Twenty Years On: Kaboom Collective and Styx Celebrate a Two-Decade Musical Legacy

Photo credit: Jason Powell

Kaboom Collective, the Cleveland-based nonprofit arts organization known for developing the next generation of creative professionals, is announcing the world premiere of Twenty Years On, a feature documentary that explores its two-decade collaboration with the band Styx and the students who helped bring it to life. The premiere is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 7:30 PM at Heights Theater Studios in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Kaboom’s professional soundstage.

Watch the trailer here: YouTube Trailer

The documentary traces the origins of a groundbreaking idea that began in 2006, when Kaboom founder and conductor Liza Grossman first brought Styx together with a youth orchestra. At the time, pairing a major arena rock band with student musicians in fully orchestrated performances was largely unheard of. The collaboration quickly proved successful, drawing attention for its scale and ambition, and helping to inspire similar rock-and-orchestra projects around the world in the years that followed.

Over the past twenty years, Kaboom and Styx have continued building on that foundation, with Twenty Years On documenting how the partnership started, why it lasted, and the impact it had on the hundreds of young musicians who participated in Kaboom’s programs. Many of those students went on to careers in music, education, and other professional fields, while others pursued entirely different paths but remained connected to the experience that shaped them.

Liza Grossman reflects on the project as something rooted in trust, commitment, and shared purpose. She emphasizes that the musicians who participated over the years chose to engage fully with the process and with each other, and that seeing former students grow into careers as doctors, educators, Broadway performers, and working studio musicians has been one of the most meaningful outcomes of the program. Her full statement is included in the film’s materials surrounding the premiere.

Styx, whose career spans more than five decades with widely recognized songs such as “Blue Collar Man” and “Too Much Time On My Hands,” has remained closely connected to Kaboom throughout the partnership. Members of the band have returned multiple times to perform alongside, mentor, and collaborate with student musicians, reinforcing a long-standing relationship built on mutual respect and the belief that orchestral and rock music can exist in the same space as a shared language.

Tommy Shaw shared his thoughts on the documentary, saying the band is proud to revisit the relationship with Kaboom and the Cleveland Youth Orchestra after twenty years and to see how the students involved have grown over time.

More about the film is available at Official Film Site

Directed by Evan Haiman and produced by Charlie Brusco, Liza Grossman, Evan Haiman, and Joe Weagraff, the film also credits executive producers Jean Harry and the Brenda Fuchs Family Foundation, along with the Arthur E., Elsie G., and Betty M. Kranz Family Foundation. It draws from archival material including the original 2006 Blossom Music Center performance and the 2016 concert special Sing for the Day, alongside new interviews and studio recordings captured at Heights Theater Studios.

The story follows original student performers from the 2006 concert as they reflect on where life has taken them since that experience. Some pursued music professionally, while others entered completely different fields, including one former participant who now leads a neurological stroke department at a major hospital. Despite their different paths, they remain connected to the moment they first shared the stage with Styx. The film also includes a reunion performance with members of the band and introduces a new generation of Kaboom Studio Orchestra musicians recording orchestral versions of “Blue Collar Man” and “Build and Destroy,” showing how the collaboration continues to influence young artists today.

The project follows Kaboom’s 2025 short documentary Kaboom Collective: Beyond the Stage, further establishing the organization as both an arts education program and a creative production force. The premiere itself will take place at Heights Theater Studios, the same space where many of the featured students trained and recorded.

Event details: the world premiere of Twenty Years On will take place Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 7:30 PM at Heights Theater Studios, Kaboom Collective Soundstage, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. RSVP and tickets are available here: RSVP / Tickets

Kaboom Collective is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cleveland that focuses on providing professional-level creative training for emerging artists. Through orchestral productions, studio recording, live performance, animation, and film projects, students are mentored directly by working professionals. Since its founding, the organization has served more than 250 students, with alumni going on to internships, studio placements, and paid industry roles. Its mission centers on accessibility, ensuring that financial, geographic, and social barriers do not prevent participation in creative careers. More information can be found at kaboomcollective.org and kaboomstudioorchestra.org.

Styx continues to tour and record new material, including their 2025 album Circling From Above, released July 18, 2025 via Alpha Dog 2T/UMe. The 13-track album explores themes of technology, nature, and human experience, and features contributions from all seven members of the band. The lineup includes James “JY” Young, Tommy Shaw, Chuck Panozzo, Todd Sucherman, Lawrence Gowan, Will Evankovich, and Terry Gowan, continuing a legacy built over more than fifty years of performances and recordings spanning from progressive rock epics to stadium anthems.