Month: June 2026

CLEVELAND, OH (June 2026) — The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning (CAL) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are once again joining forces to expand access to music education for Cleveland youth through the 2026 Play It Forward!® Cleveland Instrument Drive.

Community members are invited to support the effort by donating new or gently used musical instruments at Fam Jam on Saturday, June 20, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1100 E. 9th Street, Cleveland. Fam Jam, part of the Rock Hall’s annual free Rock the Block Community Events presented by the John P. Murphy Foundation, features family-friendly activities, live performances, and community organizations from across Northeast Ohio.

CAL is seeking donations of acoustic guitars, violins, keyboards (excluding large pianos), and drums or percussion instruments, including specific drums such as djembe and timbau. Instruments can be dropped off at the event, and donors are encouraged to complete a short form and share the story behind their instrument. The pre-event donation form and more details are available at arts-inspiredlearning.org/play-it-forward-instrument-drive.

As part of Fam Jam, youth participating in CAL’s Summer 2026 Inspiration Through Music camp will perform around 1:15 p.m., showcasing the progress they’ve made and demonstrating the direct impact of instrument donations in providing meaningful music education opportunities.

Now entering another year of impact, Play It Forward!® Cleveland supports CAL’s Inspiration Through Music program, which offers free, year-round music instruction to Cleveland residents and Cleveland Metropolitan School District students in grades 3–12. Through lessons in guitar, violin, percussion, keyboard, and ensemble, the program helps young people develop musical skills, confidence, discipline, and self-expression while removing financial barriers to participation.

Thanks to the generosity of community supporters, the 2025 instrument drive collected more than 40 instruments, now actively used by young musicians in the program. The 2026 drive aims to build on that momentum, ensuring even more youth have access to the instruments they need to learn and grow.

Play It Forward!® Cleveland 2026 Instrument Drive is made possible through the support of: 10,000 Watts of Holy Light, Assembly for the Arts, City of Cleveland, including the Mayor’s Office of Prevention, Intervention, and Opportunity for Youth and Young Adults, Cleveland City Council, including Councilman Kevin Conwell, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, IKE Smart City, John J. Adams Scholarship Fund, Ohio Arts Council, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Together, these partnerships help ensure that every young person has the opportunity to discover their voice, build confidence, and experience the transformative power of music.

About Assembly for the Arts

Assembly for the Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a focus on advocacy, cultural policy, racial equity initiatives, research, marketing that elevates the region, and services for nonprofits, artists, and creative businesses. Assembly by design operates in close partnership with Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, a government agency and Assembly for Action, a 501(c)4 political action nonprofit to serve the entire creative sector. Learn more here: https://assemblycle.org

About the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning

The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning (CAL) was founded in 1953 as Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland by George Szell of The Cleveland Orchestra, launching as a concert series to bring live music directly into schools. Since then, CAL has grown beyond concerts to provide hands-on creative learning experiences across dance, theater, music, visual arts, digital arts, and more. In 2013, the organization changed its name to Center for Arts-Inspired Learning to reflect this expanded focus on engaging youth through the arts to support learning, growth, and opportunity across Northeast Ohio. Today, CAL partners with 70+ professional teaching artists to bring arts-based learning that is academically enriching and personally empowering to youth in PreK–12th grade. Our programs take place in schools, recreation centers, houses of worship, and other youth-centered spaces, reaching thousands of young people each year. We are committed to creating accessible and inclusive opportunities for all youth, helping them realize their full potential, and making a lasting impact on their lives and the communities we serve. Through these experiences, youth build critical thinking, creativity, and social emotional skills needed to thrive in school and beyond. Learn more here: https://arts-inspiredlearning.org

About the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

In 1985, when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was deciding where to open its physical museum, Cleveland threw its hat into the ring for consideration. Thanks to a groundswell of public support and a $65 million commitment from city officials, the Foundation chose Cleveland as the winning site, over locales such as New York, San Francisco, Memphis and Chicago. Needless to say, the Rock Hall’s construction was cooler than most. On June 7, 1993, the Who’s Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips, and Ruth Brown (to name a few) attended the Cleveland groundbreaking ceremony, while Jerry Lee Lewis performed a year later when the building was finished off with the placement of one last steel beam.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame threw open its doors on September 2, 1995, and celebrated with a blockbuster benefit concert at nearby Cleveland Municipal Stadium. This marathon show featured once-in-a-lifetime pairings and performances by greats such as James Brown, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and Booker T. and the M.G.s. Besides the Municipal Stadium concert, the Rock Hall’s festive opening weekend featured a downtown Cleveland parade and a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Little Richard and Yoko Ono. Learn more here: https://rockhall.com/