Gilbert, Ariz., April 24, 2019 - The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS; www.cras.edu), the premier institution for audio engineering education, will be opening the doors to its Gilbert, Ariz. campus (1205 N. Fiesta Blvd.) to prospective students, parents, and the media on Saturday, April 27 from 10am – 4pm. CRAS graduates will be on hand for the Open House, and will also be part of an Open Panel Forum held for current CRAS students the evening of April 25.
“In our ongoing quest to showcase many of the opportunities for our students once they graduate, we are able to give them an idea of what’s out there for them first hand once they enter the open market by connecting them with our graduates,” said Kirt Hamm, CRAS administrator. “Besides our mandatory internship program, getting our students in touch with our grads who either are working for others, or who have made the leap into self employment, is huge. That’s what this grad panel is about in our upcoming Open House. Continued education, networking, and learning what it takes for going out on one’s own by those who have done it already is of enormous value for any student.”
Hamm continued, “We also want prospective students and their parents to discover everything there is to know about a CRAS education, and with hard work and dedication just how successful they can be. For instance, every year, CRAS graduates populate, in great numbers, Grammy nominations for the year. At the recent Grammy Awards, 14 of our graduates worked on 15 2019 GRAMMY Award-winning nominations by numerous artists. In total, 34 CRAS graduates worked on 36 GRAMMY-nominated albums and songs across 33 categories.”
Members of the April Open House Grad Panel include:
· Ben Alvarez – 2015 CRAS Grad; Audio Engineer at Saltmine Studios in Mesa, Ariz. “I've had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented locals and celebrities while at Saltmine,” said Alvarez. Some of the artists Alvarez has worked with include Alice Cooper, Yo Gotti, Gunna, Mac Miller, Scoop Deville, Pierre Bourne, B.Howard, LA the Darkman, Futuristic, Big Daws, David Foster, Richard Chycki and more.
· Eli Smith – 2014 CRAS Grad; Smith interned for Grammy Award-winning mixer and producer, Chris Lord-Alge. In 2015, he joined Eric Milos at Clear Lake Recording as an engineer and studio manager. In 2017, Eric and Eli opened Fever Recording Studios, a Top 40-geared recording studio. Eli has worked with artists such as Adam Levine, Kehlani, Wale, Alina Baraz, X Ambassadors, Krayzie Bone, Dj Quik, Chromeo, Rise Against and many more. “Not only did I gain a tremendous amount of technical skills at CRAS, but I gained a network of like-minded audio geeks, like myself, for life,” said Smith. “As a student of music and as a hiring manager, CRAS grads stand out in the industry, period.”
· Alva Valencia – 2014 CRAS Grad; Valencia is currently the Video Operations and LED Specialist for Road Dog Show Pros. Before his current position, he was the Operations Manager for Automatik, an Account Manager at AV Concepts, an AV Specialist at AVR, and a Lead Tech for PSAV.
At the April Open House, guests will be able to interact with CRAS faculty and get a taste of the curriculum and the state-or-the-art audio gear spread throughout its numerous classrooms as well as its 42-foot Mobile Broadcast Unit. They will also be able to participate in live demonstrations in many of these real world audio recording studios, live sound venue, and labs.
The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences is composed of two nearby campuses in Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz. A CRAS education includes Broadcast Audio, Live Sound, Audio Post for Film and TV, Music Production, Commercial Production and Video Game Audio, all taught by award-winning instructors who have excelled in their individual fields. CRAS’ structured programs, and highly qualified teaching staff, provide a professional and supportive atmosphere, which is complemented by its small class sizes allowing for individual instruction and assistance for students in engineering audio recordings. CRAS has been providing quality vocational training in Audio Recording for more than three decades. The curriculum and equipment are constantly being updated to keep pace with the rapid advancements in the music and sound recording industries. CRAS’ course offerings and subject matter have always centered around the skills and knowledge necessary for students’ success in the Audio Recording industries.
The 11-month program is designed to allow every student access to learn and train in all of the Conservatory’s studios which are comprised with state-of-the-art audio recording and mixing gear, the same equipment used in today’s finest studios and remote broadcast facilities, including Pro Tools 12, API Legacy consoles, SSL G+ and AWS consoles, Studer Vista consoles, and much more. All students must complete a 280-hour industry internship to graduate from the Master Recording Program II that may ultimately lead to industry employment.
“We want everyone to see, hear, and feel how our 11-month program focuses exclusively on what a student needs to know to begin living their passion in any one of the many facets of the Recording Arts,” Hamm concluded.
For more information on the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, please visit www.cras.edu, contact Kirt Hamm, administrator, at 1-800-562-6383, or email to info@cras.edu.
About The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences
Based in the heart of The Valley of the Sun with two campuses in Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz., The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS) is one of the country’s premier institutions for audio education. The Conservatory has developed a unique and highly effective way to help the future audio professional launch their careers in the recording industry and other related professional audio categories.
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