ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
AT THE INTERSECTION OF ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
Growing up in the Bronx in the nineties , Stephen Blackwell ’ 99 learned about Fordham Prep through the Higher Achievement Program . He participated in the program as a rising eighth-grader during the summer of 1993 and enrolled at the Prep the following year with some of the friends he made during those exciting summer weeks on the historic Rose Hill campus .
Stephen Blackwell ’ 99
Alumni , Music Department
CCO of Luminate , an entertainment analytics firm
Blackwell remembers his time as a Prep student fondly . “ I was pretty focused mostly on academics ,” he recalled . “ There was music , sports , theater , and , obviously , a demanding curriculum . So it really had it all ,” he continued .
Coming from a musical family , his parents allowed him to perform in a band throughout high school with one caveat ; he had to keep his grades up .
“ I was performing on nights and weekends by the time I was 14 years old ,” Blackwell stated . “ As long as I maintained my grades , worked hard , and studied hard I was able to pursue the things that I was passionate about ,” he added , noting that he was doing music internships by his junior year at the Prep .
Blackwell was a student of longtime faculty member Doug Otis , who taught him music theory for all four years at the Prep . The course was taught in Leonard Theatre , which had just been built when Blackwell entered his freshman year . “[ The theatre ] was really new ,” he remembered , ” and the Prep was really dedicated to getting a lot of activity in there through performance and general assemblies . It was great to have that resource at the Prep ,” he added .
Stage time was of course at the forefront of Blackwell ’ s core Prep memories . “ When we were teenagers , Fordham Prep had a pretty famous Battle of the Bands . Those were my first performances ,” he recalled . “ I haven ’ t thought about this in a while and it ’ s bringing a smile to my face ,” Blackwell beamed .
While he wasn ’ t much of a theater kid , Blackwell would attend the Dramatic Society ’ s performances in support of his friends on the cast and crew .
Nonetheless , Blackwell did enjoy performing at the school ’ s annual Christmas Assembly as a student and remembers returning to Leonard Theatre as an alumnus to participate in the tradition alongside his friend Jeff Butkowski ’ 99 , the Prep ’ s Director of Technical Operations .
“ I had known [ Butkowski ] in both high school and college before I started playing music with him , but we were both really precocious kids ,” Blackwell stated . While at the Prep , Blackwell joined a rock band called At a Loss , which Butkowski joined later on . The band was signed to Blackout ! Records , put out an album titled A Falling Away From in 2004 , and toured the United States .
“ It showed me a lot ,” Blackwell said . “ It brought me around the country , which was great , and I think the other side of it too is , I would say , for any who ’ s younger and is responsible
LEFT : Stephen Blackwell ’ 99 grew up in a musical household where he was exposed to his mother ’ s singing and saw instruments , tapes , records , and stereos everywhere he turned . He got his first guitar in 1994 .
ABOVE : Blackwell , senior year , Fordham Prep .
18
FORDHAM PREP RAMVIEW