pictured above: Arianne Phillips, guest lecturing at The Clive Davis Department, summer 2009.

It’s not often we’re discussed in the context of fashion and glamor, but this summer The Clive Davis Department was glad to get a shout out in August’s fifth anniversary issue of T, the New York Times’ style magazine, distributed on Sundays.

The subject was legendary fashion stylist/costume designer Arianne Phillips (pictured above), who gave a guest lecture/Q&A in adjunct instructor Joe Mama-Nitzberg’s summer “Music and Fashion: Glam, Punk, Hip-Hop and Beyond” class.

Joe’s class focused on major historical moments in subcultural fashion and pop music…and students got a kick out of hearing Ms. Phillips talk about her groundbreaking work dressing iconic artists like Lenny Kravitz and Madonna.

It’s all here.

With record sales in seemingly never-ending freefall and artist tours and music festivals breaking records, you can’t afford to sleep on the live event industry.

Kobi Wu-Pasmore, the former director of special events at Cornerstone Promotions (where she played a big role in developing the stellar Pharrell-Santigold-Julian Casablancas Converse campaign) and the former manager for artists like Sy Smith, Macy Gray and Sunshine Anderson, joins us this Fall to teach a brand new course called “Curating Live Music Events.”

Kobi (pictured in the middle, flanked on the left side of your screen by Artistic Director Jason King and on the right side by student Jared Feldman) will be teaching students about what it means to be a successful “music curator.” Different per se from producing events, curating focuses on the marketing and promotion of events, including working with brands and third-party sponsors.

We asked Kobi to name her favorite event that she’s curated. Hard choice, she confessed – but she settled on Polaroid Presents…The Outkast Grammy After Party on February 8 2004. The lavish affair, held at a private mansion in the Hollywood Hills, was sponsored by Polaroid, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and XBox. The red carpet rolled out for guests like The Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Osbourne, and Lindsay Lohan.

Hear more about what Kobi had to say about curating this event:

“The event was a full scale production – me and my small team (of 3) handled everything- from selecting the mansion in Hollywood Hills; organizing the talent- the 3 super star DJs – Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, Mark Ronson, and Goldfinger; handling sponsorships; organizing the guest list; organizing the shuttle to carry people to the mansion; even the toilet paper for the executive style port-a-potties. It was a lot to handle for 2000 + guests, celebrities and executives.”

Kobi continues: “With Outkast, that Grammy event meant everything to them as they were finally realizing their superstar status. For me, it helped “put me on the map” of major players in the world of events.”

Welcome Kobi!

Composer, music supervisor and sound designer Michael Whalen has scored over 500 television scores, feature and short films, including the opening theme to the ABC News morning show Good Morning America, music for The Oprah Winfrey Show, Martha Stewart and the news magazine Inside Edition.

He’s been nominated for eight Emmys® and picked up two, including a 2008 win for PBS’ acclaimed 8-hour series America at a Crossroads – for which he also recently won the BMI Award.

Not too shabby, we think!

He joined us as an adjunct instructor at The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music this summer to teach a brand new course called The Soundtrack Auteur.

The innovative course, designed as an entree for students to begin to think about careers in the growing field of film music, particularly as music supervisors, looked at the often-neglected history of trailblazing film composers who also work in the pop music field, folks like Quincy Jones, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman.

We decided to take this opportunity to ask Michael about his experience teaching this summer:

Q: Hey Michael. How did you arrive at teaching at The Clive Davis Department?

MW: I had heard about the programs offered in the program from some of my friends and colleagues. The courses offered are unique and taught by some of the most experienced people in the industry. Artistic Director Jason King helped me shape the Auteurs course.

Q: What exactly is a “Soundtrack Auteur”?

MW: The focus of the class was studying the history of film & TV music through the eyes of popular music. A “Soundtrack Auteur” is someone whose artistic point of view actually influences what we think soundtracks can SOUND like. Because it’s a Clive Davis Department course, we focused on artists working in pop and their influence on on film and vice versa.

Q: How important is music supervision these days in the overall scheme of the music business?

MW: Hugely important. I believe that this is the “golden era” of music supervision right now. There is a lot of great work being done and it’s shaping our cinematic experiences. It’s way more than taking a popular song and throwing it against a scene. Unlike supervision in the 1980s, much of the work is infused into the films and it’s being done a level of sophistication not seen (or heard) before.

Q: What makes a great music supervisor?

MW: A great music supervisor must be a great idea person – - working inside the director’s vision of the film. They must have great resources in the industry in terms of contacts and friends to execute the ideas that are developed. Finally, they must have a handle on bringing in the songs within the budgets they are given – - anyone can think of great music for a film without the constraints of dealing with money – but can the film afford it?

Q: What was a highlight moment in the class?

MW: Talking about composer and producer Jon Brion (the multi-instrumentalist producer behind Fiona Apple and the score to films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.) It was really cool to see an artist at the cusp of breaking through which Jon will certainly do soon – he is amazingly talented. One of the challenges of the class is there is no text that actually covers the points that I cover and some of theories I am developing. I have started outlining a book on the subject.

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island what three film soundtracks would you take with you?

MW: (Deep sigh…) Wow – just THREE??? The Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman – it’s sublime. The Hours by Philip Glass… I know many of the cues on this are adaptations of his classical music – but it is the whole feeling that is most deeply moving and wonderful. E.T. by John Williams…. Perfection….

Q: What can we look forward next from you?

MW: I am scoring and music supervising a indie feature this Fall. I am finishing a terrific theatrical doc about the United Auto Workers that I am scoring and supervising. And I have my “best of” CD coming out in November.

Michael Whalen’s website.