The Urban Link

Annual GRAMMY Foundation^® Program Supported 
By Ford Motor Company Fund
And The Starkey Hearing Foundation With Additional Support
From Best Buy And Converse

WHO:

Artist/Creative Participants include: Pepe Aguilar, current GRAMMY^®-nominated singer/songwriter (Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album); along with BC Jean, songwriter; Evan Bogart, GRAMMY-winning songwriter/producer; Warryn Campbell, multi-platinum and GRAMMY-winning producer; members of La Santa Cecilia, 2011 Latin GRAMMY-nominatedgroup; Matthew Cherry, video director; Sarah Darling, songwriter/recording artist; Eman, songwriter/producer; Roshon Fegan, artist/actor of Disney’s “Shake It Up”; Miguel Gandleman, saxophonist; DJ Hapa, national brand director of Scratch DJ Academy; Manny Marroquin, GRAMMY-winning engineer; Rickey Minor, “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and former GRAMMY Awards telecast musical director; Kevin Ricard, percussionist; DJ Skee, Sirius/XM and KIIS-FM;  Anthony Valadez, KCRW DJ/entrepreneur; and Vince Wilburn Jr., producer/drummer.

Industry Professionals include:

Diana Beas, head of licensing & Latin music for Secret Road Music Services; Didi Benami, singer/songwriter; Amanda Berman, senior director of A&R at EMI Music Publishing;Ryan Chisholm, Talent Manager, Bill Silva Entertainment; Scott Igoe, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” music talent booker; Chad Greer, founder of Dirt Road Entertainment; Thornell Jones, Fortress Marketing; Kevin Korn, the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency; Jasmine Marvin, general manager of My Block Records; Brandon Operchuck,USC director of performance venues; Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy^®, the GRAMMY Foundation^® and MusiCares^®; Christopher Sampson, associate dean for the USC Thornton School of Music; Brian Vinikoor, head of marketing & new media Secret Road Music Services; Larry Wade, evp of The Writing Camp, LLC; and Monica Young, Blue Key Management.

WHAT:          

Top music industry professionals discuss the realities of the music business and careers in music with more than 700 Los Angeles-area high school students at GRAMMY Camp^® — Basic Training, a GRAMMY in the Schools^® initiative of the GRAMMY Foundation with support from Ford Motor Company Fund and the Starkey Hearing Foundation.Additional funding is provided by Best Buy and Converse. GRAMMY Camp — Basic Training conducts a variety of workshops focusing on various fields in the music industry, utilizing the entire USC Thornton School of Music campus.

For real-time coverage and updates on these events, plus all GRAMMY Foundation events during GRAMMY Week, please like “GRAMMY in the Schools” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/grammyintheschools.

WHERE:

University of Southern California

Thornton School of Music

820 West 34th Street

Los Angeles, California 90089

WHEN:                         Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

8:30 a.m.                         Press Check-In (Booth Ramo Concert Hall)

9 a.m. –10:25 a.m.         Career Workshops: Session One (Various Classrooms)

9:30 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.      One-On-One Interviews with Session Two participants

                                       (Booth Ramo Concert Hall)

10 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.        Press Reception/One-On-One Interviews with

                                          Session One participants

(Booth Ramo Concert Hall)

10:35 a.m – noon            Career Workshops: Session Two (Various Classrooms)

12:05 – 12:30 p.m.          Lunch

12:50 – 1:50 p.m.            GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session Performance (Tutor Center Grand Ballroom)

WHY:            

To encourage careers in the music business, GRAMMY Camp — Basic Training provides high school students an opportunity to interact with music industry professionals in educational settings throughout the country.

The GRAMMY Foundation^® was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture — from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy^®, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. Campbell’s Labels for Education program is proud to be the official education partner of the GRAMMY in the Schools program. For more information, please visit www.grammyintheschools.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, please like “GRAMMY in the Schools” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/grammyintheschools.

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works with community partners to advance driving safety, education and community life. For more than 60 years, Ford Motor Company Fund has operated with ongoing funding from Ford Motor Company. The award-winning Ford Driving Skills for Life program teaches new drivers through a variety of hands-on and interactive methods. Innovation in education is encouraged through national programs that enhance high school learning and provide college scholarships and university grants. Through the Ford Volunteer Corps, more than 25,000 Ford employees and dealers work on projects each year that better their communities in more than 40 countries.For more information, visit www.community.ford.com

Starkey Hearing Foundation is striving to foster greater understanding among individuals and communities through hearing care by focusing on awareness, education, protection and treatment so the world may hear.  Hearing loss affects one in 10 Americans, and 63 million children worldwide, yet many do not have access to the hearing devices that can help them. From 2000–2010, Starkey Hearing Foundation fit more than 500,000 hearing aids to people in need in the United States and around the world. The Foundation has grown that commitment to more than 100,000 hearing aids annually and is dedicated to fitting 1 million hearing aids this decade.  In addition to giving the gift of hearing through worldwide hearing missions, Starkey Hearing Foundation promotes hearing health awareness through the Listen Carefully initiative and provides hearing instruments to low-income Americans through the Hear Now program. For more information on Starkey Hearing Foundation, visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.

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