Mike Posner creates fellowship program for aspiring artists

Musician Mike Posner’s upcoming Amor Fati Music Academy, a one-week fellowship program, will provide an opportunity for five hand-selected, aspiring artists to learn from world-class musicians, producers and songwriters.

The artist behind the program, Posner boasts an impressive resume but credits his childhood roots for inspiring the program’s creation.

“The idea for Amor Fati originally started with my father,” Posner said. “Throughout my childhood he would bring my family to Telluride, Colo. — this magical, one-mile long town nestled in the Rocky Mountains. After he passed a little over a year ago, I felt a good way to honor him would be to work on my next album there.”

Returning to Telluride for a creative retreat, Posner took with him many of his favorite artists, musicians and poets. Living together for two weeks, the collective “wrote together, made art together, meditated together, and hiked together” while immersed within the beauty of Telluride and their shared artistic pursuits.

“We really became family during that trip,” Posner said. “As the days drew to a close, we realized that the only logical thing for us to do would be to share this experience with other people. Someone suggested that next time we come back, we serve as teachers and give this experience to younger musicians. Everyone’s hands immediately shot up, and they have all honored their word.”

Assembling an impressive team of veteran musical mentors including GRiZ, James Valentine, Adam Friedman, Pete Kuzma and Vance Gilbert, the Amor Fati Music Academy will provide young musicians with an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the music industry from esteemed teachers, while also benefiting from nutrition, fitness and meditation practices.

“There’s really no school for contemporary music,” Posner said. “You can get a grant and study classical music, or take music production classes here and there, but as for how to make a living, how to tour, and how to tour in a healthy way — there’s no schooling for that. My friends and I had to figure these things out on our own, and Amor Fati will allow us to pass down some of the things we’ve learned the hard way and some of the mistakes we’ve made to a group of young musicians. Ultimately, our goal is to make the journey easier for the next generation.”

At a point in his career when helping others find success is more important than furthering his own success, Posner believes that mentorship is key to advancing in the music industry.

“Mentorship is the comfort of knowing you’re not in this alone,” Posner said. “I spent the first quarter of my life devoting all my energy to helping myself — it’s time I devote some of this energy toward making a difference for someone else.”

Partnered with the performance rights organization ASCAP and music distribution company Stem, Posner hopes that the Amor Fati Music Academy will serve as an important experience for five aspiring artists that lasts far longer than the program’s one-week duration.

“I’m confident that we wil provide a life-changing experience for five young musicians,” Posner said. “The job of an artist is to create the art that you personally want to exist in the world, and I want them to walk out feeling more evolved as a human being and more inspired to take after their goals. They’ll realize that these goals aren’t as far away as they initially thought they were.”