The silver lining of two years of COVID-adjusted learning is that education via the internet has become more accessible than ever. Last year, the first ever GRAMMY In The Schools Fest (GITS) live streamed panels to ensure students all across the country had the ability to connect with music industry leaders and enhance their arts education from the comfort of their own homes.
This year kept that same energy alive, bringing audio engineers, songwriters, performers and producers to students, educators, and music enthusiasts via virtual panels moderated by Vice President of Education for GRAMMY In The Schools David R. Sears.
The second annual online festival, presented by MusicPower, took place over multiple days leading up to Sunday’s 64th GRAMMY Awards ceremony. Thousands of students, music lovers and teachers took sessions on improving recital and rehearsal skills, went behind the scenes to learn more about the music business, and experienced exclusive music performances.
Here are five takeaways from GITS. To watch any of these panels and more, simply click here.
"Your foundational technique is absolutely important…now you have to graduate to passion and purpose." - Dr. Jeffrey Redding
The Choral Clinic at Alexandria City High School in Alexandria, Va. featuring Music Educator Award Winner Dr. Jeffery Redding, and Alexandria Choir Director, Theodore Thorpe III
This panel began with a moving behind-the-scenes look at students practicing a rendition of Yoko Ono’s "Who Has Seen The Wind?" Although the choir was fully masked up, the haunting and angelic notes pierced the classroom air with an ethereal sound. Thorpe sat at the piano while Redding emphasized the linguistic alterations necessary to hit the right notes, asking the students to adjust their soft palette formation in order to change overall pitch.
Nailing this technique is essential to being able to fuse choral music with your own passion and energy, Dr. Redding said, encouraging students to "go through the vowels!" Mr. Thorpe then addressed the ways in which choral culture has changed since the pandemic, stating that 70 percent of the school’s choir is new — a direct result of a COVID-influenced world where students are seeking collaborative and creative environments to cope with the rapidly changing world around them.
"Rebuilding this culture takes a lot of passion and grace," said Thorpe, commending the students for their dedication. "You fell in love with music as a child," added Dr. Redding. "Now give yourself permission to trust the technique in order to build that community you want through passion."
"Enjoy yourself and be happy with who you are." - Cimafunk
Artist session with Afro-Cuban funk performer Cimafunk
Tuning in from Cuba, singer Cimafunk spoke with GRAMMY Museum Coordinator Schyler O’Neal about being a songwriter and musician. Cimafunk explained how linguistics and language play a large role in the history of music — especially when it comes to music of the Afro-Cuban diaspora.
"Due to closed borders, Cuban music really is its own sound but funk and Afro-Cuban music are very interconnected. Slave traffic between New Orleans and Cuba caused this — music was a language for those who could not otherwise read or write," said the singer, who composed his first song at age 13. Cuban influence can be heard in the music of Dizzy Gillespie, in the conga drums of Marvin Gaye, and the grooves of James Brown and Tito Puente. What unites them all, Cimafunk said, is the thrill that comes from enjoying themselves.
Cimafunk, named by Billboard as a "Top 10 Latin Artist to watch," explained he began writing music on the guitar, but has been composing on the computer and using MIDI instruments since 2019. Smiling from ear to ear, Cimafunk said he’s just as happy performing in his home studio as he is taking his show out on the road, where he says he ends up spending more time with his bandmates than his own family.
"Spending time with your instrument is important but you should spend so much time with it that it’s in your bones." - Christine Meisenhelter
Preparing for performance with minimal rehearsal time panel ft. GRAMMY In The Schools Alumni Band
The last day of GITS was a busy day for the GRAMMY In The Schools Alumni Band. Joining in on a 45-minute panel to discuss how to prepare for a performance with minimal rehearsal time wasn’t the only thing on the docket for the ensemble of young working musicians and college students (all alums of the program) — they had a live performance on the Vegas Strip later that evening.
Jason Goldman, Chair of Jazz Studies at University of Southern California Thornton, took the band aside to field questions from a curious audience who wondered how a musician can prep for a major show with extremely limited time.
Christine Meisenhelter — a bassist, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter who also performs under the moniker Mistine — was the first to take the mic, noting that her instruments are in her "bones'' and practicing goes beyond sheet music. Meisenhelter said she alleviates the pressures of limited practice time by immediately incorporating the song into her playlist during her workouts and other daily routines.
Asked about how she incorporates her saxophone into a pop-rock song, such as the one the band was slated to perform that night, Veronica Leahy seconded Meisenhelter’s sentiments. Leahy might just have the funnest way possible of preparing: The multi-woodwind player (who is currently enrolled in the Harvard and Berklee dual degree program) simply puts on a record of the song, jams along, and pretends she is a part of the band as they perform a live show.
"Ask yourself if you would do this for free. Would you trade your social life and time to do this?" - Manny Marroquin
The Artistry And Musicianship In Audio Engineering panel with Manny Marroquin
I Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning audio engineer Manny Marroquin has worked with Alicia Keys, John Legend and many more, but almost went down a different life path.
Marroquin started playing drums at age 9, around the time he came to the United States from Guatemala (where Marroquin says life is about two things: "soccer and music"). But when he auditioned for the drumming program at Hamilton Performing Arts High School in Los Angeles, in ninth grade, drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. (who worked with Paul McCartney for over 20 years) stole the spotlight. When Marroquin was not accepted into the drumming program, he joined the electronic music track instead.
"Thank goodness Abe killed drumming for me because I discovered the art of sequencing, painting, and mixing [music] as an art form," Marroquin said, laughing. The engineer admits that he can spend days on one song, and feels time management is very crucial to what audio engineers do (particularly for Marroquin, who runs a restaurant on the side). He uses timers to carve out quality time, advice he got from legendary songwriter Babyface.
"Just make sure whatever path you take, make sure you want to be in that room for the right reasons. If you are in the room because you want to meet Post Malone, you’re not going to make it. You should want to be in the room for the greater aspects of the art form and be passionate about that," Marroquin advised.
"Songwriting is like archaeology and every day you just get a shovel out and start digging." - Jon Foreman
Artist session with SWITCHFOOT
Family dynamics are complicated and some are infamously made more difficult in musical families — just look at Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. Fortunately for Jon and Tim Foreman, the two brothers who are at the forefront of the rock band SWITCHFOOT, collaboration and creating harmonies together are some of the things they love best in life.
In an artist session where the band performed for students live, Tim talked about how, last year, Jon stumbled upon one of their lo-fi demo songs recorded in 2004 on Garageband. "We rediscovered an old song and repurposed it into a new one," he said before playing a bit of the track for the young audience.
Jon said he feels there is a discipline and art to songwriting, and challenged burgeoning songwriters to spend 30 minutes a day writing. "At the end of each day, put it in your voice memo and at the end of the month, listen objectively to what you came up with."
As a young student with a stuttering problem, Jon said singing helped him overcome his inability to communicate about religion, girls and much more. He still feels that music is the clearest form of communication anyone can find.