NASHVILLE, Tenn. – May 7, 2024 – Last night, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum hosted its 45th annual celebration in honor of Words & Music®, the museum’s flagship educational program. School-aged participants and their families gathered in the museum’s Ford Theater, along with the evening’s hosts, Monument Records recording artists Tigirlily Gold, to hear a selection of 13 songs written by students in Nashville and its surrounding areas.
Throughout the night, students performed their Words & Music compositions alongside their professional songwriting partners and classmates. The program was recorded and will be shared on the museum’s website later this summer.
Designed for grades 3-12, Words & Music allows students to tell their stories by writing original song lyrics, while developing language-arts skills. The program embraces and showcases country music’s legacy of songwriting and passes it down to the next generation of writers and thinkers. Through Words & Music, students interact with a professional songwriter, paired with their class, in an engaging performance workshop that transforms students’ lyrics into finished songs. More than 160,000 students have participated in the Words & Music program since its inception in 1979. More information on school programs and Words & Music can be found on the museum’s website.
Words & Music is made possible by the Country Music Association Endowment for Words & Music and is funded in part by American Airlines; Chet Atkins Music Education Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee; CMA; CMA Foundation; Dollar General Literacy Foundation; The Hello in There Foundation; The Memorial Foundation; Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission; Nashville Predators Foundation; PNC Grow Up Great; and Tennessee Arts Commission.
About the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum:
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibitions, publications, digital media, and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is among the most-visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print® poster shop, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive, and CMF Press. Museum programs are supported in part by Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and Tennessee Arts Commission.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.
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