CLASS OF 2020: Featuring Mic Ferrante. Creative! Committed! Courageous!
Mic pictured above on-stage. Photo courtesy of Mic Ferrante.
Student Interviews on the Impact of the Arts
The Burbank Arts for All Foundation is proud to highlight students in the CLASS OF 2020 who have been part of the robust arts community in Burbank Unified School District classrooms. We hope you enjoy reading about their experiences and getting to know them as we celebrate an important milestone in their lives: high school graduation.
Today, we present to you Mic Ferrante, who sang, composed, and played music through John Burroughs High School performing arts program. This fall, Mic will attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he will double-major in Classical and Jazz Composition. Congratulations Mic!
“The transition from taking snaps on the football field to organizing and hosting music benefit concerts was hugely due to the generosity and investment from the many people I’ve reached out to and established permanent friendships with, especially those available and willing to support us throughout the Burbank Unified School District Arts Programs.”
My name is Micangelo Ferrante, but you can call me Mic. I am a developing composer and pianist of the classical, jazz, and multi-ethnic realms as well as an arranger and music producer.
What was your first experience with the arts while in the Burbank Unified Schools?
Part of the Roosevelt Elementary curriculum was the Friday music class with Mr. Hollis. During the last session of the 3rd grade, I remember performing The Great Smoky Mountains by David Carr Glover in front of about twenty people. It was my first and quite intimidating BUSD performance.
What art experience in the schools are you most proud of, and how did it impact you?
I dropped my lifelong passion of becoming a professional quarterback in the NFL at the beginning of my junior year with the motivation to start composing music. I made one huge goal: by senior year, I would write and record a musical piece for the JBHS Wind Ensemble and Powerhouse Choir - and I did!
What advice do you have for younger students interested in doing something like what you do?
The performers at the Instrumental Music Association accepted me with open arms. My fellow students' support and the experiences I had inspired me to join Jazz Band, enroll at a Composer Fellowship under the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and organize and host music-benefits concerts at home and internationally, in Vietnam.
Finally, in December of my senior year, the combined Wind Ensemble and Powerhouse Choir consisting of approximately one-hundred performers, recorded my original piece, Angel. The unforgettable accomplishment was not only a landmark in my compositional journey but indeed proved to me anything is possible with hard work and a supportive community.
There's some truth behind the encouragement to "go and try new things." I've been very uncomfortable quitting football, going in and out of digital media, forcing my way into the pit orchestra for the school musical, or even taking AP Literature. I wholeheartedly recognize how these collective experiences have shaped who I am today, gaining invaluable skills and meeting new people. The transition from taking snaps on the football field to organizing and hosting music-benefits concerts was hugely due to the generosity and investment from the many people I've reached out to and established permanent friendships with, especially those available and willing to support us throughout the Burbank Unified School District Arts Programs.
Please share your plans for your future after graduation. Are you going on to college? If so, where and what do you hope to study?
I plan to attend the Berklee College of Music with a double-major in Classical and Jazz Composition, although there is still a possibility I will stay home for one more year in the Burbs.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you expect the arts to continue to play a role in your life, and if so, how?
I hope to be scoring for multimedia such as film and television while also growing as a solo artist, implementing my diverse influences into my music. I also hope to continue giving back to the community that has given me the countless resources and opportunities throughout my life and career, through the medium of music education and entertainment.
Mic conducted and performed his diverse compositions most recently in the Roy O. Disney Concert Hall at CalArts. To hear Mic's music, please visit his website.