The City of Carmel has transformed into “Songbook City” for the month of July, launching a civic celebration to honor the locally based Great American Songbook Foundation and its nationally renowned educational initiative, the Songbook Academy. The annual summer intensive will take place July 11-18 at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana.
Mayor Sue Finkam announced that the initiative, which runs through July 31 as part of Carmel’s broader rise as a Midwestern cultural hub, will include temporarily renaming select municipal street signs after music legends like Cole Porter and Ella Fitzgerald to recognize the foundation’s profound cultural impact.
The Songbook Academy will bring 40 of the nation’s most gifted high school vocalists to the Center’s campus. The program provides young artists with rigorous training in vocal technique, stage movement and song interpretation, culminating in a series of high-profile public events at the Payne & Mencias Palladium.
Founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy Award nominee Michael Feinstein, the Great American Songbook Foundation has dedicated nearly two decades to preserving and celebrating the golden era of American popular music. The Songbook Academy, which began in 2009 as a modest, one-day local event, has grown into a highly selective, eight-day national powerhouse drawing students from coast to coast.
“The primary core of the mission of the Songbook Foundation was to reach young people because our whole mission is to make sure this music and its history remains relevant,” said Christopher Lewis, executive director of the Great American Songbook Foundation. “There’s a through line from the past to the present. Everything we listen to and do and perform and sing and hear today is informed by what came before.”
A Haven for Timeless Artistry
When the academy first launched, organizers aimed simply to expose local students to historical American music in hopes of inspiring a new generation of advocates. However, Lewis noted that they quickly discovered a deeper, unmet need among young performers.
“The students drawn to this program were amazingly talented, but there wasn’t an outlet for these students to celebrate what they loved,” Lewis said. “What they found here was a community.”
In its infancy, the academy served just 10 local students at a time, operating out of temporary spaces at Butler University and the University of Indianapolis. Following the opening of the Palladium and the foundation’s relocation to its permanent brick-and-mortar headquarters, the initiative expanded its structural and educational scope.
Today, the academy acts as a premier performance intensive, matching its 40 participants with industry titans and top-tier educators from institutions such as Juilliard, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan. Students undergo full immersion, practicing vocal health and traditional song interpretation while building a foundational network that supports them throughout their professional lives.
World-Class Mentorship and Public Programs
The 2026 academy features an elite roster of celebrity guest mentors and Broadway legends who will guide the students through masterclasses and public evaluations.
This year’s public schedule features three primary events at the Payne & Mencias Palladium, all of which will be available to audiences via livestream:
- Public Masterclass (Monday, July 13 at 2 p.m.): Founder Michael Feinstein will be joined by international superstar and Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga to provide live, onstage performance feedback for 10 randomly selected academy participants. Admission is free to the public.
- Songbook Showcase (Thursday, July 16 at 7 p.m.): All 40 national finalists will deliver solo performances. The evening will include special appearances by Feinstein and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez, recognized for her prominent roles in “Hamilton,” “In the Heights” and “Wicked.” Tickets are $5.
- Songbook Academy in Concert (Saturday, July 18 at 7 p.m.): Feinstein will emcee the final headline performance, showcasing the full student cohort in dynamic ensemble numbers, themed medleys and solo spotlights. Ticket prices start at $25.
In addition to Salonga and Gonzalez, the 2026 guest faculty features a distinguished panel of industry veterans, including Broadway regular Telly Leung; Scott Bradlee, the pianist and creative architect behind the global musical collective Postmodern Jukebox; Emmy and Grammy Award winner Adam Kantor; and acclaimed theatrical music director Miche Braden.
The instructional staff also welcomes seasoned performers Janet Dacal and Michael Maliakel as vocal coaches. Dacal, a Drama Desk Award winner, famously originated roles in “In the Heights,” while Maliakel recently concluded a celebrated run as Nick Carraway in Broadway’s “The Great Gatsby” following three years in the title role of Disney’s “Aladdin.”
Cultivating the Next Generation
Beyond technical vocal training, foundation leaders view the Songbook Academy as a long-term investment in cultural preservation. While modern commercial music is often engineered for immediate, short-term consumption, the academy focuses on structural songwriting mechanics and deep storytelling traditions.
“We are shepherding, stewarding, mentoring the next generation of artists who are going to carry this passion forward,” Lewis said, addressing the long-term future of the genre. “There aren’t many people like Michael Feinstein. Is there someone who’s going to come right along behind him with that same life experience? No. What we’re providing are those new life experiences. They’re leaving with that network, that connection to the history.”
The impact of this approach is evident in the academy’s extensive alumni network, which features past participants returning to support the program and demonstrating its enduring value. Among the returning alumni is jazz vocalist April Varner, a 2015 academy graduate who will appear as a special guest performer. Varner was recently named Rising Star Vocalist in the 73rd DownBeat Critics Poll and won the 2023 International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition, exemplifying the artistic standard the foundation helps cultivate.
Foundation leaders stress that the program’s ultimate success is measured by the confidence and perspective it instills in its participants, regardless of whether they pursue a career in entertainment. Many alumni transition into fields such as medicine or law while remaining lifelong advocates and consumers of the arts.
Alongside the student performances, the foundation will open a new historical exhibition, “Unforgettable,” in the Traditions Senior Communities Songbook Gallery at the Palladium. The free exhibit features rare artifacts and immersive displays exploring the evolutionary history of the Great American Songbook and how it remains a living part of popular culture.
“As the Songbook Foundation approaches its 20th anniversary next year, we are deeply grateful to the City of Carmel for its partnership and support from the very beginning,” Executive Director Christopher Lewis said. “This recognition is a meaningful honor, and we look forward to continuing to grow alongside the city in the years ahead.”
The Great American Songbook Foundation continues to advance plans for a dedicated museum, research center and visitor experience along the Monon Greenway, cementing its role as both a local anchor and a national destination.
Tickets and additional information are available in person at the Payne & Mencias Palladium’s Fifth Third Bank Box Office, online at TheSongbook.org, and by phone at 317-843-3800 or toll-free 877-909-2787.