industries who share a passion for music and a desire to engage, inspire, and connect people. Whether funding a Lincoln Center initiative, partnering with a musician’s charity or launching a music-related school program that gives back to the community, Music Unites aspires to become that trusted, reliable friend and patron of the music community.
Who We Work With
Board of Directors
David M. Ehrlich, Esq.
Of Counsel at the law firm of Abrams Garfinkel Margolis & Bergson, LLP.
Roy Edmondson
Partner, Global Brand Development Director of Ketchum
Kim Seth, Ph.D
Executive Director, Research Investments; Development & Strategic Operations of Pfizer Worldwide R&D
Randy Spendlove
President of Paramount Music, is a record producer and Grammy Award winner who oversees all aspects of music for Paramount Pictures.
Jerry Tokofsky
Motion Picture Executive, is a former VP of Production Columbia Pictures,VP of Production at Paramount Pictures, and VP of MGM films foreign and LA.
Ron Glickman
Managing Director, Chardan Capital Markets an international investment bank with offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, and Sydney. Former Board member of NY Chamber Symphony.
Ed Chapman
Chief Executive Officer, Marchesa Holdings LLC
