Master Class and Showcase

Part of a weeklong festival of music events: Music for Changing Times: Looking Back/Moving Forward. A group of prominent composers and lyricists with deep roots in songwriting and social change music offer a live coaching session to emerging artists ages 18-38. Artists will benefit from first-hand knowledge of what it means to write songs that reflect current events and inspire change. Selected young artists (as identified through our Songwriting Competition) will perform their original songs and receive feedback related to the quality and clarity of the composition, and the craft and power of their message. Contest applicants, aspiring artists and interested community members are welcome to join as observers. Rubicon Theatre Company, in association with Music2Life, presents a new weeklong series of events in Ventura, California, May 8 – 13, 2017, called MUSIC FOR CHANGING TIMES: LOOKING BACK/MOVING FORWARD celebrating the power of music to effect positive social change. Events include concerts with legacy artists and emerging artists, a national songwriting competition for artists 18 to 38 with an evening of performances by the Top 10 finalists and an awards ceremony, a master class for artist activists, and the first public presentation of a theatrical concert- in-the-making. This inaugural series is curated and hosted by five-time Grammy Award-winner Noel Paul Stookey. Other artists scheduled to participate as performers, judges or instructors include Grammy winners Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) and George Grove (The Kingston Trio); Tony nominee and LADCC winner Dan Wheetman of Marley’s Ghost; Jimmy Messina of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and Loggins and Messina; songwriter Dave Gibson (whose new duet performed by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill debuted on Monday’s CMA Awards); Golden Globe Award-winning singer/songwriter Amanda McBroom; Tariqh (music director for Josh Groban and Stevie Wonder); Perla Battala (a long-time associate of Leonard Cohen and Ojai based solo artist); Tony Award-winning producer and music manager Normand Kurtz of Dartmouth Management (Christina Aguilera, David Bowie and others); music manager Mark Hartley (Partner, Fitzgerald Hartley Co., music agent) Ira Goldenring of Paradigm Agency; and The Lonesome Travelers (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominees).