Entrepreneurial Grads to Speak at July CRAS Open House

On July 15 at The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Gilbert, Ariz. Campus, “Creating and Driving Your Own Business” Will be the Entrepreneurial Grads Panel Theme for Current CRAS Students; Panelists will Also be Present During the July 16 Open House.

Gilbert, Ariz., July 5, 2016 – The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS; www.cras.edu), an institution for audio engineering education, will be opening the doors to its Gilbert, Ariz. campus (1205 N. Fiesta Blvd.) to prospective students, parents, and the media on Saturday, July 16 from 10am –4pm. On July 15, CRAS will be welcoming back multiple entrepreneurial grads to speak during a panel discussion entitled “Creating and Driving Your Own Business” for current students. The panelists include graduates who have started their own successful businesses, and the panel discussion will be streamed live Watch it here.

“There are a host of opportunities for our students once they graduate, and we want to give them an idea of what’s out there first hand for them once they enter the open market,” said Kirt Hamm, CRAS administrator. “Besides our mandatory internship program, getting our students in touch with our graduates who are either working for others, or who have made the leap into self employment, is huge. That’s what this panel is about in our upcoming Open House. Continued education, networking, and learning what it takes for going out on one’s own by those who have done it already is of enormous value for any student.”

Members of the “Creating and Driving Your Own Business” panel include:

Jeremiah Reyes

2006 CRAS graduate; lead engineer/owner at CRE818 (multimedia company) in Phoenix, Ariz.

Peter Phengrasmy

2006 CRAS graduate; owner of West-One Productions, in Hollywood, Calif.

Jeff Morin

2011 CRAS graduate; co-owner of Deep Roots Studios in Tempe, Ariz.

“I learned a ton [at CRAS] and met some incredible people,” said Morin. “While I can’t discredit the academic component of my CRAS education at all, the most valuable assets to me are the relationships I formed with many CRAS faculty members. Five years after graduating I can still call quite a few of my former instructors with any questions that I may have and they’re right there willing to help. There are some special people at CRAS for sure. I’m lucky to count them as among my friends and professional colleagues.”

At the July 16 Open House, guests will be able to interact with CRAS faculty and get a taste of the curriculum and the state-or-the-art audio gear spread throughout its numerous classrooms as well as its 42-foot mobile broadcast unit. They will also be able to participate in live demos in many of these real world audio recording studios, Live Sound Venue, and labs.

The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences is composed of two nearby campuses in Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz. A CRAS education includes broadcast audio, live sound, film and TV audio, music, and video game audio, all taught by award-winning instructors who have all excelled in their individual fields, including sound reinforcement, audio recording and production, digital recording, troubleshooting/maintenance, and music business.

“We want everyone to see, hear, and feel how our 11-month program focuses exclusively on what a student needs to know to begin living their passion in any one of the many facets of the recording arts,” explained Hamm. CRAS structured programs and highly qualified teaching staff provide a professional and supportive atmosphere, which is complemented by its small class sizes allowing for individual instruction and assistance for students in engineering audio recordings.

“CRAS has been providing quality vocational training in audio recording for more than three decades,” added Hamm. “The curriculum and equipment are constantly being updated to keep pace with the rapid advancements in the music and sound recording industries. CRAS’ course offerings and subject matter have always centered around the skills and knowledge necessary for students’ success in the audio recording industries.”

The 11-month program is designed to allow every student access to learn and train in all of the Conservatory’s studios which are comprised with state-of-the-art audio recording and mixing gear, the same equipment used in today’s finest studios and remote broadcast facilities, including Pro Tools 11, API Legacy consoles, SSL AWS consoles, Studer Vista consoles, and much more. All students must complete a 280-hour industry internship to graduate from the Master Recording Program II that may ultimately lead to industry employment. In 2015, in total, 47 CRAS graduates hold credits for their work with 50 artists or bands that are up for awards in 42 out of 83 categories at the 57th Grammy Awards.