Students Attend Disney-Pixar 'Ratatouille' Recording Session

On April 4, 2007, fourteen 7th graders from Education Through Music-Los Angeles' first partner school, St. Sebastian attended the recording session at the Sony Studios Scoring Stage for the much anticipated Disney-Pixar film, Ratatouille. Award-Winning Film Composer, Michael Giacchino, whose work includes The Incredibles, Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible III, and Ratatouille, is on the Advisory Board for Education Through Music-Los Angeles.

St. Sebastian School (K-8) is located in West Los Angeles where many of the students commute from lower-income communities. "We want to give as many opportunities as we can for our students. Graduation is not an option; we want to prepare all of our students for high school, the university, and beyond," says Principal Ed Hermeno. Mr. Hermeno believes in the power of a strong arts and music education to support children's learning, so strongly embraces the mission of Education Through Music-LA in his school.

Students were delighted to have this opportunity. "I didn't know so much work was put into the the background music of an animated movie. I will appreciate music in movies a lot more," said one 7th grader. During the ten-minute breaks, Mr. Giacchino graciously spent time with students, answering their broad range of questions like, "What inspired [him] to write film music?" to "So if I scream in the booth then it won't get recorded by the microphone?" Mr. Giacchino also imparted to the students, "If you're ever interested in something, feed it. Don't be afraid of it. When it comes time to think about what you what to do for a living it HAS to be something you love doing."