Alumni, Students, and Faculty Gather for Annual Music Business Alumni Event

This year’s Music Business Program Annual Alumni Event brought together a group of outstanding NYU Music Business alumni for a panel discussion titled Fans, Bands, and Brands: Live Music Saves the Industry. This was followed by a “Q&A” session and a networking reception.  The event was attended by alumni, industry guests, faculty, and current students of the program.

Tamara Conniff, Group Editorial Director of Billboard, moderated the panel.  She oversees all aspects of the Billboard brand, and is the youngest person and first woman to hold this position.  Under Conniff’s leadership, the magazine won the 2006 and 2007 Eddie Award for best Media and Entertainment publication.  Before joining Billboard, she was the music editor for The Hollywood Reporter and senior editor in charge of music for Amusement Business. She has also been interviewed as a music expert on several major news and entertainment television outlets, and was named one of Crain’s New York Business “40 under 40.”

Conniff was joined by six Alumni Panelists, each working in a different sector of the music industry, and each bringing a unique expertise to the discussion:

Joey Fleming (MUBG 2005), a.k.a. J-Harris, is an Independent Artist and Industry Consultant.  J-Harris is the creator of the genre and movement called “Music with a Conscious Message” (MCM), as well as the President of his own entertainment company, Maschil Entertainment.  He has worked as a marketing specialist and product manager to Jive Records and Song BMG, and has performed with artists such as Jon B, Swiss Beatz, Jonelle Monae, Glenn Lewis, Raheem DeVaughn, and Jennifer Hudson.  To learn more about his music, visit myspace.com/jharrismcm.

Adam Hertz (MUSB 2005) was hired by Blue Note International to launch the Blue Note Management Group, where he works as an Artist Manger and Booker.  After helping to launch the HighLine Ballroom in NYC, Hertz books shows regular in that venue, as well as at BB Kings Blues Club and Grill and the Blue Note Jazz Club.  He also currently manages jazz greats McCoy Tyner and Cassandra Wilson.

Kendra Ross (MUSB 1997) began her work with major labels and media companies as an Music Business undergraduate, when she worked for Verve Records, Warner Music Group, and Shore Fire Media.  Currently, she serves as the Senior Manager of Production Logistics-Digital Ops at Universal Music Group.  She has also released her debut album, New Voice, through her label Lola’s Child Music.  She has written and recorded with acclaimed recording artists such as Kanye West, Talib Kweli, and Faith Evans.  To learn more about Kendra’s music, visit www.kendraross.com.

Chris Tuthill (MUSB 1993) has worked for Talent Consultants International and its sister company Talent Source for 16 years in various fields such as concert booking, tour management, event production, and personal management.  He has had the opportunity to help re-develop the careers of influential arts such as The Zombies, Wilson Pickett, Deicide, Village People, Donovan, and Belinda Carlisle.

Chad Vaccarino (MUSB 2007) founded Authentic Music Group, Inc. in 2004, as an undergraduate in the Music Business program.  AMG is a full-service management company specializing in artist development, which started out managing Chad’s own band and a band based in New Zealand, called Mumsdollar.  Today, AMG manages two New York-based artists, Ian Axel and Zach Williams.  Chad also serves as Marketing Coordinator for Wind-Up Records during the day, but considers AMG his full-time job.

Shanti Wargo (MUBG 2005) has worked in the international concert industry since graduating, starting as an executive assistant in the New York office of the foremost concert promoter in Mexico and South America, called OCESA Presents.  She then began working for Live Nation New York, assisting the President in booking stadium and arena shows such as Live Earth, The Rolling Stones, Farm Aid, Rock the Bells, and more.  Currently, she works in booking for a new division of the company called Live Nation Latin America.  Shanti is also the director/choreographer of dance company ShantiDance, which has performed in several venues around New York City and sits on the Advisory Board for Educational Programming of Pentacle, a non-profit organization serving the dance community.

Alumnus Works Abroad for Peace between Religious Faiths

Recent graduate Frank Fredericks has put his management skills to good use as the founder of a nonprofit organization called World Faith.  The organization brings students together from different religious faiths and denominations to engage in international service projects.

Fredericks started World Faith as an undergraduate when, he says in NYU Today, “Watching the war unfold really allowed me to see how religion is too often used as a divisive tool.”  Since then, World Faith has partnered with Interfaith Youth Core, and Fredericks has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America.  Working with New York City’s Office of Emergency Management and the New York Disaster Interfaith Service, World Faith is training places of worship to be “Emergency Rest Centers,” and looks to train 40 of these centers by the end of 2008.

Since his graduation in May 2008, Fredericks has been traveling the Middle East, from Dubai to Amman to Beirut to Cairo. Throughout his travels, he is developing projects, meeting with religious leaders and youth, starting or strengthening chapters of World Faith, and volunteering with various organizations.  He was also interviewed on Nile FM, the largest English radio station in the Arab world, and even convinced the manager there to play music from his startup record label, Conar Records.

The biggest obstacle to World Faith’s development of projects is its lack of funding.  Fredericks pays for all of his travel expenses out of pocket, and he says, “The joke about being ‘self-unemployed’ is getting old.”  Visit http://worldfaith.wordpress.com to read Fredericks’ blog about his travels and his work with World Faith.

Non-Profit Founded by MUSB Alumna Fundraises for Public School Arts Programs

Patricia Bradby, a recent graduate of the Music Business program, founded a non-profit organization while at NYU called Threads that Teach.  Combining art, fashion, entrepreneurship, and education, Threads that Teach works with grade school students in New York City’s public schools. The students create their own apparel and sell it in their communities to support their schools’ arts programs.

Bradby and the other members and volunteers believe that “young people who participate in arts programs are more likely to excel in other areas,” according to the organization’s website.  They seek to close the gap between federal funding and the need for arts education. Threads that Teach has already established a partnership with University Neighborhood Middle School on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and looks forward to implementing similar programs in other schools.  To learn more about Threads that Teach, and to find out how to volunteer, visit threadsthatteach.org.

Billboard Names Music Business Alumnus on 2007 “30 Under 30” List

Bret Sjerven (MUSB 2004) was named one of Billboard’s “30 Under 30,” a list of rising young executives within the music industry, in the issue published on August 25, 2007.  Sjerven was recognized for his work as marketing/promotions manager at Sunnyside Records, where he works to get greater exposure for jazz artists with young listeners in the indie market.  Billboard quotes Sunnyside founder/president Francois Zalacain as saying, “Bret is the necessary link to the younger generations that are [open] to all forms of music.”

Music Business Alumni Perform at New American Music Union Festival

Two recent NYU Music Business graduates, Christoph and Anton Hochheim, are not only twin brothers, but are also partners in their band called The Depreciation Guild.  They represented NYU in August at the New American Music Union Festival sponsored by American Eagle Outfitters in Pittsburgh.  The Depreciation Guild joined Bob Dylan, The Roots, and 14 other bands from colleges across the country, among others, in presenting a 2-day festival of music.

To learn more about the festival, visit www.ae.com/musicfestival, and visit the band’s MySpace at www.myspace.com/thedepreciationguild.

If you have a story idea about our current Music Business students, faculty members, or alumni, please e-mail it to catherine.moore@nyu.edu.