Introducing students to the music industry: Roland hosts high school songwriters at open house. (Industry Forefront).

ROLAND RECENTLY demonstrated its dedication to music education by hosting an event for the Huntington Beach High School Songwriters Class on March 22, 2002, at the Roland Corporation  U.S. corporate headquarters in Los Angeles.

The Academy of Performing Arts program is held on the campus of Huntington Beach High School in southern California, not far from the Roland Corporation U.S. offices. A.P.A. faculty members handpick their students from a countrywide pool on an audition-only basis in the disciplines of dance, musical theatre, instrumental music, voice, songwriting, directing, writing for stage, and set design. The school has garnered numerous awards over the years, including eleven MACY trophies for its recent production of Oklahoma!"

Upon arrival, the students were treated to breakfast and a "meet-and-greet" session with Roland executives, including Market Development Coordinator Debra Barbre and Roland Product Support Manager Duane McDonald. Roland Corporation U.S. President Dennis Houlihan then addressed the students at an informal gathering in the company's state-of-the-art media center.

After a brief audio-visual presentation, the students experienced informative and entertaining demonstrations of Roland and BOSS products, including the popular BOSS BR-8 and BR-532 Digital Recording Studios, the new Roland Fantom Workstation, and the VG-88 V-Guitar System. After the presentations the students were treated to a tour of the company's facilities.

Following the tour the students returned to Roland's media center for hands-on experimentation with Roland and BOSS products and a question-and-answer panel discussion.