As we move through 2025, Life By Music continues its mission to make music accessible, educational, and community-centered. This year was defined by expansion, generosity, and deep impact across classrooms, veteran communities, and youth programs. From instruments placed directly into students’ hands to transformative group programs, 2025 reflected what is possible when music is treated as a tool for connection and growth.
Making Music Education Accessible Through Community-Based Programs
In 2025, Life By Music awarded $2,100 in scholarships to struggling Las Vegas music education programs and talented young artists. These scholarships help remove financial barriers, ensuring that students and educators have the resources they need to continue creating, learning, and teaching through music.
Alongside scholarship support, instrument access remained a core focus. This year, Life By Music donated 200 instruments to students and veterans, giving individuals the opportunity to learn, practice, and build a lasting relationship with music. Ryan Patrick travelled to each school to hand-deliver these guitars. For many recipients, these instruments were their first, opening the door to creative expression and confidence.
We also hit a major milestone with Life By Music’s 700th instrument donated! This marks our 5th Clark County School District Guitar Donation Drive in Las Vegas! Every single instrument represents a spark, a chance for a young mind to find purpose, healing, and creativity through music.
Expanding Our Music Programs Across Clark County
Our Guitar and Ukulele Magic program continued to grow in 2025, reaching 966 students across 42 schools in Clark County. Through hands-on, interactive lessons, students were inspired through music and positive virtues.
Life By Music also led one 10-week Rockin’ Guitar program at Mission High School, a school serving students in recovery. This program offered a supportive and creative environment where students could channel their energy into music, develop new skills, and experience a sense of accomplishment through learning guitar.
Serving Veterans Through Music and Songwriting Programs
In 2025, Life By Music led two Shoulder to Shoulder Veterans Programs, serving 26 veterans through connection, collaboration, and healing through music. Each participant who completed the program received a new guitar at the end, providing a tangible reminder of their progress and a tool they could continue using long after the classroom experience ended.
One of those veterans was Vietnam War veteran Bobby Gipson, 74, who brought a song written more than 53 years ago to life through the program. “Heaven Shores,” written when Bobby first returned home from Vietnam, captures the moment he saw the Pacific coastline from an airplane window, a powerful symbol of survival, hope, and homecoming. With the support of Life By Music founder Ryan Patrick, Bobby recorded the song for the first time, transforming a half century’s-old memory into a moving tribute to healing and the power of music. A full blog sharing Bobby’s story and the journey behind “Heaven Shores” is coming soon.
Throughout Shoulder to Shoulder, shared learning and mutual support remained at the heart of the experience, reinforcing the belief that music can be both a personal outlet and a powerful way to build lasting community.
Continued Community Engagement Through Youth Music Outreach
This year also included three Life By Music Sessions and one Life By Music Club, extending our impact and helping protect music programs that were at risk of being cut. During the spring semester, Life By Music operated a Life By Music Club that saved a school music program from elimination after it was slated for removal due to budget constraints. Life By Music hired and paid the music teacher so the program could remain in place, serving 160 students across two weekly groups that met for one-hour sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over 12 to 15 weeks. Students performed seven times at seven different community locations, gaining both musical and performance experience.
We plan to expand this model in the future, making it more accessible for educators to reach out when their programs are at risk. In addition, Life By Music Sessions brought founder Ryan Patrick into high schools including Cimarron, Legacy, and Del Sol, where he led songwriting and music industry workshops for music students. Beyond schools, Life By Music hosted rhythm camps and participated in various community events, offering hands-on instrument-building activities and inclusive jam circles. Throughout the year, Life By Music also engaged the community through events and fundraisers including ARTUOK?, First Friday, Camp Cope at Adam’s Place, the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada’s Kids Day Out, the Las Vegas Greek Food Festival, SCATHED Fashion event and Ping Pong Palooza 2025 at Sapphire.
Life By Music was also one of the beneficiaries of Mondays Dark at The Space, where we were awarded $10,000 in support for our programs. Mondays Dark is a bi‑weekly philanthropic variety show in Las Vegas that raises $10,000 in about 90 minutes for local nonprofit organizations through live entertainment and community support. The event brings together musical acts, performers, and hosts to support charities across Southern Nevada, creating a unique blend of performance and purpose while giving nonprofits visibility in the community.
Additionally, Life By Music was chosen as one of eight select nonprofits to be part of The Space 2.0, a future 65,000‑square‑foot community center currently in development in Las Vegas. Planned to open in 2028, The Space 2.0 is envisioned as a first‑of‑its‑kind hub offering behavioral health services, education and career support, arts programming, and wellness resources for veterans, first responders, hospitality workers, students, and educators. Life By Music’s involvement will help expand our reach in providing customized music education programs, instrument donations, and scholarships as part of a larger ecosystem designed to support community wellbeing.
Looking Ahead
The impact of 2025 reflects the strength of our community, educators, donors, and partners who believe in the power of music to transform lives. Each statistic represents real people, real classrooms, and real moments of growth.
As Life By Music looks ahead, we remain committed to expanding access, supporting creativity, and meeting individuals where they are through music. Thank you to everyone who helped make 2025 a year of meaningful connection and lasting impact.
And as always…
A HUGE shoutout to our annual sponsors – we could not do this without your support and generosity.
Thank you: