A series featuring musicians sharing personal experiences and stories will begin on Thursday, Sept. 9.
The OU School of Music and the group Jazz in June are presenting The Resonance Series, in which musicians will share their insights and answer questions from students. The series will include artists Cory Wong, Du Yun, and Bartees Strange. The series is open to everyone, but the main focus is on students academically interested in music, according to Eric Walschap the creator of the series.
“When I started the series, it was … for them specifically to show what careers are in music,” Walschap said. “You know, like what a Grammy winner’s life is like with somebody on the road, about their life and essentially just a lot of anecdotes.”
Walschap credits a close friend of his for the series.
“I went out and … begged for money to start and Elaine Kemler is a dear friend and it’s with her gifts that continue to go on, that this series will continue in perpetuity,” Walschap said.
Because of Kelmer, Walschap said he believes that the series will be able to continue on for many semesters.
“These are resources you can't get anywhere else, like you can never go backstage after … a Kanye West concert and talk to their drummer and get information about how to succeed, but this series lets you do exactly that. You can talk to that drummer.”
The first artist is Grammy-nominated guitarist and bassist Cory Wong. Wong’s most notable band, Walschap said, is the funk group Vulpeck. He began touring with Vulpeck in 2016 and has since recorded on every album the band has released.
Outside of music, he is a producer for the podcast “Wong Notes” where he talks to other artists about their own works and achievements. Wong will be presenting at the Resonance Series on Sept. 9.
Walschap said that Wong is like the “Leonardo DiCaprio” of the music world, citing the actor’s years without an Oscar while maintaining his notoriety.
“Cory is at the level of any of these musicians that have, say, 16 Grammys. … He has had two of the biggest honors in music as both a musician and a guitarist.”
The honors, Walschap said, are having a signature guitar series with the company Fender and a feature with the Metropole Orkest, a three time Grammy winning orchestra.
The series will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9 at Pitman Hall and over Zoom using the password “resonance.”
