Francisco Núñez (BS ’88) Named 2026 Steinhardt Visionary

Francisco J. Núñez (BS ’88, Music Education) has been named 2026’s Visionary as part of this year’s cohort of Spirit of Steinhardt Alumni Award winners. His path to becoming one of the country’s most influential music educators has been anything but predictable, with an impromptu piano audition one freezing day in New York City changing the course of his life.

Núñez has been a musician since childhood, playing piano and becoming the youngest choir director and organist at his church in Washington Heights. At his Dominican family’s urging, he pursued a more conventional career, briefly studying electrical engineering at Manhattan College, but it wasn’t the right fit.

A year later, he applied to NYU as a business major and was rejected. Then, during one of the coldest weeks in New York City history, Núñez walked into NYU Steinhardt’s music department determined to convince someone to hear him play. In a practice room, with his hands still numb from the cold, he played classical pieces, Latin music, pop songs, and more for the then-director of the program. 

He received his acceptance letter one week later—with a scholarship. That moment, says Núñez, changed his life. 

“NYU changed my trajectory completely,” says Núñez. “They trusted me. They believed in me.”

As a piano performance major, Núñez initially imagined a career as a performer. But when a faculty member suggested he try student teaching at Third Street Music School to gain enough credits to graduate on time, he quickly discovered a new calling: working with children.

“I love working with young people because they haven’t yet developed assumptions about what they can and cannot do,” says Núñez. “Adults become afraid of possibilities because we think we already know how the world works. Young people don’t have that yet, and because of that they can create greatness.”

His impactful student-teaching experience ultimately led Núñez to found the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) shortly after graduating from Steinhardt. Now approaching its 40th anniversary, YPC has reached an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 young people of all cultural and economic backgrounds with its unique program of music education and choral performance.

Over that time, Núñez has become a leading advocate for music education and the creative potential of young people. A MacArthur Fellow who was named Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year, Núñez is a frequent guest conductor for professional orchestras and chamber ensembles; a master teacher and advisor for choral workshops, demonstrations, and festivals; and a recognized authority on the role of music in achieving equality and diversity among children in today’s society.

Throughout his evolving work, Núñez stays connected to NYU in many ways. He and NYU Trustee and Grammy-winning artist Chandrika Tandon have created the YPC-Tandon Global Collaboration, which brings young singers from different countries—including Spain, China, and India—together through music. Núñez and Tandon are also collaborating on a forthcoming album largely in Sanskrit that blends Indian raga spirituality with Western rhythms and harmonies, featuring performances by Tandon as well as young voices. 

Núñez is also an author; his composition “La Sopa de Isabel,” which was inspired by a family story and has become an international favorite, is being adapted into a children’s book. A second children’s book about music called Francisco Finds His Gifts is also in the works. 

In 2021, Núñez created, curated, and directed an immersive multimedia art installation called AloneTogether through the YPC that explored the emotional and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people. That work has now evolved into This Time Round, an award-winning documentary film and music project; the full soundtrack on limited-edition vinyl can be pre-ordered here.

For Núñez, those diverse projects are part of the same mission: creating spaces where young people can imagine what is possible—and then giving them the opportunity to make it real. Recognizing Núñez as an NYU Steinhardt Visionary seems an especially fitting honor for an alumnus whose own life was transformed because someone was willing to listen, take a chance, and say yes.