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Donation Brings CMA's Total Financial Support of the Hall of Fame and the Museum's Initiatives to $4.7 Million Since 1997
NASHVILLE – The Country Music Association is pleased to announce a $1 million endowment gift to the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s “Words & Music” program.
“CMA has been a longtime supporter of the important work of the Hall of Fame and Museum,” said Kix Brooks of Country superduo Brooks & Dunn, past President and Chairman of CMA and current chair of CMA’s Artist Relations Committee. “But what appealed to our Board about this donation was the idea that the funds would be focused on an initiative that is important to our artists and is the foundation of our industry – the art of songwriting and education about our intellectual property rights – protecting the future of our business.”
CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese and Kix Brooks, co-chairman of CMA's Artist Relations Committee, present a $1 million endowment check to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Director Kyle Young for the "Words and Music" program. (l-r) Young, Genovese, and Brooks.
Photographer: Amanda Eckard / CMA
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“Words & Music,” one of eight educational programs that the Museum currently offers to area schools, is designed to assist language arts and music teachers with classroom instruction in the basics of writing song lyrics. The Museum provides teachers with lesson plans, including a 10-song CD and accompanying lyric sheets licensed especially for this program, and pairs students with volunteer professional songwriters who add melody to their compositions. The 2008-09 school year marks the 30th anniversary of the “Words & Music” program.
“Funding this important program is a natural extension of our support of music education in public schools through our ‘Keep the Music Playing’ campaign,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese. “We are committed to music education and supporting quality programs that meet our Association’s goals of engaging students, their families and teachers.”
“This generous gift, which honors all the singers and songwriters who waive their concert fees to voluntarily participate in the CMA Music Festival each year, will provide stable funding in perpetuity for one of our essential and most important school programs,” said Museum Director Kyle Young.
The Association will fund the “Words & Music” Endowment with an annual donation of $200,000 over a five year period (2008-2012).
CMA has a long history of supporting the Hall of Fame. In 1961, the CMA Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Country music Hall of Fame; six years later, in 1967, CMA opened the first home of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Music Row. Over the past 10 years, CMA has contributed $3.7 million to the Hall of Fame and its various programs. The new endowment raises that figure to $4.7 million, making CMA one of the Museum’s most generous and consistent benefactors.
Each year, CMA donates half the net proceeds from CMA Music Festival to support music education in Metro Nashville Public Schools through a program known as “Keep the Music Playing.” Through a partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, CMA has donated more than $1.1 million to date to purchase hundreds of instruments, lighting, sound equipment, piano labs, and more on behalf of the artists who donate their time and perform at the Festival for free. The donation from the 2008 CMA Music Festival will be announced later this year. The “Words & Music” donation will be earmarked from the Festival proceeds that support “Keep the Music Playing.”
“Ultimately, both of these programs fulfill our mission of supporting music education.” Genovese said.
The “Words & Music” program allows students to express themselves creatively and to learn the craft of lyric writing. Classes participating in the program complete a four-part lesson plan, developed by the Museum, which highlights the lyric-writing process. Students write or co-write lyrics in the classroom; the lyrics are then given to professional songwriters, who refine their lyrics and add melodies. Finally, students visit the Museum for a tour and a performance of their songs by their participating songwriter. The Museum also presents a year-end recital featuring students paired with their songwriting mentors for a live performance of their compositions, hosted by a Country Music celebrity.
During the 2007-2008 school year more than 4,700 kindergarten through 12th-grade students at 51 Tennessee and Florida schools wrote songs that were put to music by 48 volunteer professional tunesmiths.
Every aspect of the art form is explored, but the business aspect of songwriting isn’t overlooked either. Part of the future curriculum will deal with “songlifting” and the impact that illegally downloading, burning and sharing songs off the Internet has on the songwriting community.
“It will be very impactful for the students to hear their teachers compare songlifting to shoplifting, to learn about royalties and the way songwriters make money to take care of their families,” Genovese said. “This program has the ability to put a real face on the issue and hopefully communicate in a meaningful way the results of those actions.”
Tickets for 2009 CMA Music Festival, which takes place June 11-14, 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 are subject to change without notice and do not include applicable handling fees.
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