Northridge Magazine

In a town so packed with talent that even those who dazzle can be neglected at awards time, two young Cal State Northridge women have been turning heads with their work in music—one as a composer/performer and the other as a video producer.

For her song, “The Wind and the Water,” music therapy major Casey Gregg in spring 2009 received the Western Region American Music Therapy Association regional award.

For production of the video “Mechanical Hands Electric Heart—Emergency Broadcast,” history major Nicole Taubman a few weeks later won first place in the music video category—a student Emmy award—at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation’s 30^th College Television Awards. Her video was selected from a field of more than 700 competitors.

Gregg’s composition plumbs the emotions of human beings who find themselves in situations beyond their power to control.

“The chorus says ‘Let the wind and the water take control,’ ” said Gregg. “It’s about…letting things happen just as they should.”

Her song was an outgrowth of her own experience and her studies in the field of music therapy, the specialized use of music to address the social, communication, emotional, physical, cognitive, sensory and spiritual needs of people of all ages, all ability levels.

“It is one of the most effective and unique forms of therapy,” said Gregg, who at age eight began taking piano lessons, then moved on to saxophone, drums and finally the guitar, which she played to accompany her voice on “The Wind and the Water.”

“It uses music and reinforcements through sounds, beats and song lyrics to help someone who has experienced trauma, who is mentally or physically ill and children,” she said, “especially those suffering from autism.”

After her graduation in spring 2010, Gregg will seek a master’s degree in social work or marital and family therapy.

Taubman was bitten by the producing bug two years ago and plunged headlong into a world in which sleep is a luxury and only ideas rule. Partner Chris Buongiorno, the video’s director, had developed a concept for a song by indie/electric duo Mechanical Hands. Intrigued, Taubman decided to go for it.

“We funded the video ourselves and shot the entire thing in two days,” she said, “There were about 30 shots a day. It was very exhausting, but fun.”

It was a far cry from the career in law Taubman once anticipated. “But producing is my passion,” she said. “I eventually want to own my own production company.”

Taubman recalls the rarefied atmosphere of the red carpet, an experience exclusive to the world’s glamour capitol. The flashing cameras and gleaming smiles were “all a little surreal,” she admits, “but I enjoyed it.”

To see and hear Gregg perform her award-winning song, click on The Daily Sundial Web site.

View Taubman’s Emmy-winning music video at www.nicoletaubman.com.

— Brenda Roberts

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