“It’s America’s Got Talent with a Texas twist.”

.…from the website of the National Life Group-sponsored 2024 “Beats for Good” high school music competition.

Beats for Good—a high school music competition for students in the Arlington, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, and Mansfield school districts—invited students to put their best performances forward by submitting videos of their talent in action. Back on September 6, the top judged entries were posted online with visitors asked to vote for their favorites—and the winners are in. First place went to 2024 Arlington High School graduate Mason Moore and his spellbinding acoustic guitar rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” 

As the Grand Prize Winner, Mason will perform live on the main stage of the National Life Group Do Good Fest, kicking off the five-band event at Arlington’s Levitt Pavilion on Saturday, October 12. National is donating $5,000 to Moore’s high school music program and giving Moore a $1,000 cash prize. (Do Good Fest tickets are just $5 and support Parkland Health’s Pediatric Behavioral Health program. More info on the event is here.)

“At National Life, we love to celebrate our local schools and the good that happens within them,” said Beth Rusnock, head of corporate communications and community relations at National Life. “Highlighting young talent at Do Good Fest is an honor. We can’t wait to hear Mason open this incredible event.”

Victoria Phan of L.D. Bell High School was the Beats for Good runner-up for her performance of the first movement of a Bruch Violin Concerto, which earned her school’s music program a $2,500 National Life donation. The second runner-up was El Mariachi Tejano de Sam Houston, which snagged a $1,000 donation.

You can watch all three performances videos here.

The Beats for Good competition was open to all musical genres and acts. To arrive at the top entries for online voting, student videos were reviewed by a panel of local musical professionals and educators.

National Life said the Do Good Fest was founded upon the company’s values of Do good, Be good, and Make good. This is the third year National Life will hold the event at the Levitt Pavilion, having raised over $150,000 for Parkland to date.

The October 12 Do Good Fest will also feature food trucks, a full bar, a VIP lounge, and a vendor marketplace. Special features include an appearance by Chaunté Lowe, a TEDx speaker, four-time Olympian, speaker/trainer, medalist, American record holder, breast cancer survivor, and mother of three; Ozzy’s Truck, a race truck designed to raise awareness of veteran suicide; a raffle; and hands-on science stations from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

You can learn more about National Life’s corporate philanthropy programs—including LifeChanger of the Year, Do Good Heroes, a commitment to ending childhood hunger, and supporting children’s mental health, among others—by going here.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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