PRS Donates Amps and Guitars to Musicians Institute

Students at Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music (MI) have a new opportunity to experience PRS gear when they walk on campus. The school received six electric guitars, one acoustic guitar and seven amplifiers from Paul Reed Smith Guitars to be used in the school’s recording, rehearsal, performance and classroom vignettes.

To celebrate the partnership, Paul Reed Smith personally paid a visit to students studying in GIT, the guitar program at Musicians Institute, during a PRS Day. Orianthi (guitarist of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It Tour”) joined Paul and wowed more than 400 students while demonstrating her new signature model PRS guitar—the SE Orianthi. Orianthi performed with Paul and Mike Clark from PRS as well as with instructors who accompanied her on bass and drums in an impromptu jam session.

“I had a blast meeting all of the students at the GIT PRS day. There was definitely a lot of love for playing the guitar in that room, and I hope to come back again soon,” said Orianthi.

“I loved being at GIT. The student musicians were so receptive and enthusiastic, and it’s an incredible feeling knowing they will be part of our future,” said Paul Reed Smith.

PRS President Jack Higginbotham, PRS PR/Media Manager Rebecca Eaddy and MI’s Director of GIT Jude Gold spearheaded the musically inspired partnership and worked together to create a special, up-close and personal PRS Day for the students at MI. Higginbotham and Gold worked closely to create an arsenal of the best PRS instruments for the school to share with students as they learn to make their living doing what they love.

“The event was spectacular on many levels,” said Gold. “In Paul Reed Smith, you have a pro-guitarist and industry pioneer who can articulate his own successes into life lessons anyone can take inspiration from, especially guitarists. On top of that, Paul, in one of the most generous gear donations in MI history, put a truckload of his finest guitars and amps in the hands of the next generation of guitar professionals plus brought in Orianthi, the electric guitar’s brightest young star, for an exclusive clinic. It’s an event no MI student will ever forget.”

The donation of PRS guitars included a Custom 24, the guitar model that put PRS on the map and one that Guitar World has noted as being responsible for a “full blown American guitar renaissance” by “compelling American guitar makers to improve their game.” Several of PRS’s newest electric models were part of the donation as well, including a Hollowbody Spruce, the retro-inspired Starla and Starla X, the 305, as well as a new Angelus cutaway PRS acoustic and several amplifiers from their new line.

Since 1977, Musicians Institute has been a world leader in contemporary music education, providing cutting-edge resources in its state of the art facilities located right in the heart of Hollywood, the capital of the world music industry. Its dynamic curriculum is current, comprehensive and compatible with the needs of students who not only desire to study music, but also build a career in the music industry with the knowledge they learn on campus.