BBK Student with Legacy Award, photo by Taylor Weinberg
(NEW YORK, NY) -- On March 10, 2025, Broadway Bound Kids celebrated its third annual Benefit Concert, Raise Your Voice! The evening included a debut of the inaugural Broadway Bound Legacy Award to its first recipients, Josh Groban and his Find Your Light Foundation (FYL) for their dedication in supporting BBK's mission and work in arts education.
The event featured show-stopping performances by George Abud (Lempicka), Major Attaway (Aladdin, Little Shop of Horrors), Donnie Kehr (Jersey Boys, Billy Elliott), Apollo Levine (MJ the Musical), N’Kenge (Sondheim on Sondheim, Caroline, or Change), and Morgan Reilly (Freestyle Love Supreme) along with Emcee, Jake McKenna (Something Rotten!: The Musical - A Streaming Event) and BBK Teaching Artists and students.
The night began with a rendition of Queen’s – “Don’t Stop Me Now” sung by Donnie Kehr of The Path Fund, a longtime contributor to the BBK Rocks free tuition summer programming, along with Teaching Artists Nick Preziosi, Sam Graham Jones, and BBK Rocks students. Find Your Light Foundation’s Deputy Director, Jake Goldbas and Board Member, Chris Groban accepted the Broadway Bound Legacy Award after a special heartfelt video message of Josh Groban acknowledging the importance of arts education and the need to supply children with accessible avenues to the performing arts.
Donnie Kehr with BBK-Students, photo by Taylor Weinberg
A surprise inspirational video message from Sister Act and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit’s, Sister Mary Roberts actor, Wendy Makkena, entreated the call to support the arts, especially arts education emphasizing the significance in the development of children when exposed to performing arts and bespoke programming tailored to each child’s interest and ability. Following the video, the concert closed with a rendition of Sister Act Jr.’s “Raise Your Voice”, a song about feeling emboldened and empowered to sing out loud echoing the themes of the night.
The fundraiser hit a goal of over $43,000 halfway through the event. The amount surpassed all previous years.
All of the proceeds from Raise Your Voice! went directly toward sustaining and expanding BBK’s free non-profit programs, dedicated to providing access to the arts for all students. Each dollar raised for the event supports BBK’s accessible performing arts programming and community efforts. BBK serves over 1,650 students across all five boroughs, including Community Theater Ensembles, which provide 100% tuition-free access to the arts for middle and high school students.
“We have a lot to celebrate — but as we all know, a lot is at risk. It feels like funding for the arts is very fragile right now. But, we know how to fight, we’ve been doing it all along. We are going to make sure that we continue to be that consistent — that reliable space for our students,” expresses Executive Director, Elizabeth McGuire.
Lizzie McGuire, photo by Taylor Weinberg
Established in 2004, Broadway Bound Kids is a nonprofit that provides performing arts education to young people in a supportive and inclusive environment. They offer Pre-K to 12th-grade students in-school performing arts residencies, community-based workshops, summer programs, master classes with Broadway professionals, full-scale musical productions, and trips to see Broadway shows. They seek to ensure access to the performing arts for all children, regardless of their financial resources. Their teaching methods focus on enhancing technical skills, social-emotional learning, confidence, connection, mindfulness, and creativity.
Social justice is central to their programming and organizational culture. They work to break down societal and financial barriers to the arts for youth, their families, and communities. Broadway Bound Kids seeks to cultivate a diverse community of open hearts and minds amongst the youth of New York City and beyond, enabling every student to realize their full potential on stage and off.
