Fairview Park City Schools teams up with Kaboom Collective to promote music industry careers
As Fairview Park City Schools director of orchestras, Hillery Needham seeks to spark a lifelong love of music in her students -- even if that probably doesn’t include performing.
Now that effort includes a pilot program involving members of Cleveland’s Kaboom Collective speaking weekly to roughly 25 chamber orchestra students.
“I’ve known (Kaboom co-founder) Liza Grossman for several years,” Needham said. “Last summer, she approached me about becoming a part of the Kaboom mission of outreach to the local schools in the Northeast Ohio area.
Kaboom Collective is a professional arts training school for curious musicians and artists ages 15 to 25 who want to experience multi-disciplinary education and explore the many aspects of the arts, music and entertainment industries.
In layman’s terms, it gives students seeking non-performance careers in music real-world experience by facilitating legitimate commercial projects with active industry professionals.
“Kaboom Collective is a new way of thinking about music education,” Needham said. “What we’re doing now with our student musicians doesn’t always transfer to what kids can do after they graduate.
“This program is teaching students about how music is being made outside of a concert hall, which is in a studio or in a recording booth. There are so many avenues out there that kids don’t know about.”
Using a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation grant, Kaboom Collective’s pilot program will be coming free to Fairview Park City Schools for at least this year and next.
Kaboom Collective’s David Kennedy -- a producer and recording engineer with ties to area musicians and music professionals through education and production -- is currently finishing up a five-week workshop that finds him meeting with the kids one day a week.
So far, Fairview High School Chamber Orchestra junior violinist Edward Murton Jr. is impressed.
“I’ve learned a lot from the Kaboom classes,” Edward said. “I now know that there is much more to the music industry than just singing or playing an instrument. As someone who wants to go into the music industry when I’m older, I’ve been inspired to take a look at different careers.
“Kennedy came in and told us how to get into the music industry, what jobs are available and how to make money in the music industry from home or a company. He also told us some personal experiences from his life in the music industry and how he got to where he is now.”Therein lies not only the Kaboom Collective mission, but also what Needham hopes will inspire music students going forward.
“There are a lot of opportunities being presented to them that they’re pretty excited about it,” Needham said. “We’re just opening their eyes to a different path.”