Featuring performances by and interviews of three alumni musicians, the event united students and the music industry to celebrate the program’s fifth anniversary.

SOLA performs at the NYU LA Musical Showcase
On November 7, 2024, NYU Los Angeles (NYU LA) held their inaugural Spotlight Musical Showcase at the Preserve in Hollywood in celebration of the global site’s fifth anniversary. The 125 attendees included current students, alumni, and other friends of the program that work in the music industry.
Since 2019, NYU LA has welcomed advanced undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in the entertainment and media industries. While in LA, students engage in rigorous academic coursework taught by industry professionals and undertake a mandatory internship. A series of additional experiential and professional development opportunities support the students as they begin to forge their careers in entertainment, media, music, technology, and broadcasting.

Piper Page performs at the NYU LA Musical Showcase.
“We felt from the get-go that one of the big gaps in entertainment industry education was not enough connectivity between the education and the realities of the industry,” says Nina Sadowsky, program director at NYU LA. “The heart of our program is the required internship, but we’ve also reached deep into our local base of 16,000 alumni for mentorship and networking. Our Spotlight Musical Showcase was a great way to further engage our alumni while creating an opportunity for our students to make more professional links.”
The Spotlight Musical Showcase featured performances by three NYU alumni, all of whom are now launching their careers:
- Jessica “SOLA” Omokheyeke (Steinhardt BM ’23, Music Business)
- Piper Page (Steinhardt BM ’23, Music Business)
- Justin Carter “Jwalt” Walton (Tisch School of the Arts ’24)
“I was excited to participate in the Musical Showcase to shed more light on the music part of NYU LA’s program,” says Page, who released her debut album, Based On True Events, in September and recently wrapped up a tour that included stops in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. “I want to highlight that the musicians who come through our program do great things. It was such a well-done event and was well-received by everyone.”

Susan Dodes inteviews SOLA.
“I was so impressed by the outstanding performances and achievements of our alums,” said Jack H. Knott, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of NYU Steinhardt, who attended the Musical Showcase. “These graduates of our Music Business program are a testament to the program’s unique education and hands-on experience, which empower our students to achieve success in the highly competitive music industry.”
In addition to the performances, the alumni were interviewed on stage by special guests, including Susan Dodes, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at Steinhardt and celebrated music executive, and Marcie Allen, strategic branding powerhouse and current NYU LA faculty. Page chose to be interviewed by Noah Broxmeyer, director of creator and content marketing at Capitol Music Group and an alum of Gallatin and NYU LA.

Noah Broxmeyer interviews Piper Page.
“We talked about what it was like for me to roll out an album as an independent artist and doing everything myself, which really resonated with the students who talked to me after the event concluded,” says Page, who is an active recording artist and songwriter while working as a marketing coordinator for Reservoir, an independent music company in New York City. “It’s more and more common for people to launch their music careers while holding other jobs, and I wanted to show them that it’s possible.”
The Musical Showcase was well-received by all attendees, and Sadowsky hopes to annualize this event, as well as perhaps expand it to other areas of the program.
“If people want to work in film, music, gaming, or tech, they need to know LA and the ecosystem here,” says Sadowsky. “Events like this provide connectivity that benefits the school, the students, the alumni, and the industry representatives.”

Jwalt, Nina Sadowsky, Piper Page, and SOLA
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