Breaking into the music and media industries is notoriously difficult, but two CU Denver College of Arts & Media (CAM) alums managed to land their first jobs before even graduating. Rowan Petersen ’24 and Clara Kay ’24 both got their professional start with a paid internship at Youth on Record (YOR), a Denver-based nonprofit that offers free and paid music, podcasting, and creative career development programs in schools and at their recording studio and community space. The organization has a history of working with CU Denver students and faculty and was even co-founded by CU Denver senior instructor Andrew “Rok” Gurrero, of Flobots.
The partnership between YOR and CAM is a natural fit; both aim to simultaneously bolster Denver’s music and arts scene, while empowering the next generation of artists and storytellers. “The fact that CAM is so involved in the community and so enmeshed in the Denver music scene makes us want to work with them,” said David Ladon, YOR senior manager for creative youth development. “There is a natural connection in our work, and we love that we’re able to give these young producers a chance to really do applied work in a space that both nourishes them and challenges them.”
For Petersen, who earned a BS in Recording Arts, that meant developing his passions while flexing the skills he had learned in his classes. Both he and Kay began their internships while still students at CU Denver. “I’m kind of a multimedia person,” Petersen said. “I like songwriting. I like creative writing. So, I decided to go for the recording arts track. And while a lot of it is focused on music, there’s a lot of stuff that I think was really beneficial for the realm of podcasting and radio production.” On campus, he learned how to work within a digital audio workstation (commonly called a DAW in the industry), how to record high-quality “tape” in the field, how to create professional mixes, and more. “The Youth on Record internship, that really dialed in on what it means to take those skills and put them into a podcasting context,” Petersen said.
Now, he’s preparing to perform a musical that he and a former classmate wrote together while students at CU Denver. Their theatrical folk ensemble, The Peasantry, will perform it at the King Center on May 9.
Kay, a singer-songwriter, guitar player, and electronic artist who graduated with a BS in Music, had a similar experience. “I learned the essentials [in my classwork],” Kay said, “which were really important for my confidence to even apply to be an intern.”
But what was even more important to Kay was the experience of hands-on collaboration she got at CU Denver. “I had Dr. [Jiayue Cecilia] Wu for [Audio Production] Seminar, and I liked how she pushed us and broke the ice to be like, you can work with anybody in this room,” Kay said. “When you break that barrier and you do actually start working with people you wouldn’t expect to work with, it can be really fun, and you can open up more doors for you than you would expect.” She’s currently completing the YOR fellowship and working on her music.
At YOR, Kay and Petersen both found themselves working with some of Denver’s biggest artists. They produced and co-hosted the third season of Underground at the Showcase, the official podcast of the Underground Music Showcase, Denver’s independent music festival. They interviewed artists like Virgi Dart, Kid Astronaut, and Jon Rubio of Los Mocochetes. The pair cultivated hard skills like engineering interviews or editing and mixing the episodes. They also honed crucial soft skills, like meeting a guest’s energy level in a recorded interview.
All the while, they were making valuable connections. “I think it was incredibly beneficial for me long term,” Petersen said. “Not only through the people I met and the work I got to do, but just the ability to say that I’ve done this work.”
Now It’s Your Turn: YOR expects to open applications for its fall cohort of interns on March 14. Look for updates here.