USC STAGE
SUN/4/18 :: 4:00p
Music, Money, and Mindfulness
Presented by USC
This panel explores the art and impact of music from multiple angles, including the relationship between music and mindfulness and how to succeed in the industry. Participants include USC Thornton School professors Jeff Brabec, Lynn Helding and Richard Wolf, moderated by Varun Soni, Vice Provost for Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention and Dean of Religious Life at USC.
Varun Soni
Dr. Varun Soni is the Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California (USC) and the first Hindu to serve as the chief religious or spiritual leader of an American university. He is also Vice Provost of Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention, Adjunct Professor of Religion, and University Fellow at the Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy. Prior to USC, he spent four years teaching in the Law and Society Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Jeff Brabec
Jeff Brabec is Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for BMG, the fourth largest music publisher in the world. Brabec specializes in evaluating music publishing catalogue acquisitions. He is the co-author with his twin brother Todd of the book “MUSIC, MONEY, AND SUCCESS: The Insider’s Guide To Making Money In The Music Business” (8th Edition). He has been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism, The Texas Star Award for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in the Field of Entertainment Law and the California Copyright Conference Apollo Award honoring leadership and achievement In the music industry.
Lynn Helding
Lynn Helding is the author of The Musician’s Mind: Teaching, Learning and Performance in the Age of Brain Science. Performance credits include leading roles with Harrisburg Opera, Nashville Opera and Ohio Light Opera, and solo recitals throughout the US, Italy, France, England, Germany, Spain, Australia and Iceland. Recognized as a “legendary figure in the field of voice pedagogy” by the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University, Helding received their 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award. She is currently Professor of Practice in Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at USC’s Thornton School of Music and serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Singing.
Richard “Wolfie” Wolf
Richard “Wolfie” Wolf is an Emmy Award-winning composer, multi-Platinum selling music producer, and professor at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he teaches ever-popular classes on music and mindfulness. He is the author of In “Tune: Music as the Bridge to Mindfulness”. As a producer/remixer/songwriter, Wolf worked on projects with Prince, Bell Biv DeVoe, Freddie Mercury, MC Lyte, Eazy-E and Coolio, and has been contributing to the soundtracks for hundreds of films and television programs, including twelve seasons of the worldwide hit NCIS. He started practicing Zen meditation when he was a teenager.
