An OPRF student will be getting a chance of a lifetime at the Grammy Museum’s annual Grammy Camp.
Rising senior Sadie Parkinson was selected to be part of the 20th annual camp, a seven-day music industry program for high school students who are interested in pursuing careers in music.
The camp will be held in Los Angeles at The Village Recording Studios from July 14 through July 20 and will bring together 83 students from across 22 states who were selected after a rigorous application process.
The camp offers seven career tracks for students to apply to: audio engineering, electronic music production, songwriting, performance-vocal, music and media, and music business.
Sadie is pursuing the songwriting track.
Sadie,17, said she grew up in a family that loved music. She recalled listening to The Avett Brothers and playing guitar alongside her father. She also began playing piano at a young age. Her mother recognized her love for music and enrolled her in School of Rock Oak Park, a performance-based music program, as a keyboard and drum student in second grade.
This was also about the same time she wrote her first song, recalled Sadie.
“I don’t know that it is very good now,” Sadie said. “I have always kept that [songwriting] a bit separate and I started focusing a lot more on honing that skill around eighth grade I would say.”
Amy Renzulli, owner of School of Rock, said Sadie really came into her own through her participation in the programs.
“I watched her develop from a young teenager to a beautiful, creative, talented young woman and I’ve enjoyed seeing her grow over the years,” Renzulli said. “I was sad when she left. She was definitely one of my favorite students and has a special place in my heart.”
Sadie continued at School of Rock for nine years as a keyboard and drum student, where she was twice named an “AllStar,” the highest level of achievement, which allowed her to tour, playing in venues.
Sadie said she began hone her songwriting skills in eighth grade, when classes moved online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trying to find more fun things to do, Sadie said she devoted a lot of time to music in various ways, along with also developing her personal taste in music.
Inspired by artists such as Phoebe Bridges and Sufjan Stephens, Sadie said she developed her songwriting skills, which came in handy when she, along with other OPRF students, started a band.
Sadie is the keyboardist and singer for North Grove.
The band is made up of School of Rock alumni Jamie Regenstein on bass, Luke Fougere on guitar and James Hurt on drums.
“It’s a lot of fun because it lets me keep my instrumentalist part of my brain activated but I am also able to song write on my own, which is awesome,” Sadie said.
The band, which has been playing together since freshman year, play original songs written by members.
“The experience of playing in a band that isn’t just a cover band has been liberating,” she said. “You have a lot of creative freedom over what you want to do or how you want to make a song sound.”
North Grove has played shows around Oak Park and surrounding areas, including Robert’s Westside in Forest Park.
During camp, Sadie will learn ghost writing for other artists, as well as work on songwriting skills with other writers.
“I am very interested to see what it is like to ghost write for other people because I’ve only ever performed my own songs,” Sadie said. “I am excited to experience what it is like to be more behind the scenes because I think that would be really cool.”
Sadie said she also is excited to see Grammy award-winning artist Maren Morris, an alumna from the inaugural camp, who will be one of the three guest artists this year.
Morris has gone on to win five ACM Awards, five CMA Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, and a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for her song “My Church” in 2017.
Sadie said she hopes music always has a place in her life as she tries to navigate her other passion: chemistry.
“It has kind of been a war between music and chemistry for me the past couple of years,” she said. “But I value music too much to just stop it in college, so it will be one of my biggest priorities in choosing schools to make sure that music is something I can continue to pursue in some regards.”