The opportunity to engage directly with relevant figures from the contemporary music industry is a vital component of integrating students in the «Contemporary Music and Sound Art» program into a professional environment and preparing them to be active participants in the music market. Maya Schmidt and Denis Davydov, instructors for the undergraduate program in «Contemporary Music and Sound Art» and the professional development program in «Sound Production, ” regularly integrate thematic meetings with key representatives of the Russian music scene into the curriculum.
The meeting format is a masterclass, where invited lecturers share their professional experience: they discuss the creative and technical nuances of their approach to music, demonstrate their workflows, and speak about their professional journey and the specifics of career development in their chosen niche.
On September 16, Veronika Steklova, better known as ms smile, met with students. She is a music producer, songwriter, and artist who works at the intersection of alternative and pop music. In her practice, Veronika has developed a distinctive artistic language by combining unconventional creative techniques with consistent work on artistic image and aesthetics.
The lecture by Ms. Ulybochka was dedicated to songwriting within the context of developing an artist’s personal brand. It is aimed at those who are searching for their own creative identity and want to understand how to build a recognizable artistic language without sacrificing their unique vision.
Special attention was paid to Veronika’s professional journey: she outlined the key stages of her career development and discussed how her creative methodology, visual, and musical aesthetics gradually took shape.
Exclusively for HSE students, Veronika unveiled the unreleased track «Nežno&nebrezhno» featuring ONDA ANDAR from her upcoming album. She broke down the compositional process in Ableton Live, showed the production specifics, and shared her personal working methods, as well as her approach to creating music in collaboration with other artists.
Full recording of the lecture by Ms. Ulybochka
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