Hollywood Records VP Jon Lind to Join Northwestern's 2013 Mercer Songwriters Project

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Jon Lind, an award-winning songwriter who has collaborated with Madonna, Demi Lovato, Vanessa Williams, Selena Gomez and other singing greats, is the newest master teacher to lead the 2013 Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project at Northwestern University.

The project is accepting applications from aspiring young songwriters and songwriting teams working in any popular music style until March 15. This no-fee program will be presented by The Johnny Mercer Foundation and the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University from June 23 to 29.

Lind, who is senior vice-president of artists and repertoire at Hollywood Records, joins Tony Award-nominated composer and lyricist Craig Carnelia and three-time Grammy winning singer and songwriter Lari White to lead the weeklong program for emerging songwriters.

The intensive weeklong Evanston campus program of master classes and workshops will culminate in a showcase of new works by participant songwriters and a star-studded celebration concert.

Emerging songwriters and singer/songwriters in pop, music theatre, jazz, folk, Latin, country music and other popular music styles are encouraged to apply. Applications may be completed online. For more information, visit www.mercersongwriters.org.

Alumni from the project include Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, writers of the musical "A Christmas Story" which recently debuted on Broadway; Latin Grammy Award-winning songwriter Obie Bermudez and Jennifer Pena; Fred Ebb Award-winners Adam Gwon and Sam Wilmott; and Carrie Manolakos who appeared with "Phish" at Madison Square Garden was named one of Elle Magazine's "30 Under 30: Essential Names to Know."

Thanks to generous support from The Johnny Mercer Foundation, the writers and writing teams selected to participate in the workshop do so at no cost. In addition, on-campus housing is provided, and a stipend covers a portion of travel expenses.

Throughout his career as an artists and repertoire (A&R) executive, Lind stuck to his core musical credo: Match the right song to the right artist, and you can't go wrong.

During his 12-year tenure at Hollywood Records, Lind oversaw A&R on hit records by some of the label's most popular performers, including Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. As a songwriter, he wrote for Madonna, Earth Wind & Fire, Cher, Ramsey Lewis, BBMak, Vanessa Williams, Cheap Trick, Aaron Neville and countless others.

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