February 21, 2008.
American Idol - Musicians Institute Connection Continues with Brooke White Former Student is a Top 24 Finalist on American Idol
Brooke White, a recent student at Musicians Institute’s Vocal Institute of Technology (VIT), may soon be following in the star-studded footsteps of Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks.
Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson selected the 24-year-old singer and keyboardist as one of the Top 24 finalists for the 2008 American Idol competition. Cowell compared her favorably to Carly Simon and Carole King.
Brooke’s talent was also apparent while she was attending MI. “Brooke was an outstanding student,” recalled VIT Director Mike Campbell. “Besides being a wonderful person, she had an amazing work ethic and a great attitude. Working with her was an absolute joy.”
Chris Maloney, Brooke’s program coordinator at MI, adds, “Brooke has that very rare combination of talent, image, drive and smarts. Even when she first came to MI at only 18, she had a maturity way beyond her years.”
White, a native of Mesa, Arizona who originally auditioned for Idol in Philadelphia, has already received a lot of airtime on the show and industry Idol-watcher reviews of her audition performances have been very strong.
Season Three AI finalist LaToya London, a successful recording artist currently playing Nettie in the Chicago production of The Color Purple, also fine-tuned her talents in Musicians Institute’s Vocal Encore Program.
Since opening its doors in 1977, Musicians Institute has primed over 20,000 musicians, producers, engineers, vocalists and industry professionals for successful careers in every genre of contemporary music. Located just blocks from the Capitol Records tower, MI has an incredible history of innovation dating back to its origins in 1977 as the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), which broke new ground as a performance-based contemporary music school taught by working professionals. Within a few years, GIT was joined by bass and drum programs to form Musicians Institute and the evolution has continued to this day with degree and certificate programs for career-minded guitarists, bassists, drummers, vocalists, keyboardists, recording engineers, independent producers, guitar makers, music business professionals and filmmakers.
