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Announcing Our New Partnership with the Illinois Elementary School Association!

by | Jan 5, 2026

For Immediate Release

Announcing Our New Partnership with the
Illinois Elementary School Association!

Chicago, Illinois, January 1, 2026 — School Music License is thrilled to announce our new partnership with the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA)! As a Chicago-based organization, supporting the students and educators in our home state of Illinois is especially important to us. 

“As a proud Illinoisan, I am very excited to start 2026 with this new partnership,” shared Brenna C. Horn-Cronin, Executive General Manager. “I know firsthand how dedicated Illinois educators are to their students and how much pride they take in ensuring their students have meaningful arts and athletic experiences during elementary school and junior high school.”

Alec Harris, President of School Music License, echoed the excitement. “School Music License is a division of GIA Publications, Inc., also based in Chicago and one of the most respected and long-standing publishers in music education. For decades, GIA has supported educators, composers, and programs across the country. School Music License continues that mission by helping schools share performances safely and legally. We look forward to better serving our Illinois colleagues with this new partnership!” 

K-12 schools across the country rely on School Music License to protect their performing groups and simplify the licensing process so educators can focus on what matters most: teaching and creating meaningful musical experiences for students. That mission aligns with the IESA, a pivotal organization dedicated to fostering both athletic and academic excellence among young students throughout Illinois. “IESA’s mission is to provide enriching opportunities for elementary and middle school students by offering a diverse array of programs that encourage personal growth, teamwork, and good sportsmanship. This new partnership supports educators in their classrooms and ensures that the broader school community can enjoy all of the fantastic events taking place in our schools,” shared Nicole Schaefbauer, IESA Executive Director. “We look forward to a great year of collaboration ahead!”  

School Music License provides music copyright licensing to allow schools to legally stream their arts and athletic events online, providing the synchronization licensing required for YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. We believe it should be easy to share performances while feeling secure that you have the permissions you need. School Music License was created to provide that reliability, and we are proud to be a bridge between schools and the music community. We are pleased to offer a 10% discount to all Illinois educators to help secure their music copyright licensing. Use code IESA10 at checkout.  

School Music License is proud to support schools in Illinois and across the country, helping music programs share their students’ performances confidently and legally⏤no matter the size, setting, or ensemble. Ready for your State school association to join School Music License? Contact our team at info@schoolmusiclicense.com. 

 

Contact: Brenna C. Horn-Cronin, Executive General Manager

info@schoolmusiclicense.com

Featured photo used with permissions from Canva.

Visit https://schoolmusiclicense.com/ for more information.

Author

  • Brenna C. Horn-Cronin serves as Executive General Manager of School Music License. Combining her passions for arts management, music, hospitality, and education, she leads School Music License by helping schools make the most of their arts and athletics programs. She is also the recipient of the 2026 Music Publishers Association Arnold Broido Award for Copyright Advocacy. Prior to this role, she served as General Manager of ONE LICENSE, ensuring that tens of thousands of churches around the world secured their music copyright licensing permissions. She has been with GIA Publications since 2016. She has a heart for social justice, grassroots community building, and servant leadership. In addition to her certification as a Teaching Artist, she’s also a decades long Yoga Instructor, specifically serving special populations. Brenna currently serves as the Sponsorship Chair for the Board of the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association, previously served as the Theatre for Young Audiences representative on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Theatre Association, and supports the education justice efforts for young women in Rwanda through Africa New Life, an organization that works with families still recovering from the generational trauma of genocide. Brenna lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her wife and family and is a proud alumna of Northwestern University (MSLCE, Summa Cum Laude) and Western Michigan University (BA). 

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Brenna C. Horn-Cronin

Brenna C. Horn-Cronin

Brenna C. Horn-Cronin serves as Executive General Manager of School Music License. Combining her passions for arts management, music, hospitality, and education, she leads School Music License by helping schools make the most of their arts and athletics programs. She is also the recipient of the 2026 Music Publishers Association Arnold Broido Award for Copyright Advocacy. Prior to this role, she served as General Manager of ONE LICENSE, ensuring that tens of thousands of churches around the world secured their music copyright licensing permissions. She has been with GIA Publications since 2016. She has a heart for social justice, grassroots community building, and servant leadership. In addition to her certification as a Teaching Artist, she’s also a decades long Yoga Instructor, specifically serving special populations. Brenna currently serves as the Sponsorship Chair for the Board of the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association, previously served as the Theatre for Young Audiences representative on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Theatre Association, and supports the education justice efforts for young women in Rwanda through Africa New Life, an organization that works with families still recovering from the generational trauma of genocide. Brenna lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her wife and family and is a proud alumna of Northwestern University (MSLCE, Summa Cum Laude) and Western Michigan University (BA).