Virginia music studio partners with local schools to bring professionals to the classroom

MANASSAS, Va. — A northern Virginia music studio is giving some Prince William County Public Schools students a leg up in the music business.

Trilogy Sound Studio has started hosting master classes at PWCS to introduce students to local recording artists and music producers.

Last week, co-founder and CEO, Sarah Benrazek, presented her first of three this school year to music technology students at Colgan High School in Manassas.

“I think it would have changed my life," Benrazek said. "From the beginning, I didn't have anybody to tell me anything about music production, let alone the music business."

That's why she invited producer and president of Trilogy, Sean Harris, and the studio's signed recording artist, Redhaze, to share their own struggles and triumphs in the hopes of paving a clearer path for this next generation.

“I think it's really helpful to have professionals from an actual recording studio come in and explain to everybody how to go about it, give us tools, give us the websites and give us the keys we need to succeed in music," high school junior Leo DeAngelo said.

He and all of his music tech classmates are producing their own music in some way right now.

DeAngelo is focusing on audio with the goal of being a sound engineer for live music.

His peer, Toni Abrams, a senior at Colgan, said she has mostly been producing music, but has goals of exploring her own artistry -- particularly in the R&B genre.

To build a successful career out of these passions, they'll need the knowledge Benrazek has curated in these master classes -- including copyright laws, licensing and sync deals, distribution applications and more.

Benrazek also printed out worksheets full of resources, so that each student can immediately apply what they learned.

“A lot of times when you're in class in high school, you're like, why am I learning this? I'm not going to use this in real life," she said. "This you can absolutely use in real life.”

Redhaze said he uses many of the applications they discussed during the class -- and even learned about some new ones himself that day.

“I just hope that it plants a seed within them, in their brain, that grows into them being confident enough to label themself an artist," he said. "And that they can make careers out of it, because there's enough room for all of us to eat."

Sean Harris said technology has changed the game for up and coming artists -- like these students.

“Everything's so accessible nowadays when it comes to music-- like it really makes every angle of your music dream come true," Abrams said.

These students are looking forward to November's class, where Benrazek said they'll start actually producing music together.

High school junior Rohan Garon said, "I think it was a very important class to have as an up and coming musician. There's a lot of business in the music industry, and it's important to have a good grasp on that knowledge."

Trilogy is hosting another master class at Colgan in February and is also working with Fairfax County Public Schools.