School of Rock Mason is celebrating its 10th Year Anniversary with a gala concert at Memorial Hall on Friday April 22 at 7:30pm. Tickets are available online at www.memorialhallotr.com or at the venue box office.
The show will feature most of the students from its current youth and adult performance programs, as well as performances from staff and former students. Three local bands that have been formed by graduated students will also perform: The Wonderlands, Freak Mythology, and The Bassless Chaps.
Student performances will come from the shows that students are now rehearsing and will present in May and June:
· Rush
· Iron Maiden and Judas Priest
· A Soul Revue
· Music of Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy
· New Wave
· David Bowie
· Music from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy
· Fleetwood Mac
· Van Halen
“We are thrilled to celebrate 10 years of enriching lives through music making and community building,” says School of Rock Mason owner Tim Garry. “Memorial Hall will be a wonderful place to bring our community together and do what we do best – put on a great concert.”
School of Rock Mason is a franchise and part of a worldwide network of more than 300 Schools of Rock that educate more than 50,000 students. The first School of Rock was founded in 1998, years before the movie came out.
School of Rock Mason had its grand opening on April 14 of 2012. Since then it has taught more than 1,200 different students, mostly kids but also adults, through lessons, performance programs, and summer camps. It currently has an enrollment of more than 250 students. The school offers private lessons in guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and voice that are suitable for beginning to advanced students. But it stands out for its performance programs that get its students performing together on stage at real rock venues around Cincinnati. The seasonal Performance Programs are for intermediate to advanced students; they have students putting on rock concerts every four months. Since opening, students have put on more than 175 different seasonal shows ranging from Aerosmith to Zeppelin. The school also offers Rock 101 performance programs for beginners.
In addition to the seasonal show concerts, the school has also put on benefit concerts throughout the years to raise money for scholarships, cancer research, and hurricane relief. It also has formed a House Band made up of some of its very best students that plays out throughout the year. The House Band has put on more than 100 concerts, including performances on Fountain Square, at Washington Park, at the MidPoint Music Festival, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and at Summerfest in Milwaukee, the world’s largest music festival.
School of Rock Mason has also been successful at placing students on the School of Rock National AllStars team. These students join others from around the country to go out on multi-city tours that include playing at local rock venues and huge festivals such as Lollapalooza. Selection to the team is quite an honor. There is a rigorous audition process, and less than 0.5% of the School of Rock network of students are selected to the team. School of Rock Mason has placed at least two of its students on the AllStars team every year since 2013, the first year its students were eligible to compete for a spot.
