Hey, Columbia Fam!!
Our Fall season is right around the corner and we have an amazing show line-up that we are excited to share with you all! Please read through the entire email to stay up to date on the latest School of Rock Columbia information. We place students in the show that will be educational for the students' musical and social growth. Not every student will get their first choice show. Bands will be cast not only based on first-come, first-served responses but by instrumentation as well.
*Remember that students in Rock 101, Performance, House Band, and Adult programs are not automatically added to the same rehearsal time that they are currently enrolled in.
Seasonal Timeline:
Season starts the week of October 6th
2026 Fall/Spring House Band auditions will be held in September.
Production Fees - November 15th
MidSeason Showcase TBA - HOLD December 6th/7th
End Of Season Show: January 31st & February 1st (Bands will perform on only one of these dates)
ROCK 101 PROGRAM
Rock 101 is one of School of Rock’s major programs for kids and beginners ages 8-12 years. Students have one weekly group rehearsal where they learn classic rock songs. These rehearsals get young musicians to learn the fundamentals of their instrument while playing with a band in a positive and fun atmosphere. Students also have a weekly private music lesson with an instructor who will help them rehearse performance songs while teaching them foundational music skills and concepts.
Weekly Rock 101 rehearsals are tentatively:
- Monday - Rock 101 - 5-6:30pm
- Wednesday - Rock 101 - 5-6:30pm
- Thursday - Rock 101 - 5-6:30pm
- Saturday - Rock 101 - 10:30am-12pm
PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
The Performance Program is School of Rock's hallmark music program, where tens of thousands of students enroll each year for ages 11-18yrs old.
CLASSIC METAL: TUES 6:30-8:30PM
LEAD DIRECTOR: TBD
Classic Metal is widely regarded as ranging from the late 1960s Proto-Metal sound of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin up until the mid 1980s, when Thrash Metal reigned supreme with bands like the ‘big four’ (Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer) and Hair Metal was still a blip on the horizon. Full of guitar wizardry and riffs galore, Classic Metal’s explosion in the 1970s and early '80s would set the tone for a generation of Metal bands to come and leave an indelible impression on the music industry. This show will trace the roots of metal, from the late '70s hard rock, Ronnie James Dio fronted bands like Black Sabbath and Rainbow and to metal’s big break in the '80s with bands like Metallica and Megadeth. If you’re looking to sharpen your shredding skills on guitar and bass, speed up your chops on the drums, or hone your high range vocals - the Classic Metal show is for you!
RADIOHEAD: WED 6:30-8:30PM
LEAD DIRECTOR: TBD
Radiohead has emerged in the 21st century as torchbearers of the progressive rock tradition, and have threaded the needle between innovation and popularity as well as anyone. Formed in 1985 in the UK under the name On A Friday, with members Thom Yorke (vocals), Johnny Greenwood (Guitar/multi-instrumentalist), Colin Greenwood (Bass), Ed O’Brien (Guitar/Vocals), and Philip Selway (Drums), they eventually changed their name to Radiohead upon the request of their record label, EMI. After two albums that found some success in the alternative scene thanks to the slacker anthem “Creep”, Radiohead released what would become their landmark album, OK Computer. This masterpiece cemented them as true artists and gained them worldwide success. With their constant instrumental experimentation, culturally relevant lyrics and themes, and blend of styles and genres, Radiohead are heralded as one of the most important and critically acclaimed rock acts of the modern era. The Radiohead show is an ambitious challenge for all student levels, but can be one of the most rewarding and educational shows offered by School of Rock.
POP PUNK & EMO: THURS 6:30-8:30PM
LEAD DIRECTOR: TBD
In the 1990s, artists such as Green Day, Offspring, and Blink-182 achieved success by blending punk attitudes and influences with a more polished, melodic, commercially appealing sound than their often raw predecessors. By the 2000s, Pop Punk and its Emo offshoot (featuring lyrics that touch on emotional and confessional topics) were fully entrenched in the mainstream music world, with bands such as Fall Out Boy, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Panic! At the Disco topping the charts and selling out arenas. Of course, this music is still incredibly popular and influential today. A fun show that can be musically challenging but also teaches solid fundamental skills, Pop Punk & Emo is sure to appeal to all levels of students and will entertain any crowd!
MICHAEL JACKSON VS. PRINCE: SAT 12:00-2:00PM
LEAD DIRECTOR: TBD
Michael Jackson and Prince - there were, arguably, no two bigger superstars in the '80s. MJ’s Thriller and Prince’s Purple Rain were perhaps the most iconic recordings of the entire decade, and cemented each artist’s place in music history. In 1982, MJ released one of the greatest albums of all time, Thriller. The album would bring unprecedented success for Michael, topping the Billboard 200 for an impressive 37 weeks and becoming the first album to ever contain seven top-10 singles. The “Thriller” video turned the music video medium into a serious art form and helped to break down the racial barrier on the network. Michael would not release another solo album for 5 years, returning in 1987 with the highly-anticipated album, Bad. Although his output in the 1980s was limited to just two solo albums, the unprecedented massive success of both Thriller and Bad earned Michael Jackson the title as the undisputed “King of Pop.” Prince is hailed as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. Not only was he a guitar virtuoso, but he was also a prodigal multi-instrumentalist who played every instrument on his early albums, including bass, drums, and keyboards. Prince scored his commercial breakthrough in 1982 with the album 1999. The album became Prince’s first top-10 album, and the title track was his first international mega hit. Prince exploded back onto the scene with the hit film and accompanying soundtrack, Purple Rain. The album became Prince’s first number-one album, holding the top spot for an impressive 6 consecutive months, and featured the number-one hits, “Purple Rain”, “Let’s Go Crazy”, and “When Doves Cry.” Known not only for his prolific musical output, his wild, energetic dancing and genre-bending music made a strong case for Prince as the top superstar of the 1980s. This show will have plenty of opportunities for students to contribute on a variety of instruments in a wide range of styles, and there will surely be challenging moments where students at all levels can learn something new.
ADULT PROGRAM
BEST OF THE 2000'S: MON 6:00-8:00PM
LEAD DIRECTOR: TOM
The 2000s Show offers a huge variety of music that is sure to satiate any student’s musical appetite. The 2000s has produced more and more artists whose music blends and defies genres, and draws from a greater variety of influences than was available at any previous point in history. At the same time, more traditional bands and artists, including some who started making music in the twentieth century, have adapted to the changing times and continued to thrive. Though it is impossible to place the varied music of the 2000s into one definable style or category, certain themes emerge: 1) an interest in and revival of ‘retro’ sounds using modern technology and sensibilities, and 2) songwriting that draws from a huge diversity of genres and styles, making 21st-century ‘rock’ bands even harder to pin down to one style alone. Examples of blockbuster artists that might be in the setlist include Foo Fighters, RHCP, Evanescence, Fall Out Boy, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, White Stripes, Adele, The Strokes, Jet, System of a Down, The Darkness, Tool, and many others. This is a perfect show for students of all ages and experience levels and will offer many opportunities to perform across all genres!
