Avid Continues Leadership in Education with Support of European Launch of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

Burlington, MA, 2013/05/08

Yoko Ono Lennon unveils ‘recording studio in a bus’ today in Liverpool, aimed at enabling students to produce hands-on music, audio and video projects

Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced its continued partnership with the non-profit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus by supporting the new mobile recording studio on its debut European tour. Yoko Ono Lennon will unveil the European bus today in Liverpool, before the tour kicks off in London in June. She is co-founder of the project, which is dedicated to providing the young people of Europe with free hands-on access to state-of-the-art studios as a way of inspiring them to create original projects reflective of their ideas, values, and creativity.

Avid has a longstanding relationship with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, having partnered as a headline sponsor of the original sister bus in the US for the past nine years. The European bus is equipped with the latest Avid technology to help inspire and develop the next generation of audio, music and video media professionals. The bus' mobile recording and editing studio is loaded with Avid audio and video software including the industry-standard digital audio workstations Pro Tools | HD Native and Pro Tools | HDX, Sibelius® music composition and notation software, Media Composer® nonlinear video editing systems, and Artist Series control surfaces.

It will be staffed by a crew of three producers/engineers as it visits local schools, colleges, and festivals, providing free hands-on tours and workshops where young people can produce original songs, audio recordings, broadcast quality music videos, and live-stream events.  

Chuck Leavell, touring member of The Rolling Stones who is in his 30th year with the band, recently attended a session on the US bus and said, "The Lennon Bus is one of the best things to ever happen for young musicians in modern times. I had the honor to engage with the bus recently with a group of music students in Atlanta and it was an absolutely amazing and rewarding experience for me, as well as for the students. They immediately started collaborating on a song, and within just a few short hours had finished it, recorded it, and made a video. It gave them tremendous confidence in their musical pursuits and was a joy to witness."

W. Sean Ford, vice president of worldwide marketing for Avid, said, "We are thrilled to be a sponsor of the new European John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. Avid has a long history of commitment to the education community. Our continued partnership with this educational outreach project lets us nurture the next generation of creative professionals and inspire kids to become our future storytellers and musicians. 

About the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit state-of-the-art mobile pro audio and HD video recording facility that provides hands-on experiences for students of all ages. After 16 years of touring the US (taking in sites including SXSW, Coachella, CMJ and many more) the new Lennon Bus for Europe features the latest audio and video technology, gear and products.

The Bus will travel across the UK and Europe year-round, providing free tours and workshops at schools, retailers, festivals, on tours with headlining artists, and at major industry conferences.

Lennon Bus Europe is supported by the generosity of sponsors including Apple, Montblanc, Sony, Avid, True Religion, Neutrik, Thomann, Gibson Guitars, Epiphone, Baker & McKenzie, Genelec, NewTek, TodoCast by Globecomm, Vox Amps, Mobile Roadie, Audio-Technica, Roland, JamHub, SSL, Sonicbids, Genelec, Litepanels, Manfrotto, Clear-Com, AJA, Anton/Bauer, Copperpeace, Applied Acoustics Systems, McDSP, Native Instruments, IK Multimedia, Noise Industries, iZotope, Slingerland Drums, and Mad Mimi.