Connecting Songwriters

Songwriters bond during ASCAP Foundation Lester Sill Songwriters Workshop in L.A.



Each year, the ASCAP Foundation Lester Sill Songwriters Workshop brings together a group of talented songwriters to learn about how to turn their craft into a career. This year's class of fourteen, culled from hundreds of applicants, was a lucky bunch indeed. In eight sessions spanning five weeks, the workshop writers met with an array of some of the most influential and talented names in the music business. Some of the highlights of the 2007 Lester Sill Songwriters Workshop included:

• An inspiring seminar with Trina Harmon, songwriter and personal coach

• Film/TV Night, which explored opportunities in film and television music with music supervisor Lindsay Wolfington, manager/music placement exec Lynn Grossman, singer/songwriter Michelle Featherstone and ASCAP's Mike Todd

• A music publishing primer, with attorney Doug Mark and Michael Eames (Pen Music Group)

• A night of constructive song critiques with hit songwriters Franne Golde and Martin Page

• An audience with songwriter/producer Linda Perry at her Kung Fu Gardens studio

• A fascinating and revealing evening with hit songwriter/publisher Kara DioGuardi

This year's participants bonded as friends and collaborators almost immediately - partnering on songs during the workshop and hanging out or gigging together on the off nights. And for the first year in Lester Sill Workshop history, the spirit of camaraderie spilled over into a special showcase for the group at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles.