A festival designed to introduce girls to music production and support women already in the field, drew more than 200 participants to Barnard’s campus in September for a day of workshops, discussions, and performances. Organized by Barnard Center for Research on Women Alumnae Fellow Ebonie Smith ’07, the Gender Amplified Music Festival featured classes on such topics as how to create music using turntables and smart phones, and how to get music published. Also included were discussions on how women can own studios, and gender justice in hip-hop music. The young women attended through several community organizations, including Black Girls Rock!, The Sadie Nash Project, and The Fiver Children’s Foundation.
Speakers included engineer, producer, and studio owner Abhita Austin, who has worked with such artists as Missy Elliot; artist and producer Erica Glyn; and producer Pri the Honeydark who did a discussion/performance with producer, activist, and hip-hop artist Invincible. The day finished with a concert by THEESatisfaction. While still a Barnard student, Smith founded Gender Amplified as a way to develop a pipeline for women who want to work behind the scenes in the mostly-male music industry. For more, see genderamplified.com.
