Kate Rockwell, Steven Huynh & More Join CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! High School Songwriting Concert

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

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)