About TunesForGood
Music as a Lifelong Anchor
Music has always been central to TunesForGood founder Michele Petri’s life and identity.
Growing up in the 1970s, Michele was surrounded by music. Raised by a single mother who was both a nurse and a professional singer who gigged most weekends, she spent much of her childhood listening to records, learning and singing songs, writing out lyrics — first for her mom and later for herself — and sitting in on her mother’s weekly rehearsals for years. As a young child she absorbed it all — playing instruments, singing in chorus, and participating in school plays herself. This is where her heart has lived ever since.
Music ran through the family. Michele’s father wasn’t a professional musician, but he was deeply passionate about music — especially the blues. Her grandfather was also a singer, and her older sister introduced her to great music at a young age. On both sides of the family, music runs through the generations — it’s in their veins.
At home or in the car, music was always playing — sometimes in the background, sometimes the focal point of the moment. It was how their family connected best. Music wasn’t just something happening on stage — it was part of everyday life.
Music has always lived within Michele. As a singer-songwriter, she mostly keeps her written music close to the heart while continuing to enjoy opportunities to sing professionally and pursue sync opportunities. Music remains a lifelong outlet for expression, joy, resilience, healing, and connection.
Given how deeply music had always shaped her life, it was only natural that Michele would fall in love with and marry her best friend and soulmate, Fortune Petri — an extraordinarily talented musician and guitarist.
Music was a constant in their home. Fortune would play while Michele sang, and although they performed publicly together only a handful of times, music was woven into everyday life. A typical Friday night meant a great meal, a bottle of wine, and the two of them playing and singing their way through their favorite Beatles music book, or working and recording songs on their Roland 1680 home studio. It was simply their life.
About a year after they were married, both Michele’s father and her mother-in-law became seriously ill. Her mother-in-law suffered a stroke, and soon after her father’s health declined as well. During that time, songwriting became a powerful way for Michele to process what she was experiencing. Music helped her navigate that difficult period and later the grief of losing her father. Songwriting remains an important part of Michele’s life today.
After Fortune’s passing, Michele struggled deeply. For a time she lost her voice and couldn’t sing or even listen to music — especially guitar music. The very thing that had always helped her navigate life suddenly felt impossible to connect to.
Slowly, music found its way backÂ
Singing to her newborn daughter Mia, who was born shortly after Fortune’s passing, Michele gradually began singing and writing songs again. What once felt out of reach gradually returned as a source of expression, joy, connection, healing, and once again, freedom. Today, Mia is a young adult who grew up surrounded by music and shares that same passion.
The Work of TunesFoGood
TunesForGood grew from Michele’s lifelong relationship with music and her belief in its power to be a steady presence through every stage of life.
Before founding TunesForGood, Michele spent many years working as a Development Coordinator at the Rainforest Foundation / Rainforest Fund, a human rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Indigenous forest peoples. She helped produce benefit concerts and music events and led fundraising initiatives at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Pierre, The Plaza Hotel, and the American Museum of Natural History. Through that work she saw firsthand how music can bring people together and create meaningful impact for musicians, fans, and the communities those programs support.
TunesForGood is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting the positive impact of music. The organization creates opportunities where musicians, instruments, and community intersect.
One of its key initiatives, the Guitar Project, places donated instruments into the hands of individuals of all ages, schools, and community programs that need them most.
Instruments donated through the project have helped launch music programs and support recovery communities, grief centers, and individuals — giving people the opportunity to express themselves through music, sometimes for the very first time.
TunesForGood is based in New Jersey and partners with organizations on the ground, coordinating efforts wherever the need exists. For instance, following the fires in California, TunesForGood partnered with West Coast–based Altadena Musicians to help ensure donated instruments reached musicians and communities who needed them most.
TunesForGood is currently developing Performing For Good, a platform where musicians can perform and raise support for themselves or causes they care about — empowering artists to use their voices for positive change.
Music is freedom.
At its heart, TunesForGood exists because music matters — and because the right instrument in the right hands can change a life.