Tanisha Hall

TOP-RATED WHITE HALL ARTS ACADEMY PARTNERS WITH TECH COMPANY IZOTOPE TO BUILD COMPUTER LAB FOR LOS ANGELES YOUTH FOLLOWING LEWIS PRIZE COVID-19 GRANT

For three consecutive years, White Hall Arts Academy has been awarded “Best Top 3 Music Schools in Los Angeles” by Three Best Rated Founded in 2011 by Tanisha Hall, White Hall offers a robust selection of private lessons and group classes, including their popular Music 4LA summer classes, Songwriter Series and more. The academy has been awarded the highly-esteemed Lewis Prize for Music for their exceptional effort to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic and donating instruments to children who could not afford to purchase them, being honored with a grant for $25,000 in 2020. White Hall Arts Academy's team of instructors teach on average 100 students per week ranging from little kids up the street to television stars and recording artists such as Sierra Capri, Sanai Victoria, Paloma Ford, Billboard chart-topper Ant Clemons, and many more. Her students have appeared on all national talent competitions American Idol, The Voice, and America’s Got Talent. Music programs are proven to better the mental health, memory skills, and educational performance of youth.

Founder Tanisha Hall has rapidly progressed from “community hero” to a nationally recognized woman of impact, moving creative culture forward for youth. Her thriving career in entertainment includes work with Warner Bros. Records, Edmonds Entertainment Group, and many more. She previously managed special events for Chaka Khan’s non-profit program, the Chaka Khan Believes, and operations for Harris Productions, the in house production company for Grammy-winning musician and record producer Keith Harris (Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey) before devoting her time to the White Hall Arts Academy in 2011. Moreover, this exceptional African-American female entrepreneur is also a proud Foster Parent and advocate for transitional age youth.

Vocal readers, please enjoy our interview!

Tammy Reese:

What inspired you to get into the entertainment industry?

Tanisha Hall:

Music has always been apart of my life. I started playing the piano and singing when I was a child. I was 1-year-old when my mom started teaching me the piano. She plays the piano and sings too. By the time I was 18 months old I was playing the piano on my own. She often tells stories of me vocal coaching her as a kid saying things like "that is not the right note".

When I got to high school I felt a bit over it, but I still knew music was apart of my heart and soul. Eventually, I went to Berklee College of Music. My band director at my high school also went to Berklee. He gave me some of the best advice ever. He said, "you don't need a degree in performing to hold a microphone and have a career as a singer". I told him that he was right! Also, he told me to get my degree in something that would give me stability incase a performance career did not pan out the way I'd expected.

In college, I dove right into the music business program and loved everything about it. I love marketing, contracts, even accounting. From there I was able to get an internship with Sony Music while I was still at Berklee in Boston. When I graduated college my family and I moved to Los Angeles. Through a friend, of a friend, of a friend, I was connected with the Edmonds family, and I got hired as an intern at Kenny and Tracey Edmonds label Yab Yum Records.

Three months later I was hired to be Tracey's brother assistant who was Executive Vice President of the company. At 21 years old I was the Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Edmonds Entertainment Group. We got to work on amazing projects such as the movie 'Light It Up" starring Usher. I was A & R coordinator on that album. I got to be hands-on with a lot of projects that started my career. From there I became friends with Montell Jordan and his wife. I worked with them for a while at their music production company as a production coordinator arranging their music sessions. It was really cool to work with Montell as an artist and a producer. I then went to work at Warner Brothers Records. I was blessed to work in every single aspect of the industry especially in the creative aspects in production, as an A & R, and on the label side. Everything I've did prepared me for where I am now.

Tammy Reese:

What inspired you to create the White Hall Arts Academy?

Tanisha Hall:

It was the manifestation of a failed business. That goes to show you sometimes God will lead you on a certain path in order to get you to comply with what he wants for you. At the time I was working with Chaka Khan. I was managing a division of her Non-Profit called the Chaka Believes Program where we would take kids from Watts and take them to USC a few times a week to be tutored and mentored by the USC students. Also, we would take them on field trips to different businesses, and different places in LA to give them access. Most of the kids from Watts have never been down the road to Hollywood, Santa Monica, or Downtown. We got to show them that it was so much more than the 3 block radius they existed in.

At the beginning of 2011, Chaka decided she wanted to take a break and shift her focus a bit. I was also working with a friend of mine Keith Harris (musical director) who at the time was producer and musician for the Black Eye Peas. The Peas had decided to take a break, so I needed to figure out how to feed my family.

I was still in the industry, but on the weekends I started teaching music lessons at my parent's house and then later on at my home. I went from having five to ten students then it grew to fifteen to twenty very quickly. As a foster parent and my kids growing up it became a problem to have lots of people coming in and out of my home after school. My grandparents owned the building that we were in, so one day I went to go say hi to my grandmother and from that conversation she let me rent a space in the building. I was so excited that I was going to build a music school. Construction began, and since then I purchased the building from my grandparents. We're about to begin more renovations to make the whole thing a really cool place.

Tammy Reese:

What do you love most about the work that you do?

Tanisha Hall:

One of the things I love most is connecting with the people in our community. I have been able to work with some of the most amazing people from Leimert Park, and Baldwin Hills. We even stretched out to Compton and Inglewood. When I first started some friends told me I was so stupid for staying in the hood, also they were telling me that I would make more money if I was out in the valley or on the west side. There are so many me's so the west side doesn't need what I provide. There is so much of what I am doing in these other areas. In the area I am in if people want to take voice or music lessons they would have to go way out. That is why it is so important to me that White Hall Arts Academy exists and that it exists exactly where it is so that we can be a local resource and be apart of this really awesome community.

Tammy Reese:

What are some challenges in the work that you do?

Tanisha Hall:

The biggest challenge that comes up for anyone in the non-profit arena is fundraising. Writing grants can be a wing and a prayer sometimes, it also can get time-consuming. I am not really great at that aspect. I rather work and pay for everything out of my own pocket. It can be difficult at times, but I sacrifice my salary to make sure these kids could have a program. I know everyone can not afford private lessons, but they should still be able to take the classes.

Tammy Reese:

What is the feedback that you get from the student that attends White Hall Arts Academy?

Tanisha Hall:

I've had students on America's Got Talent, The Voice, and American Idol. One of my students, Jordan told me that she wanted to be on American Idol I said I can get you on Idol, let's do the work, and she did. She was 15, I started with her when she was 11. She already had tons of talent. I gave her ability on top of the talent by helping her stretch her range. Also giving her tools and resources that no matter what she wanted to do with her voice she has the ability to do it. We have other kids on a bunch of Netflix shows and series. One of the clients I always brag about is Ant Clemens, he did "All Mine" with Kanye West. I helped him with songwriting, but he put in the work too!

Tammy Reese:

What's next for the academy?

Tanisha Hall:

We have our songwriters series including Ant Clemens, and other special guests including A & R's from Atlantic Records, Sony ATV Music Publishing, and we're working with Universal Music Publishing to get some of their Executives on board. We've been given tons of instrument donations to make a music production lab. Currently, due to covid, we're doing all of our classes online. We are renovating the space so that when we open back up we are going to have an amazing music production computer lab. Also, we are working with the LAPD to use music as a gang intervention vehicle, and working with teachers from local schools to get their students involved.

Tammy Reese:

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to get into the music industry?

Tanisha Hall:

The music industry now is very different now than when I started 20 years ago being that 90 percent of everything is digital. The rules have changed there are no rules, but there still are a bunch of rules. If you want to get into the industry, get into the industry. If you want to do music, then do music. If you want to manage people, find someone to manage and work hard to get their music out there. Learn a lot such as marketing, promoting, graphics, and all that it takes to promote someone in a digital space. The pool is open so dive in, but once you dive in you have to swim. You can't just dive in and think that you are going to float to the top so work hard.

Throughout my career, I've worked really hard to make sure the product that I put out is a top-level product. If you're a hard worker and don't give up you will make it. It might take you two years or twenty years, but if it's worth it then you will keep doing it because that is what your soul is telling you to do. If I would have quit I wouldn't be here. Be ready to sacrifice a lot, love to not sleep, have passion, and have skills. It will be competitive, and it won't be easy, but if you want it you can have it.

To connect with Tanisha Hall and learn more about the White Hall Arts Academy please visit www.whitehallacademy.org.