Musicians Institute - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Guitar Institute of Technology) Private music school in Los Angeles, California

Musicians Institute

Former names	Guitar Institute of Technology Musicians Institute of Technology
Type	Private for-profit music school
Established	1977
President	Todd Berhorst
Academic staff	450
Students	1,425
Location	Los Angeles, California, United States
Campus	Urban
Website	mi.edu

Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor of Music Degrees in either Performance or Composition. The college was founded in 1977.

History

Founders Howard Roberts and Pat Hicks

Musicians Institute was founded as The Guitar Institute of Technology in 1977 as a one-year vocational school of guitarists and bassists. Its curriculum and pedagogical style was shaped by guitarist Howard Roberts (1929–1992). Pat Hicks (né Patrick Carroll Hicks; born 1934), a Los Angeles music industry entrepreneur, was the co-founder of Musicians Institute. He is credited for providing the organizational structure and management that rapidly transformed Howard Roberts' educational philosophy into a major music school.

Programs added under Roberts and Hicks include:

1978: Bass Institute of Technology (BIT)
1980: Percussion Institute of Technology (PIT)
1987: Vocal Institute of Technology (VIT)
1991: Keyboard Institute of Technology (KIT)
1993: Recording Institute of Technology (RIT)
1994: Bachelor of Music Degree

Early curricular offerings

At the time of its founding, formal education in rock and roll at institutions of higher learning was limited mostly to universities and conservatories offering jazz studies, which were few. At the founding of the Musicians Institute, Jazz studies was, and is today, a strong component of the curricular offerings. In early days of the Musicians Institute, the demand for musicians and music industry professionals with comprehensive collegiate credentials in the field of contemporary music was low. Yet, the demand for contemporary music professionals was high. Roberts, when he founded the school, wanted to give aspiring rock and roll musicians a conservatory experience. Nowadays, comprehensive music education in higher education, from bachelors to doctorates, covers rock and roll from several perspectives, including literature, musicology, history, performing arts, technology, business, and law. For musicians working towards degrees in performance, proficiency in rock and roll is standard, particularly for aspiring session musicians.

The rise of contemporary musicians holding comprehensive academic credentials over the last 50 years is partly the result of more universities offering programs in the field, which, in turn, has increased the demand for contemporary oriented music educators with academic credentials at universities. Because the Musicians Institute was an innovator in rock and roll in higher education – and thirty years ago began offering bachelor of music degrees – its alumni are well-represented as educators of contemporary music at institutions of higher learning.

Japanese businessman Hisatake Shibuya (born 1937) bought the school in 1994 and Musicians Institute began developing new programs to keep abreast of the modern music industry. Programs added under Shibuya include:

2000: Independent Artist Program (IAP)
2000: Audio Engineering
2000: Guitar Craft Academy (GCA)
2002: Music Business Program (MBP)
2016: DJ Performance and Production (DJP)
2016: Associate of Science in Music Business (AS.MB)
2017: MI Online (MIO)
2018: Artist Producer and Entrepreneur (APE)
2018: Master in Music Degree (MM)

On 25 August 2007, the Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution declaring 25 August 2007, "Musicians Institute Day in the City of Los Angeles" in recognition of its achievements over three decades during its 30th anniversary celebration. The resolution was presented by Eric Garcetti, seconded by Tom LaBonge, and passed by a vote of twelve to zero out of fifteen, three being absent.

Former institutional and division names

Active names

MI College of Contemporary Music™ (service mark & trade mark)
MI Connects™ (service mark) – online talent resource for students and alumni
MI Musicians Institute™
Guitar Craft Academy™ – for the design, construction, and maintenance of guitars and basses

Trademark names of Campus Hollywood

Tricycle Entertainment™ (service mark – abandoned in 2004)

Former names

Guitar Institute of Technology (service mark – became inactive 22 June 1990)
Vocal Institute of Technology (service mark – became inactive 19 May 1989)
Bass Institute of Technology
Percussion Institute of Technology
Keyboard Institute of Technology
Recording Institute of Technology (trademark – became inactive 5 December 2005)
Film Institute of Technology (trademark – became inactive 5 December 2005)
Encore Program
World Institute of Percussion (launched in 1987)

Trademark notes

"MI College of Contemporary Music™," United States Patent and Trademark Office
Reg. No. 4662703, 20 December 2014
Reg. No. 4659008, 23 December 2014
"MI Connects™," United States Patent and Trademark Office
Reg. No. 4056217, 5 November 2011
"MI Musicians Institute™," United States Patent and Trademark Office
    Reg. No. 3630659, 2 June 2009
    Reg. No. 3630655, 2 June 2009
    Reg. No. 3380297, 12 February 2008
    Reg. No. 3380290, 12 February 2008
    Reg. No. 1598974, 29 May 1990
"Vocal Institute of Technology™," United States Patent and Trademark Office
Reg. 6 September 1988
Abandoned 19 May 1989

Academics

The Musicians Institute offers instrumental performance programs for bass, drums, guitar, keyboard technology, and vocals. Music industry programs include audio engineering, Independent Artist Program, the Guitar Craft Academy and Music Business. The school offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Bachelor of Music degrees in addition to certificates.

The Institute of International Education, in its assessment of "Top 40 Specialized Institutions, 2009/10," from its publication, International Students: Leading Institutions by Institutional Type, ranked Musicians Institute 13 in the United States out of 40. Musicians Institute and its programs are registered by the state of California by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. It has been an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) since 1981.

In 1992, new musicologist Robert Walser cited the Musicians Institute as one of the best-known schools for guitarist, one that has flourished outside the ivory tower, offering students broader professional training. But a trade-off, according to a review in the October 2012 issue of Performer Magazine, is that a lack of academic accreditation – specifically from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges – can make it challenging for students to transfer credits from MI to academic institutions. To meet the academic criteria for a Bachelor of Music Degree – 45 quarter units or 30 semester units in liberal arts – the Musicians Institute has a partnership with nearby Los Angeles City College (LACC) to study English, mathematics, natural science, social science, and humanities. LACC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Carnegie Foundation has designated the Musicians Institute as a "Special Focus Institute in Music."

Facilities and constituent institutions

MI began in second floor rooms above Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Boulevard. When MI celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007, its facilities included over 75,000 square feet of studios, performance venues, classrooms, and practice rooms across several blocks in central Hollywood. In 2013, the Musician's Institute Stage was added as a venue for the Annual Mayhem Festival and The ESP Company, LTD, unveiled plans to expand its Campus Hollywood complex of schools in Los Angeles. From 2010 to 2013, ESP invested $47 million in new property with plans to expand its facility to exceed 180,000 square feet of adjoining buildings on or near Highland Avenue between Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Boulevard as part of a reorganization and upgrade of existing Campus Hollywood properties that accommodate the Musicians Institute, Theatre of Arts, International Dance Academy, and Elegance International. The new facilities were planned to include a performance venue, student dormitory, and parking lots.

Constituent institutions of Campus Hollywood, Inc.:

Musicians Institute
Theatre of Arts, an acting school founded in 1927
Elegance International, a school for professional makeup artists
Los Angeles College of Music
International Dance Academy Hollywood

International sister educational institutions:

MI Japan (ja) – Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai and Fukuoka
UTB Video Academy (ja), Chiyoda, Tokyo, founded in 1998 under the auspices of United Television Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (ja)
ESP Entertainment, Kita-ku, Osaka

Other entities closely held by Hisatake Shibuya:

Hollywood Entertainment ESL, founded as a California corporation in 2012, active (as of 2015)
ESP Investment Holdings, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 2010, active (as of 2015)
ESP Gakuen, founded as a Japan corporation in 2001, registered as a foreign non-profit corporation in California, active (as of 2015)
Schecter Guitar Research, acquired by Shibuya in 1987 – Hisatake Shibuya, President
ESP Company, Limited, doing business as ESP Guitars, founded by Shibuya in 1975
United Television Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (ja), a Japanese language television station based in Los Angeles and syndicated in Japan
E.S.P. Shibuya Enterprises, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 1998, active (as of 2015)

Inactive entities that were closely held by Hisatake Shibuya:

Tricycle Records, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 2001, dissolved
ESP Co., LTD., doing business in California as ESP Real Estate Investment, Inc., registration surrendered
Entertainment Enterprises Hollywood, Inc., founded as a California corporation, dissolved
CHMG, Inc., founded as a California corporation, no longer active
Hollywood Pop Academy, Inc., founded in 2003 as a California corporation, no longer active

Musicians Institute Press

The Musicians Institute Press is a division of the Musicians Institute, and is focused on instructional publications – print and video – by instructors of guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and film editing, audio engineering, composition, arranging, musicology, music theory, sight reading, sight singing, and the entertainment business. The publications are distributed by the Musicians Institute and Hal Leonard Corporation Performing Arts Publishing Group. Since 1997, the publishing imprint has been the "Musicians Institute Press." Before that, from about 1982 to 1997, the imprint was "Musicians Institute Publications."

Notable faculty

Faculty – current and former

Guitar

Bass guitar

Vocal

Debra Byrd, Chair
Anika Peress

Percussion

Keyboards

Audio engineering

TJ Helmerich

Music Industry, entrepreneurship

Independent Artist program

Lisa Harriton, Chair
Marko DeSantis

Original Song Pre-Production

Richie Zito

Guest instructors – current and former

Guitar

Bass guitar

Percussion

Guitar Craft Academy

Howard R. Paul

Notable alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (October 2023)