By Zoe Falkson ’20 & Adam Drizen ’20, BVR Marketing Interns
The Coffee House club had the pleasure of being joined by two talented musicians—Naomi Steckman and Kevin Musgrave—virtually. The club meets once a week to perform, watch, and practice music, and in these unusual times, it has continued to meet virtually—sharing their passion for music by taking advantage of headphones and patience.
Kevin shared his step-by-step process of recording, editing, and producing music. Students were able to learn about the skills and techniques needed when making a song. Naomi gave Coffee House a beautiful performance on the cello, which you can watch here:
More about the musicians
Kevin Musgrave is a professional music writer, producer, and engineer. A Chicago native, he began his musical studies at Berklee College of Music in 2001. Musgrave currently holds a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Music Production. In 2008, he worked as a Radio Engineer and Producer for WRIR Richmond Independent Radio. This is where he got his big break to write, record vocal talent, and produce a commercial for Barack Obama’s first campaign, which aired multiple times prior to the election. In 2010, Musgrave moved from independent to mainstream radio. He worked with the promotions team with mainline radio, where he hosted broadcasting for big events in the RVA region. Shortly after, he worked Production with CBS Television. His duties included camera, audio for TV and lottery, editing, and guest appearances on Virginia This Morning. In 2014, he won the annual Atlanta Beat Battle Competition, using part of his hip-hop beat library before winning a summer position for the Ohio Light Opera doing live sound for theater. In 2015, Musgrave returned to Boston and began a studio internship with My Lady On Fire. After starting his own mixing and mastering company Digital Maestro Music (2016-2018), he then launched his current business, Noise to Notes in 2019. Musgrave’s company includes both professional recording and mixing services.
Naomi Steckman is a professional cellist and freelancer. She began her journey with the cello at three years old, and this has been her passion ever since. Growing up in Chicago, her parents took her to the symphony, where she realized that her dream was to be in an orchestra. To pursue this, Steckman received her undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music and just recently graduated from Boston University’s graduate school performance program which studies directly under the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As many would imagine, her job is quite nerve-wracking at times. She compared getting an orchestral job to training in the Olympics. Musicians must manage their stage fright and nerves, often with competition coaches, and be able to produce their best work in stressful circumstances. Steckman reveals that the important thing to keep in mind, even under the most terrifying situations, is “At the end of the day, you have to play because you love playing.”