Community reaches out to Carleton

Late last year the music division of the School for Studies in Art and Culture and Hummingbird Music signed a memorandum of understanding designed to cultivate a mutually beneficial relationship between the business and the school.

Hummingbird first approached James Wright, supervisor of performance studies for SSAC/music, two years ago in hopes of creating the partnership. Hummingbird Music encompasses several divisions, including a state-of-the-art recording studio (Pebble Studios), a professional record label (Boulder Records), and a music school (Nepean School of Music) that provides rehearsal rooms and private lessons to more than 700 students weekly. Hummingbird and Carleton’s Bachelor of Music program have both been in existence for forty years, and an unofficial relationship has evolved in recent years, as many Carleton students and alumni have taught and recorded at Hummingbird. As part of the new agreement, the organization has offered their recording and rehearsal facilities to Carleton music students.

Wright, a key player in this relationship, says, “I hope students will use [Hummingbird's] facilities to explore and expand their work as performers, composers, and recording artists.”

He describes Hummingbird Music as a first class facility and believes its offer of recording time is extremely valuable, especially for students focusing on popular music and jazz. He explains that it is often more important for contemporary music students to have professional-quality demo CDs, rather than performances listed on their résumés.

Carleton’s Bachelor of Music program was one of the first on the continent to offer students performance courses in a broad range of music styles including classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk and traditional music.

Wright thinks this relationship will be instrumental in helping students launch their music careers and he knows how much this opportunity means to Carleton’s aspiring artists.

“We have a surplus of talent in our B.Mus. program,” says Wright. “I love nothing more than to see young performers achieve their goals.”