RCA Nashville recording artist Sara Evans visited Pearl-Cohn High School today to give anxious choir students career advice and performance tips in anticipation of their appearance at the Tuesday, Feb. 1 (6:30 PM/CT), Keep the Music Playing All Stars Concert presented by SunTrust Bank at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Despite the snow-day, eight junior and senior students braved the cold to meet and perform for Evans. The students were accompanied by Pearl-Cohn High School Music Director, Llewellyn Peter, on a Baldwin Grand Piano which was donated to the school in 2008 through the Country Music Association’s “Keep the Music Playing” Program.
Pearl-Cohn senior, DeOndrea Foster, brought Evans to tears during her solo performance of “Oh How Precious.”
“I honestly didn’t know what I was walking into exactly, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my whole entire career,” said Evans. “These kids were so amazing and they were such an inspiration to me. I wanted to come in and talk to them about pursuing music or not giving up on a dream and when I came in and they started singing I was just kind of overwhelmed with emotion.”
The Pearl-Cohn singers are one of six performance groups selected from Metro Nashville’s 139 public elementary, middle, and high schools to perform at the Second All Stars Concert, which is hosted by Capitol Records Nashville artist and CMA Board member Luke Bryan.
Founded in 2006, CMA’s Keep the Music Playing campaign supports music education in public schools by providing instruments and performance opportunities for Metro Nashville public school students. To date, Keep the Music Playing has raised more than $4.7 million from CMA Music Festival and purchased more than 4,000 instruments in nearly 70 schools.
Celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, dates for the 2011 CMA Music Festival are Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12. Four-day ticket packages are on sale and can be purchased through Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased through CMAfest.com or 1-800-CMA-FEST. Ticket prices are based on the level of seating at LP Field for the Nightly Concerts, and range from $115 to $325 plus handling fees.
