Amateur Musician Club’s third annual York Album Project is now underway. York musicians have just signed up to be a part of this annual compilation of music. The project features one original song written by an individual or group.

The project is run by Chris Gemkow, sponsor for Amateur Musicians Club and music teacher at York.

“I was in grad school in 2014 and I decided to turn my masters project into what became the first York Album Project,” said Gemkow. “So, grad school was the ultimate catalyst to bring my idea to life.”

The York Album Project released its first album in April of 2015. Each year, the project strives to teach young musicians how to make their passions into production.

“I had been interested in the idea of recording a collection of original songs composed and recorded by the students,” Gemkow said on the origins of the project. “The students were writing such interesting, creative and sophisticated songs — I knew I needed to figure out a way to provide them an opportunity to record and share their original material.”

Opportunity is exactly what the musicians are left with at the end of the recording process. A finalized CD, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud recordings allow the individuals and groups to share their music near and far.

Recording this album gives the musicians a better understanding of the creation process.

“Learning how to layer the different parts of a song during a recording session is extremely valuable as a young musician,” said Gemkow.“Recording and mixing your own music gives you a more thorough understanding of how music is arranged vertically and horizontally in the song mix.”

Musicians will work in the upcoming months to reach deadlines for writing, recording, and releasing their song on the album.

“The album project is a good push for musicians to write one song and get it recorded by a deadline,” said senior Jenna Garcia, guitarist of the group Jenna Garcia and Friends. “I mean, this is just a generalization, but musicians have a tendency to get started with one thing and not finish it, which is why the album project was a good idea.”

Enthusiasm and appreciation is seen through all the participants of the project.

“Every teacher in the music department has put their passion and soul into what they do and you can see it everywhere,” said Gabe Lewis, singer of Presque Isle. “Opportunity is everywhere here. Not a lot of schools have that.”