Local singer Francine Brown, of Sonrise Records, is launching educational “sessions” in song writing, music craft, performance techniques and more, in October.“They are classes,” said Ms Brown, “but we are calling them sessions because that is a term used in the music industry.”The sessions will be offered on a weekly basis to middle school, high school and adults at the community centre at Admiralty House in Pembroke.“Sonrise has been around for about ten years,” said Ms Brown. “My company’s mandate is develop local talent on the Island. Now we are expanding to offer courses.”She decided to target middle and high school students, especially, because she felt that music education offerings tended to fall away after the primary school level.Ms Brown studied voice and music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After winning a competition in Bermuda, she sang at the Apollo Theatre in New York in 2000, and her voice can be heard on the popular song ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’ singing words about the joys of cooking codfish on a Sunday morning.“This is an opportunity to come together after school and make some music and find out what it takes to be a part of the industry,” said Ms Brown. “Whatever your instrument is, it doesn’t matter. Instrumentalist, vocalist or songwriter, this is for you. We are about developing the next generation. We have to think outside the box.”She said a lot of adults in today’s economy wanted to use their music talents as a hustle, or wanted to break into performance, or improve their game, but didn’t know how to go about it.“I have set up something for adults to come and learn about these techniques,” she said.Today, little children often come up to her and ask her if she was in the music video of ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’. She admitted that she was a bit unsure about the project at first.“I had no idea it was going to be so popular,” she said. “I was one of many singers in it. I got a call and by that time everyone had done their part.“I thought, how do you put emotion into a line about cooking codfish? But when I listened to the song, I thought I did have something to offer. It was a really good song and an exciting project.”The music programme for students will be daily from 3pm to 6pm. The cost is $80 per week for one child, $100 per week for two children and $120 for three children. Adult classes in performance technique, song writing, artistic development and music training will be taught once a week and are $40 per class.“I have tried to make the classes affordable to everyone,” she said.n To register or for more information e-mail sonriserecords@gmail.com or call 505-7945.