Keep The Music Playing

$7.6 MILLION DONATED TO DATE

Did you know that proceeds from the past seven CMA Music Festival events have helped fund school music programs? Since 2006, the CMA Foundation has donated more than $7.6 million to benefit music education programs. 

FACTS

• “Keep The Music Playing” was created in 2006, by CMA’s Artist Relations Committee led by Kix Brooks, to give back to the local community by supporting music in our schools on behalf of the artists who perform free during CMA Music Festival.
• To date, CMA has donated more than $7.6 Million to the cause.
• Contributions from the 2012 CMA Music Festival totaled $1.4 Million with $1.2 Million given to the Nashville Foundation for Public Education, and $200,000 to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Words & Music program, which assists language arts and music teachers with classroom instruction in the basics of songwriting.
• Funds have been used to build music labs and supply instruments for all of Metro Nashville’s 144 schools.
• Studies show that students who participate in the arts do better in school and are more likely to graduate. Metro Nashville’s performing arts students have a 96% graduation rate compared to 78% for the general population.
• Country artists who have visited schools and helped deliver instruments include Dierks Bentley, Suzy Bogguss, Kix BrooksLuke Bryan, Jay DeMarcus, Emerson Drive, Sara Evans, Little Big Town, Scotty McCreery, Montgomery Gentry, Kellie Pickler, Jimmy Wayne and Chris Young.