Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2013 | Page 22

Nashville

Dream

A SOUNDBOARD AT OCEAN WAY RECORDING STUDIOS

whaT Does real liFe aND work look like iN music ciTy usa?

by alaNNa Foxwell-barajas ’06

Tour

Eleven Wheaton students piled into a van in early November for a
whirlwind weekend trip to find out what it takes to break into the
music industry.
Organized by Wheaton’s Advancement and Alumni Relations
Division in partnership with Wheaton’s Conservatory of Music,
the trip was intended to introduce students to alumni professionals
involved in every aspect of the music industry, from performance and
production to writing and business.
Thanks to the vision and gracious hospitality of David Hamilton ’86,
a successful producer, orchestral writer, and arranger who moved
to Nashville in 1989 with his wife Sandy Kraft Hamilton ’86, the
trip involved meetings with both alumni in the arts and prominent
Nashville contributors to the world of music.
Joy Tobelmann Fletcher ’87, an event planner who spent years
managing artists and tours and working for the Gospel Music
Association, helped orchestrate the three-day schedule. “We showed
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them the talented, amazing people behind the music reel,” she says.
Students met with entertainment attorney Ted Graffam ’93 and
with Tom Snider ’84, an award-winning music writer and producer,
who has written theme songs for television. For business major
Jeremy Browning ’13, the broad exposure to the industry was only
part of why the trip “far exceeded” expectations. With hopes of
working in entertainment and media, he took note of key elements
for success that spanned specialties—like professionalism and “an
increasing familiarity with musical trends.”
Students used the van rides between stops to debrief and discuss
the larger questions of entering a competitive, often cutthroat,
industry as Christians. They explored questions such as one posed
by vocal performance major Elise Azkoul ’13: “Are people selling
out if they don’t label themselves as a Christian artist?”
Elise sees herself as a classically trained jazz singer and wants to
someday write songs for Disney. “We saw the industry from every