Justin Tranter Donates $500K+ to The Chicago Academy for the Arts

Justin Tranter has made a donation to their alma mater that will impact students who are passionate about the arts.

The hit songwriter, whose songs have been recorded by Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Imagine Dragons, and many others, is donating more than $500,000 to The Chicago Academy for the Arts, an independent high school with an emphasis on the performing and visual arts. Tranter graduated from the Academy’s Musical Theatre Program in 1998. Tranter’s donation will go toward providing scholarships and tuition assistance for families in need. According to a press release, this is the largest single donation in the school’s history.

Tranter had attended public school, but after enduring years of bullying, they transferred to the Academy. “Not only did this school make me the artist and songwriter I am today, but it saved my life in more ways than I can count,” Tranter says in a press statement. “Nothing makes me prouder than to be able to support a place that educates brilliant young creatives and more importantly, gives them a foundation of compassion, community and confidence.”

Tranter is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Academy and has the Justin Tranter Recording Studio on campus where students learn how to write, record and produce in a studio setting. Tranter also founded the Academy’s annual AIDS benefit concert to raise money for research and to support people impacted by the disease.

“The Academy has a 40-year legacy of transforming the lives of emerging artists,” says Head of School at Chicago Academy for the Arts Jason Patera. “It’s been a year of tremendous financial challenges — COVID has been particularly hard on us, as two-thirds of our departments are performing arts programs. Although the crisis appears to be abating, it will be a few years before we have fully recovered. So, Justin’s generous gift comes at a time when we need it the most.”

The many hit songs Tranter has penned include “Sorry” by Bieber, “Believer” by Imagine Dragons, “Lose You to Love Me” by Gomez and Halsey’s “Bad at Love.”

Photo Credit: Alec Savig / Courtesy of Aristo Media