Full Lineup Announced for Challenge Accepted 2026
Kate Rockwell, Steven Huynh, Oluchi Nwaokorie, Mayelah Barrera and More to Join the Lineup for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! A Concert Presenting the Winners of the 2025-2026 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students Broadway Stars Premiere Winning Songs in Concert on June 15 in NYC; Watch at arts.gov and namt.org Washington, DC and New York, NY— The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, returns to the stage with CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!, a concert celebrating the winning songs by high school songwriters from across the country. Musical theater fans will have the chance to see these fully orchestrated arrangements performed by Broadway artists Kate Rockwell, Steven Huynh, Oluchi Nwaokorie, Mayelah Barrera and more on June 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET at New World Stages in New York City. The concert will also be available through a livestream at arts.gov/songwriting and namt.org/challenge. The Winning Student Songwriters The 2025-2026 winners represent seven states and were selected by a panel of leaders in the musical theater field from 109 submissions: (grades and schools are as of the 2025-2026 school year) Izzy Burris, an 11th grade student from Carlsbad, California Rett Bush, a 12th grade student from Johns Creek, Georgia Issac Goodman, a 10th grade student from Cambridge, Massachusetts Liam Liang, an 11th grade student from Harvard, Massachusetts Merissa Moore, a 12th grade student from Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania James Pumphrey, a 12th grade student from Minneapolis, Minnesota Cameron Steele, a 10th grade student Leesburg, Virginia Elaina Stuppler, a 12th grade student from Lake Grove, Oregon Broadway Stars Perform Winning Songs Excerpts of the winning song submissions and more information about the winners are available here. Winning students will soon come to New York City where they will work with mentors and musicians to hone their fully orchestrated pieces while learning about process, technique and production. The final compositions will be performed by Broadway artists in a concert at New World Stages in New York City on Monday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. ET, also available to watch live and on-demand at arts.gov/songwriting and namt.org/challenge. In addition, each winning student will receive a scholarship of $2,500, provided by the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation. The 2026 Music Team is overseen by Music Supervisor Dylan Glatthorn and Music Director Anessa Marie Scolpini. The winning songs are orchestrated by Faye Chiao, Teresa Lotz and Anessa Marie Scolpini. The winning students are mentored by Rebecca Hart, Rob Rokicki and Melvin Tunstall III. The concert casting director is Michael Cassara, CSA. More information about the Songwriting Challenge mentors is available here. At the June 15 concert, each student songwriter and their mentor will premiere the winning songs, which will then be performed by a cast featuring: Mayelah Barrera (ROJA) Matt Copley (Broadway Goes Punk) Steven Huynh (Maybe Happy Ending) Oluchi Nwaokorie (Wicked, MTSC ‘21) Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls) Lianah Sta. Ana (Miss Saigon) John Wascavage (Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song) MEDIA RSVP: Media who wish to attend this event should contact Emily Vortherms (emily@namt.org). The 2025-2026 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is held in collaboration with Concord Theatricals, Disney Theatrical Group, NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation, and The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation. About the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is designed to inspire high school students to write songs that could be part of a musical theater production, using the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals. The goal of the program is to engage the musical theater field in nurturing the next generation of songwriters. Learn more about past winners and hear their final songs at arts.gov/songwriting. The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is open to high school students from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories. For more information on how to participate and to access songwriting tools and resources, visit namt.org/challenge. About the National Endowment for the Arts Established by Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, the Arts Endowment fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov. About the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, founded in 1985, is a not-for-profit organization serving the musical theatre community. Its mission is to be a catalyst for nurturing musical theatre development, production, innovation and collaboration. Their 145 organizational members and 75 individual members, located throughout 36 states and five countries abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre in the world and include theatres, presenting organizations, higher education programs and individual producers. In 2024, NAMT reached $1 million in awards to member organizations through NAMT granting programs including the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals and the Impact & Exploration Fund. Among the 300 musicals launched by NAMT’s Annual Festival of New Musicals are Come From Away, Lempicka, The Drowsy Chaperone, Lizard Boy, Teeth, WANTED, King of Pangea, Benny & Joon, Darling Grenadine, Ordinary Days, It Shoulda Been You and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others, representing 575 writers. This year, over 120 students from 28 states participated in the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with NAMT. Discover more at namt.org.
