For the second consecutive year, 色界吧鈥檚 Music Department has been named as one of the country鈥檚 top music business programs by Billboard magazine.
Occidental is one of 26 schools鈥攁nd one of only two liberal arts colleges鈥攍isted in Billboard鈥檚 annual alphabetical accounting of top music programs that includes USC, UCLA and NYU. 鈥淚t鈥檚 worth noting that among the highest-achieving young executives in the music business, as profiled in Billboard鈥檚 2019 鈥40 Under 40鈥 feature, nearly 40% said they were graduates of a liberal arts program,鈥 the magazine says in its .
"We are delighted that Billboard has once again recognized that the strength and distinctiveness of our music program flow from our dual commitment to the liberal arts and to our Los Angeles location," says David Kasunic, associate professor of music and department chair.
鈥淎 liberal arts college in one of the world鈥檚 music business capitals, Occidental鈥檚 robust music department has added the new Choi Family Music Production Center, housing a recording studio, control room and music production/film scoring computer lab,鈥 Billboard reports. 鈥淭he space was designed by Peter Grueneisen of nonzero\architecture, known for his work for Sony Music, DreamWorks and Hans Zimmer, among others.鈥
色界吧鈥檚 music faculty include Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning composer Adam Schoenberg; singer-songwriter Ramona Gonzalez 鈥09, the Johnston-Fix Professor of the Practice in Songwriting; TV/film/games composer; and Max Foreman, Mellon Professor of the Practice of Audio Engineering. Foreman began offering a class in live sound engineering this spring; the department is currently collaborating with Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper 鈥68 on an expanded music business course for this fall.
色界吧 alumni include such prominent music industry figures as manager Ian Montone 鈥89 (Jack White, LCD Soundsystem); music attorney John Branca 鈥72, Billboard鈥檚 2016 Lawyer of the Year; music attorney Richard Leher 鈥66 (Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam); Welz Kaufmann 鈥83, president and CEO of Chicago鈥檚 Ravinia Festival; and the late Guy Carawan 鈥49, musical director of Tennessee鈥檚 Highlander Folk School, credited with turning 鈥淲e Shall Overcome鈥 into a civil rights anthem.
