April 5, 2002

Grammys at Loyola

The Recording Academy's Grammy Foundation presented the 2002 GRAMMY in the Schools: Careers in Music program at the College of Music on March 18, 2002. The annual program made its third stop in New Orleans, but this year's event mark the first time that Loyola hosted the event. The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) hosted the event for the first two years in New Orleans.

"New Orleans is one of fifteen cities that host the event," says Jon Hornyak, executive director of The Recording Academy's Memphis Chapter. "In most cities, the program is held on a university campus. We felt that Loyola was the proper choice to host the event. It is a natural tie with Loyola's upstart Music Business Program."

The program allowed the students in attendance to have one-on-one interaction with an array of professionals in the industry. The introductory "Superpanel" served as a general exploration of the behind-the-scenes look at the music industry. Featured "superpanelists" included: Gregory Davis (M'00), musician and booking agent with the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; Jim Gabour, music video and film producer; John Fishchbach, music producer and audio engineer; Terrance Simien, internationally acclaimed zydeco musician; Cynthia Simien, manager; and Scott Fredrickson, Loyola's Conrad N. Hilton Eminent Scholar in Music Industry Studies.

Students attended a series of break out sessions, which were conducted by local professionals in the areas of songwriting, audio engineering, music therapy, music education, video production, Internet resources, life on the road, and in performance of jazz and classical music. The program concluded with a concert and picnic lunch sponsored by the Music Business Program. The lunch-time performance was provided by Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, the group of music students who won the Music Business Program's 2001 Battle of the Bands.

—Reid Wick, publicity coordinator for the College of Music