CMA Donates $655,624 to Nashville Public School Students from 2007 CMA Music Festival

CMA Donates $655,624 to Nashville Public School Students from 2007 CMA Music Festival

CMA's 'Keep the Music Playing' Program Has Contributed More Than $1 Million to Fund Music Education Through a Partnership with The Nashville Alliance for Public Education

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- CMA is donating $655,624 to Nashville's nearly 74,000 public school children from 2007 CMA Music Festival. CMA's "Keep the Music Playing" program funds music education in Metro Nashville in partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education (NAPE). To date, CMA has donated $1,053,856 to build music labs and purchase instruments and much needed supplies for public school students.

"'Keep the Music Playing' is proof that all of us in the music industry understand that the future of Music City depends on nurturing young musicians and performers today," said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer. "When we launched this initiative in 2006, we made a commitment to the students, the city and our artist community to use funds from the Festival to support a cause that is important to our industry and enriches lives. Thanks to our partnership with the Alliance and Metro Nashville Public Schools these funds are already making a significant difference in the lives of countless children and their families."

CMA announced the donation today at the Hilton Nashville Downtown during the CMA Board of Directors quarterly meetings. The presentation also featured Nashville's Mayor, the Honorable Karl Dean, and student performers from Glenn Enhanced Option Elementary School and Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School. In attendance were CMA Board members, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Director Pedro E. Garcia, Ed. D, and Alliance Executive Director Pam Garrett.

"Music education is so important to our public school system, and thanks to 'Keep the Music Playing,' our schools are becoming better equipped with the instruments needed to bring music into the classroom," said Mayor Dean. "Nashville is fortunate to be home to the CMA, and we thank them for their generous contributions to our schools and their commitment to the music industry and our community."

"Many people outside the education community are unaware of the tremendous importance of music for children," said Dr. Garcia. "Learning music is exercise for the brain. It also provides an avenue of study many children love and embrace, providing motivation to continue their education. The financial support provided by CMA through the Nashville Alliance for Public Education allows us to keep music in our curriculum -- and we are grateful for this wonderful contribution to our schools."

Earlier this year, CMA donated $368,502 to the initiative from funds generated by the 2006 CMA Music Festival. In June, CMA donated an additional $10,000 to purchase lights and sound equipment for the Mayor Bill Purcell Performing Arts Theatre at Isaiah T. Creswell Middle Magnet School. In 2005, when the charity program distributed funds to more than a hundred different charities, the Alliance received $19,730, which was used to build a guitar lab at Nashville School of the Arts, bringing CMA's total contribution to music education to $1,053,856.

Artists perform at CMA Music Festival for free. To show its appreciation for their dedication and time, CMA donates half the net proceeds from the Festival to charity on their behalf. When the program began in 2001, it was known as CMA's "Cause for Celebration!" From 2001-2005 CMA contributed more than $800,000 to more than 100 worthy causes.

"We wanted to have a larger impact, by directing those funds into one cause that everyone believed in," Genovese said. "Music education was a natural choice for the artists and our Board of Directors. And today, we are seeing the results of those well-spent dollars with our student performers and speakers."

The 2006 funds were used to purchase stage curtains, recording equipment and a truck to transport gear for students at Nashville School of the Arts in addition to piano labs and hundreds of musical instruments from bassoons and cellos, trumpets to tubas, keyboards to glockenspiels for students from elementary to high school.

Thirteen schools benefited from the 2006 donation. In 2007, 32 schools are receiving funds including:

Elementary: Glengarry, Glenn, J.E. Moss, Maxwell, Ruby Major, and Tulip Grove.

Middle: Antioch, Apollo, Bailey, Bass, Bellevue, Croft Middle Design Center, Dalewood, DuPont Hadley, Gra Mar, H.G. Hill, Isaac Litton, John Early Paideia Magnet, John F. Kennedy, McKissack Professional Development Design Center, McMurray, Marshall (opening in 2008), Meigs Magnet, William Henry Oliver, and Wright.

High: Hume-Fogg Magnet, Hunters Lane, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, McGavock, Overton, Pearl-Cohn, and Stratford Comprehensive.

"One hundred percent of all money donated by CMA Music Festival is used for music education and goes directly to the schools and school programs identified by the Nashville Alliance," said Steve Buchanan, Senior Vice President Media and Entertainment, Gaylord Entertainment and Chairman of the CMA Marketing and Communications Committee who serves as a representative on the Alliance Board of Directors for CMA. "This is a program that everyone in the city can be proud of."

"The Nashville Alliance is extremely grateful for the partnership with the Country Music Association," said Garrett. "Their aggressive commitment and high levels of funding make it possible to provide new instruments in our schools at every level. Our music programs are directly tied to achievement results. Ninety-eight percent of all MNPS high school students participating in performing arts graduate from high school and 80 percent go on to training beyond high school. This makes it a very important indeed that we 'Keep the Music Playing' -- and where better than in Music City."

The Nashville Alliance for Public Education was established in 2002 by a group of corporate and civic leaders with the goal of improving public education for Nashville's school children. Working in tandem with the Metro Nashville Public School Board and the Director of Schools, the nonprofit group identifies areas of need and channels private community resources toward those programs and schools, which serve Metro Nashville's nearly 74,000 public school students in 134 Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

"A quality music education should be the right of every student," Genovese said. "It is our goal to make sure that every student who wants to participate in band or an orchestra is able to do so. With the help of Mayor Dean, Dr. Garcia, the staff at Metro Schools, and Pam Garrett and the Alliance we hope to make that goal a reality."

CMA Music Festival is an unparalleled music experience celebrating America's music. The event brings the community together with fans from around the world.

Now in its 37th year, CMA Music Festival will be held on Thursday through Sunday, June 5-8, in Downtown Nashville. Dubbed the "crown jewel of Country Music Festivals" by USA Today and winner of the International Entertainment Buyers Association's 2004 and 2006 LIVE! Award for Festival of the Year, the event features four jam-packed days of music with more than 400 artists and celebrities, 90 hours of concerts, 30 hours of autograph signings, family activities, celebrity sports competitions and more.

Tickets for 2008 CMA Music Festival are available now. To order, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Prices do not include applicable handling fees. Ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All sales are final and non-refundable.

For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for the CMA Exclusive e-news.

For information, logos and downloadable photos from 2007 CMA Music Festival and today's presentation, visit our media-only Web site, www.CMApress.com.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Country Music Association

CONTACT: Wendy Pearl, +1-615-244-2840; or Scott Stem,
+1-615-244-2840, both of Country Music Association

Web site: http://www.cmaworld.com/
http://www.cmafest.com/
http://www.cmapress.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment