Fanshawe College

Fanshawe College

Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology. Community college founded in London, Ont, in 1967. In 1964, the provincial government created Ontario Vocational Centres with a mandate of providing specialized training in technical, arts, and social science based fields. In 1967 Ontario established 19 colleges of applied arts and technology, and the Ontario Vocational Centre London became Fanshawe College. Fanshawe is one of Ontario's largest community colleges, with 120 programs and more than 15 000 full-time students.

Music Industry Arts

A part of the School of Contemporary Media, Fanshawe's Music Industry Arts (MIA) program was founded as Creative Electronics in 1973 by famed British disc jockey Tom Lodge. With six professors and 35 students in its inaugural year, courses in the three-year program centred on electronics and music synthesizers. In 1976, the program was re-named Music Industry Arts (MIA), and course offerings were expanded to include music recording and engineering, music production, music writing, audio post-production, entertainment law, and artist management. In the mid-1980s, graduates continued to earn College of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) diplomas, but the length of the program was reduced to two years.

The program has gained an international reputation for its faculty members, cutting-edge facilities, and high-profile graduates. In 2010 there were 11 MIA professors, three technologists, and two lab assistants. Audio post-production professor Steve Malison, who joined MIA in 1995, became the program coordinator in 2007. Faculty members have included Moe Berg, Jason Chapman, Duncan Grant, Jan Greene, Greg Hatchette, Terry McManus, Rob Nation, Jack Richardson, Larry Thompson, Joe Vaughan, Geoff Warder, and Jeff Wolpert. The program features an extensive guest lecture series, and up to 40 industry professionals visit the campus each year. Record producer Bob Ezrin and recording engineer and producer Phil Ramone were guest lecturers in the late 2000s. Students of the MIA program have access to on-campus digital recording studios, each fully equipped with state-of-the-art recording hardware and software. There is also a music production lab where students can practice mixing, editing, and mastering.

The Music Industry Arts program accepts approximately 108 students each year out of more than 800 applicants. Because of the highly competitive nature of the program, the majority of successful applicants have previous post-secondary education. More than 750 students have graduated from the program since its inception, including recording engineer John Bailey, producer and songwriter Stuart Brawley, recording engineer Kevin Doyle, Gary Furniss (president, Sony/ATV Music Publishing in Canada), past EMI president Mike McCarty, Hollywood film composer Trevor Morris, and recording engineer George Seara.

See also Community Colleges