What’s APAning

July, 2020: APA has completed its first-ever virtual pop music summer camp for children ages 9-15.

Students received an introduction to vocals and guitar, learned songwriting skills, and were given master classes on home recording, booking performances, and branding their individual sound. All instruction was led through online video communications, with students participating in a virtual “open mic” performance during the camp’s final meeting.

The first of its kind, APA’s Plug-In to Pop Music Virtual Summer Camp was hosted by the Academy’s Music, Media and Entertainment Technology (MMET) Department, which is known for its songwriting-forward curriculum and large-scale student rock concerts.

MMET instructors (and APA/MMET alumni) Nicole Kubis and Kamber Fishbein directed the camp’s nine sessions, focusing on hands-on instruction in vocals and guitar and lending students firsthand knowledge of the music business. Kubis currently serves as MMET Vocal Director and heads the vocal trio The Swing Kittens, who have toured internationally nine times. Fishbein is a graduate from the USC Thornton Popular Music Program and is the Master Teacher for the HBHS Guitar Program, in addition to playing with MMET-alumni-based band The Leftovers.

Los Angeles-based musician Angela Parrish also stepped in to hold a master class on her experiences as a professional singer-songwriter. One of Parrish’s most notable accolades includes lead vocals on “Another Day of Sun”: the opening number of the 2017 movie La La Land. Parrish additionally worked with students to create the chorus of their in-class songwriting project “Faded in My Memory.”

To create this original song, instructors Kubis and Fishbein worked with students on crafting the lyrics and melody in class. Students then went on to record their individual parts to the song from home. To hear the Plug-In to Pop Music students perform their original song “Faded in My Memory,” visit hbapa.online/pop-camp-original-song.