In the Classroom with Kaila Mullady

Students in the Audio Production and Music programs were lucky enough to work with Broadway beatboxer Kaila Mullady, one of the stars of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award winning Freestyle Love Supreme. Mullady is the 2015 and 2018 World Beatbox Champion, the 2014 American Vice Beatbox Champion, 3x Loop Station Champion, and 3x reigning Beatrhyme Champion. She worked with students to demonstrate the many ways their voices can be used as instruments, while sharing some anecdotes about her career (including her performance at the 2021 Tony Awards).

“I liked that it was interactive and that we got to participate in the presentation,” said Jake Santos, a Music student. “We were in a circle and we echoed the beatboxing that she did and got a feel for it. Ater, we came up and did sound effects and made a loop out of it. We split into two groups and came up with things to add to it, whether it was lyrics or a melody. I liked that it was collaborative that we were all working together to make a loop.”

“I liked how interactive she was with all of us,” said Joey Toscano, an Audio Production student. “She made it easy to try new things. It was a comforting feeling to try something new with someone who has so much experience.”

“We don’t get to see the Audio Production kids, so it was nice to include them in what we are doing,” said Santos. “It was a lot of fun. One of the things I like about LIHSA is that we get to work with so many different guest artists and they have such interesting feedback about what we’re working on.”