Monthly Archives: May 2015

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    Jennifer Batten Announces Summer 2015 Creative Seminar Tour Dates

Jennifer Batten Announces Summer 2015 Creative Seminar Tour Dates

Guitarist Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson) announces a series of U.S. dates for seminars this summer, which will teach musicians how to stay mentally centered and how to maintain creativity in a technology-driven world.

Keeping the constantly evolving nature of the music business in mind, Batten, along with co-host Jesse Solomon (founder of music school Academy of Guitar), will help harness audience members’ inner focus. Batten will provide insights from her 30-year career, including do’s and don’ts, lessons learned, and will give special attention to energizing the mind and body to their utmost potential. Each event concludes with giveaways and a mini concert by Batten and Solomon.

“Musicians are unaware of some of the newest powerful tools available to them to help skyrocket their progress as creative beings. I’m excited and eager to help attendees focus and energize, and to share knowledge on practices that have worked extremely well for me,” said Batten.

This three-and-a-half-hour-long creative seminar was cultivated to enlighten the modern musician through Batten’s real-world stories, and will offer multimedia demos on the tools and information available to help support a creative life; how to create and boost their brand; and how to make the law of attraction work for them. Audience members will be educated on the latest science of how the brain works to help magnetize the elements of their dreams.

In this seminar, Batten will teach attendees: 

How their brain works and ways to optimally energize the mind and body
New tools to help unlock creativity and optimize practice habits
Practical information about domestic and foreign touring
How to enhance their abilities to focus and learn time management skills with proventechniques
Supportive techniques in building self-confidence and creating unstoppable motivation
How to dig into the newest models of building a personal brand […]

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    MusicFirst and The Singing Classroom Partner to Offer Exciting Online Resources for Elementary School Music Teachers

MusicFirst and The Singing Classroom Partner to Offer Exciting Online Resources for Elementary School Music Teachers

Leading digital music education company MusicFirst is proud to announce its partnership with online music education database, The Singing Classroom. Through this collaboration, teachers are now able to access The Singing Classroom’s ever-expanding, dynamic, searchable database of songs, games and teaching techniques through the MusicFirst online classroom.

“We’re thrilled to offer The Singing Classroom both as a standalone solution, and as premium content through our online classroom. Once teachers discover how intuitive it is, the wealth of comprehensive materials it has to offer, and how exciting it is for both them and their students, it will become one of their favorite go-to tools,” said Dr. Jim Frankel, Director of MusicFirst. 

“MusicFirst is a brilliant tool for music teachers, allowing them access not only to an abundance of music software, but also to great ideas for the classroom that they can search and organize. We’re so happy that The Singing Classroom will be able to expand these offerings for elementary teachers even further,” said Gregg Pasternack, Co-Founder, The Singing Classroom.

Developed for elementary school music teachers (PreK – 6), The Singing Classroom allows educators to search the collection using a wide variety of criteria to find songs and games complete with scores, video, audio, printable posters and animations. Teachers can:

Search by grade level, genre, song topic, type of game, cultural origin, materials used, holidays, musical concepts, solfége and rhythms, or Orff instruments.
Download and print sheet music, posters, and other materials to use as they teach.
Watch videos that suggest how to introduce and teach the songs to help quickly engage and delight their students, as well as animations of bunnies demonstrating games and dances.
Show the animations to their students and see how quickly they learn to play a new game or do a dance.
Listen to each song being sung […]

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    Take Me To The River, Music Unites and Compton Unified School District Host Event Empowering Inner-City Students Through Music

Take Me To The River, Music Unites and Compton Unified School District Host Event Empowering Inner-City Students Through Music

Award-winning feature film Take Me To The River, non-profit organization Music Unites, acclaimed artists Frayser Boy and William Bell, and the Compton Unified School District partnered to host a music-filled event to teach and inspire inner-city students through the power of music on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at Martin Luther King Elementary and the Compton High School Auditorium in Compton, California.

Revolving around director Martin Shore’s latest film, Take Me To The River, which celebrates the musical influence of Memphis in the face of pervasive discrimination and segregation, the event kicked off at the Martin Luther King Elementary school, where sixth-grade students participated in a songwriting workshop led by Shore, Music Unites’ Kirk Sells, STAX Records legend William Bell, and Academy Award winner Frayser Boy. Students embarked on an exciting “rap battle” and presented their creations to their classmates, teachers and music mentors. The songwriting session also included a Q&A on the guests’ experiences in the music industry.

The event continued at the Compton High School Auditorium with special performances by 21 Martin Luther King Elementary school sixth-grade students, who performed “BaBa Blues,” “Bossa Nova” and “Cage Full O’Blues.” Thanks to the support of the district’s superintendent and board of trustees, the evening also featured a special screening of Take Me To The River for students, parents and teachers, and a Q&A session with Shore, Bell and Frayser Boy.

“Take Me to the River is a must-see experience that transcends and bridges generation gaps. As an educator, I was deeply moved by the juxtaposition of the struggle of STAX recording studio and the struggle experienced by those embroiled in the Civil Rights Movement. I was further stricken by the influence of the musicians/artists from the Memphis area […]

Nominations Now Open for 2016 She Rocks Awards

The Women’s International Music Network (the WiMN) has announced open nominations for its annual She Rocks Award ceremony honoring women in music, taking place Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif., during the Winter NAMM trade show.

Approaching its fourth year, the She Rocks Awards have honored dozens of music professionals, including multi-platinum artist Colbie Caillat; Vice President of Brand Marketing at Martin Guitar, Amani Duncan; Latin GRAMMY award-winning artist, Gaby Moreno; legendary band The Bangles; President of Peavey Electronics, Mary Peavey; iconic percussionist Sheila E.; Experience Hendrix CEO, Janie Hendrix; Executive Vice President and CFO of the Gretsch Company, Dinah Gretsch; and many more.

“We are thrilled to open nominations for the 2016 She Rocks Awards, and look forward to shining a spotlight on outstanding women in music. There is an abundance of talent within our industry, and we are excited to give recognition to the power players making a difference,” said WiMN Founder Laura B. Whitmore.

Individuals are encouraged to nominate female trailblazing music industry peers, friends, colleagues, or themselves. The deadline to submit nominations is September 1, 2015.

Named one of Billboard magazine’s “7 must-see events at NAMM,” the She Rocks Awards bring together industry professionals, music icons, artists, fans and media for a one-of-a-kind event that celebrates women in music, and offers featured performances, giveaways, a silent auction, networking opportunities and more.

To submit a nomination and to learn more, visit http://www.thewimn.com/nominations/.