Marching Into Greatness: Voices of Tomorrow
Metro Nashville Public Schools Connects Student Musicians With Music City’s Industry
by Jack Rush
Metro Nashville Public Schools is turning the city’s music industry into a learning environment for its next generation of creators.
Through Marching Into Greatness: Voices of Tomorrow, students across the district are gaining professional experience as songwriters, performers, musicians, and producers while creating original music alongside established industry talent.
The seven-song project emerged from the MNPS Songwriting Summit, an initiative led by the district’s Visual and Performing Arts Department. Students participated in the creative process from early songwriting sessions through recording and production, eventually taking their work into Nashville’s East Iris Studios.
That access also brought several notable collaborators into the project. Grammy Award-winning musician Mr. Talkbox contributes to the album’s title track, while Grammy winner Tiera Kennedy joins seventh grader Luca McLaughlin for “Make It Undeniable.” Behind the boards, seventh-grade student Carter Hammonds handled production on the track.
Nashville School of the Arts senior Kingston Kharif is featured on “Here,” with the broader album exploring subjects including confidence, identity, personal growth, and finding a sense of belonging.
The project arrives as MNPS continues expanding opportunities for students interested in creative careers. The 2026 Songwriting Summit received investment from the CMA Foundation alongside support from the Tennessee Titans One Community Foundation.
The district’s arts programming has also attracted national recognition. Its earlier album, I Believe, I Belong, earned four Telly Awards in 2026, following a 2025 Midsouth Emmy Award for Every Student Known.
For students growing up in Music City, Marching Into Greatness creates something particularly valuable: an opportunity to experience Nashville’s music ecosystem firsthand while developing original work of their own.
