WATCH: Mount St. Mary students experience their song performed on Broadway stage | KLRT

Isabella Nguyen and Maya Johnson rehearse their original song “Live Before Life’s Gone.” Photo by Rebecca J. Michelson

NEW YORK – A song written by two high school students from the Natural State was performed by Broadway artists in the Big Apple on Monday night.

The song “Live Before Life’s Gone” was written by Mount St. Mary Academy students Maya Johnson and Isabella Nguyen and was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as one of seven winners of the 2023-2024 Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge.

During Monday night’s concert on the Irene Diamond Stage at Pershing Square Signature Center in New York City, the song was performed by Broadway artists Amy Keum (KPOP) and Katryna Marttala (Hot Girls Wrote Musicals) with a full orchestra.

In addition to the trip to New York, the two teenagers from Arkansas received scholarships worth $2,500 from the National Music Publishers’ SONGS Foundation.

To learn more about the songwriting challenge or to view past concerts, visit Arts.gov.