Hello everybody! My name is Will Brooks. I am a senior at California State University, Northridge studying Vocal Performance. I am also a Presidential Scholar this year! I have been chosen for the top scholarship program at CSUN and I could not be more excited! My final year of college will used to complete my project for the Presidential Scholarship. I am using my website and newfound blog to update the outside world on my project and allow insight to my thought-process and journey with this amazing opportunity CSUN has given me!I submitted my project proposal last February and I received the good news in April! My project blends together my experiences in arts administration and also in music teaching. My project utilizes the students in MUS 468, Vocal Pedagogy, and matches them with high school students to give them individual lessons. My inspiration for the project stemmed from my desire to grant more access to individual lessons to more students. I know firsthand the importance of music lessons and having a teacher devoted to helping you grow and develop as a musician. I want that to be more widely available.Since April, I have been working on the various elements of my project. This summer I spent 5 weeks in North Carolina working for The Performing Arts Project as an administrative intern. (By the way, if you are looking for a musical theatre intensive, this is the one! Check them out at https://www.performingartsproject.com/) Because of my internship, my focus was in the East Coast. However, I am back in California and I am focused on my project.Working on my project!I have had meetings with high schools in Santa Clarita and also in Northridge. I found out that individual lessons are a great need and a desire for the teachers at both of these schools. Quality instruction in the arts/music remains a great desire for the teachers in the area. In my Arts Education internship for the Valley Performing Arts Center, I traveled around the San Fernando Valley teaching opera workshops for elementary students. I was surprised about the enthusiasm that not only the teachers had for the opportunity but the student’s hunger for more education in the arts. They were genuinely interested about opera and an art form they had never experienced before. With my project, I am trying to fill some of this need!I have also set up a voice class with Lighthouse Christian, a homeschool group in the area. I will be teaching a lesson about the voice and then CSUN students will come in to teach individual lessons. My few weeks between my summer internship and school starting has been devoted to writing and perfecting the curriculum. I am excited to create an entry part to the wonderful world of singing!This is the start of a great journey through this project. Often, I bite off more than I can chew, but I am so excited and passionate about my project and its message! I am optimistic about the work that I can accomplish with this project. This is ultimately an experiment in arts administration and education. I am thankful for the people in my life that are mentoring me and have guided me in my studies at CSUN. I am thankful for my faculty mentors Dr. Cantrell and Dr. Murray. I am grateful for their willingness to advise me in my plans! I plan to update this blog at least every few weeks. I will have pictures and videos of the project in action!
