IN HIS SPACE: DAVID KILKENNEY

IN HIS SPACE

DAVID KILKENNEY

Gilmour Academy faculty member David Kilkenney fondly remembers the day when his life and career transformed at the school. It was his first year on the job in 2006 when he was teaching a music class. “Some of the students wanted to record an album,” said David who holds a degree in musical education from Cleveland State University and a master’s in music technology from IUPUI. “So, I went to the school [administration] to see if we had access to a recording studio.” They pointed him to Kelley Middle School, where he ventured down to the basement and, to his wonderment, stumbled upon something incredible. “It was this unbelievable, state-of-the-art space that was originally built as a broadcasting studio,” he said. "There was a recording studio and an editing lab complete with 10 stations.” Since that time, the Digital Media Lab has been David’s home away from home where he and other teachers offer students a rare opportunity to learn about music as well as the tools and software used by music producers and sound engineering professionals worldwide.

“It’s grown tremendously,” he said. “We offer a wide array of digital music classes, everything from teaching jingles, film scores, movie music, audio engineering, sound mixing and more. And we’re even recruiting other teachers to help bring more video, broadcast, journalism and filmmaking classes into the fold.”

David also heads up Gilmour’s Digital Media Club, a group of student volunteers who livestream school events throughout the year. Throughout the past year, when COVID-19 prevented full-capacity attendance at live events on campus, the Digital Media Club was instrumental in bringing those concerts, performances and games to people’s homes. "We had a 1049% increase in viewing from the previous school year, to more than 70,000 views for upwards of 450 streaming events last year,” he said. “Hats off to the students who have really carried the ball and laid all of the groundwork to make it a success.” Kilkenney gives a nod to the administration, which is always supportive of his annual needs with regard to equipment upgrades and additions to the continuously evolving lab. “I always think about [Headmaster Emeritus] Brother Robert and [current Head of School] Kathy Kenny, who both said whatever you want to do, we’ll support it,” he said. “And, each year, they’ve stuck by that. That’s what’s allowed this to grow as it has.”