Immersed In Music is About Rockin’ Out in a Band – and So Much More!

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Immersed In Music Academy has been offering students ages 8-18 (and beyond) a chance to play in bands, record music in actual studios, and perform live at local venues for the past six years.

The Rockers, Rockers Prep, Advanced Young Rockers, and Young Rockers bands all have specialized features that are designed to give students just the right challenges of playing in a band. Rockers and Rockers Prep students get to record in a recording studio with professional engineers supervising behind the board. Advanced Young Rockers and Young Rockers bands give students the chance to try different instruments as they decide which one most evokes their passion for learning. All bands get to perform live at a mid-year December show, along with several year-end shows in May and June.

Yet, did you know that IIM has added many other opportunities for young musicians, budding sound engineering technicians, and writers?

We now have professional instructors who give weekly individual instrument lessons for guitar, bass, vocals, and piano. Drum instruction is available through Wade Corbin, one of our longtime staff members, who teaches drumming and supervises other instructors at Dale’s Drum Shop. Camela Widad Kraemer is IIM’s vocal instructor. She brings years of vocal instruction, stage musicianship, songwriting, and recording experience with her. Titus Irvin, Alex Valsing, and John Bower teach bass and guitar. Each of them bring their unique playing and instructing talents to create a fun, relaxed, individualized learning experience. Rick Stevens has been teaching individual piano lessons to students for the past twenty-five years. He also played and recorded in local bands for ten years, before focusing on being a teacher and administrator at Londonderry School.  Now retired from Londonderry, he is Co-Owner and Co-Director of Immersed In Music.

We have also recently added a Master Class option, which is geared to help existing working bands with specialized services in a diverse range of options – from live performance and music business coaching to prepping for and recording in a studio. Master classes are offered on a full-band basis and the specific services may vary based on the requested needs of each individual band. Staff members who work in this area all have years of road experience on their resumes and “have seen and done it all” when it comes to being lifelong working musicians. They can help your band navigate and overcome many of the pitfalls that hinder most bands’ development.

Live sound and studio engineering are other areas of study that Immersed In Music offers. Our resident engineering instructor, Jay Kirssin, teaches sound engineering and business classes at HACC and Harrisburg University and also works at Joe Trojak’s Progressive Enterprises professional recording studio outside of Elizabethtown, PA. He offers a ten-month sound engineering program and a four-month studio option, along with a variety of fascinating opportunities in week-long summer camps. These are all available to both beginning and more advanced sound engineering students.

Music Theory classes, which can be individualized to meet the specific needs of each person, are another IIM option. Many students who are looking to audition for the Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA) have taken our music theory class as a way to make sure they are prepared for the admissions expectations needed for entrance into CASA. These classes cover general music theory and notation, and can be geared to a particular instrument in order to give the student a framework of understanding that is familiar.

IIIM instructors also teach songwriting in both individual and group lessons. These classes and workshops are available for novice musicians looking to get started creating their own compositions, but also for experienced writers who want to hone their craft. The key is to get students to express themselves descriptively and work within the confines of song structure, while at the same time, battling their inner critic as they go. Then, once songwriters have their general ideas organized into a specific structure, they are encouraged to invite the critic back into the process gently, so it can improve, but not stifle, the outcome.

Finally, IIM is excited to announce the startup of a music/arts/culture magazine that will be written and published by student writers on a monthly basis. Students will review new music and local live shows, interview noteworthy individuals in the local music and arts scenes, and highlight activities in the greater Harrisburg area that serve as community builders.

With all of this, along with weekend and short-term workshops, Immersed In Music is taking a giant step forward as we prepare to enter our seventh year of operation. Make sure you come out this coming Monday and Tuesday, May 13 & 14 between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm to watch our programs in action, grab signup information about our 2019 Summer Camps and 2019-2020 year offerings, and talk with our staff about all the exciting opportunities we have for you.