For many teens, going to summer camp is a special experience for building bonds and learning new skills. This summer, senior Ava Cashman had the opportunity to attend the renowned GRAMMY camp, exploring her interest in music business.
GRAMMY Camp is a music-based camp that is held all the way across the country in L.A. “GRAMMY Camp is a summer music-industry program run by the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles,” Ava said, “and it’s housed at the USC Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.”
While there are multiple tracks that you can take, Ava specifically participated in the Music Business track, which she has been interested in for a long time. “My interest in music business really grew the summer going into my junior year,” Ava said. “I took a course with the School of the New York Times called Pop Music as Art & Business that delved into the music industry, both as a business and as a creative pursuit. And after taking that class, I knew that the music business was a dream career area for me and something that I really wanted to explore.”
GRAMMY Camp additionally provides opportunities for its students to meet mentors in the music industry. “The musicians that we got to listen to and meet were Gracie Abrams, Lizzy McAlpine, G Flip, Moore Kismet, and Paul Klein from the band LANY,” Ava said. “In addition to learning all of those facets of the music business in the classroom, it was also paired with the experiential learning of getting to meet these professionals and work with the next generation of music professionals that were my peers in the program.”
The culmination of GRAMMY Camp is a final showcase where students from each track get to showcase their work created throughout the week. “One of my classmates and I got to co-emcee the show together, and we wrote a whole script for it,” Ava said. “The show was in front of a really large audience, so that was very nerve-wracking, but it was a great opportunity to grow my public speaking skills.”
GRAMMY Camp can be very inspiring to people who are interested in the music industry. “GRAMMY Camp has inspired me to pursue a career in the music business,” Ava said. “I always had an interest in one day entering the music industry on the business side and helping to support artists as they build the soundtrack to the lives of others. But after attending GRAMMY Camp and not only growing my knowledge of the music business but also getting to put it into practice, it just further solidified that this is what I want to do.”
Ava expressed gratitude for her opportunity to attend GRAMMY Camp, and she recommends anyone interested in exploring the music industry to apply. “I would say if anyone has an interest in business or journalism or video production, or anyone who likes performing music, GRAMMY Camp is the perfect place,” she said.
Certainly, Ava was able to take away valuable knowledge and perspective through real-world experience at GRAMMY camp which she will carry with her as she continues to follow her passion for music business.
