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It didn’t take a pandemic for Kailee McGuire to realize that she should follow her lifelong passion for music.

With her heart set on writing and releasing original music, McGuire decided to shadow an Audio Engineering and Music Production (AEMP) class at AV���� to get a feel for what the program was all about.

After connecting with Instructor Corey Bell and AEMP students, McGuire was hooked. She was inspired by the energy of the class and felt connected to the students, sharing the same passion for music and desire to express themselves artistically.

McGuire began the program during the pandemic, which meant the class was separated into two smaller groups.

“It was unfortunate that the entire class couldn’t be together every day; however, our class became very close,” she said. “The program brought me a lot of inspiration, great connections with the other students and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I grew so much in a short period of time.”

While they were unable to put on a show for a live audience, McGuire and her classmates were still able to perform at the Rotary Centre for the Arts together. Through this, McGuire gained the confidence to begin working on her Extended Play (EP) as part of her final capstone project.

“All the songs are originals and I recorded, mixed and mastered them all myself. It was really challenging and I learned so much, not only about studio recording, but also about myself on a personal level,” she shared. “I learned that you can never really be finished working on your EP, as there’s always another direction you can take. But at some point, I had to commit to the direction I was taking it and let it go.”

McGuire’s EP was released on July 23 and is available on Spotify, Apple Music and more. The album chronicles McGuire’s time living in Ireland and the experiences she had abroad, where she encountered many mental health challenges. She hopes that by sharing her struggles in her music, she can help others not feel alone and help provide hope and healing.

The Audio Engineering and Music Production certificate program is offered at the Kelowna campus. For the program description, requirements and outline, visit the program page.