The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is halfway through a two-day stop at Ohio State’s Columbus campus. The Lennon Bus travels the country staffed with recording and multimedia engineers who demonstrate cutting-edge technologies and techniques for music and multimedia production.
On Wednesday, April 22, Lennon staff coached a group of students from twelve to twenty-seven years old to write music and lyrics for an original song, which they recorded and mixed on site. After sequencing the audio tracks, the young women spent the afternoon producing a video for their song.
“All were nervous when they entered the bus at 9:00 am this morning,” said Catherine Girves, Director of the University Area Enrichment Association. But the staff of the Lennon Bus and the support of volunteers allowed the young artists to create a really impressive piece of work. OSU student Ra’Sheeda Donaldson says, “This is a group of intelligent, creative females. The Lennon Bus has encouraged us to think freely.”
“We had an idea of what to expect but it was totally different than what we were imagining,” OSU freshman Megan Hernandez said with relief. “It really brought out talent in me that I didn’t know I had. That I didn’t know I wanted to have.”
On Thursday, April 23, the Bus opens for walk-through tours from 1 to 3 p.m. On Seventeenth Avenue at High Street, just north of the Wexner Center. At 4:00 pm the accompanying music video will premier along with a reel of locally produced pieces in the Wexner Center Performance Space. Participant Carrie Wolfe said, “This experience is about more than just the Bus. It promotes community and technology education. Its an opportunity to hear the voices of local talent. And if you miss out, you suck.”
Hear the song at http://blip.tv/file/2024849. Admission to the video premier and Wexner Center exhibitions is free on Thursday, April 23 from 4 to 8 p.m. For additional information about this event visit http://digitalunion.osu.edu/lennonbus.
