Two of the country’s most selective arts and music programs recently honored talented young New Canaan musicians, Annie Meyer and Sophie Seaver.
The GRAMMY Museum recently announced that 172 talented high school students from across the country have been selected to participate in its GRAMMY Camp programs this summer. Annie was selected for Jazz Guitar and Sophie for Songwriting. Campers in prior summers have gone onto success across the industry, including recent Grammy winners Chappell Roan, Maren Morris, and Ryan Lewis. Annie and Sophie were also YoungArts Winners this year.
YoungArts is the premier national program that identifies, celebrates and supports the most promising young artists across the United States. Annie was selected for Jazz Guitar and Sophie was selected for the Singer-Songwriter category. Recent YoungArts alumni include musicians Josh Groban, Jon Batiste, Nicki Minaj, actor Timothée Chalamet, poet Amanda Gorman and many more.
It is rare for two musicians from a community as small as New Canaan’s to be selected for both of these highly selective programs – and at such young ages.
About Annie and Sophie
Sophie and Annie first met through their participation in New Canaan School of Rock’s selective Houseband, and as students at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan. They quickly became friends through their love of music. Sophie and Annie both aspire to careers in music.
Annie, a rising 12th grader at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, is a graduate of West Elementary and St. Luke’s Middle School. In addition to guitar, Annie plays piano, drums, bass, and violin, and has been a featured artist for Brandy Melville and Norman’s Rare Guitars.
Annie participated earlier this month in The Jazz Institute at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina and in July will perform at the Brubeck Jazz Summit in Lake Tahoe, NV. Annie honed her guitar skills at School of Rock New Canaan and by teaching herself jazz standards through YouTube. “The more I ventured into the world of guitar, the more interested I became in music theory and how it connects to improvisation,” she explains of her route to studying jazz. “Jazz is all about collaboration, and I am so excited to learn from my peers at Grammy Camp — and especially to be playing with Sophie again!”
Sophie Seaver, a rising 10th grader, currently attends St. Luke’s School and is a graduate of West Elementary. She has been playing music since she moved to New Canaan in 2013 and has been writing songs since she was 9 years old. She is a multi-instrumentalist.
Her main instruments are piano, guitar and vocals. “I have always loved making music and performing”, Sophie says. “Music brings connection and it has the ability to articulate situations and emotions in new and meaningful ways. I am so honored and excited to be a part of these communities and I’m so happy that I get to be at Grammy Camp with Annie!”
About YoungArts
For this year’s program, YoungArts selected more than 800 of the most accomplished young artists from across the country, heralding the next generation of artists to watch.
YoungArts award winners are selected through a highly competitive application, which is reviewed by panels of esteemed, discipline-specific artists in a rigorous adjudication process.
YoungArts award winners have demonstrated exceptional technique, a strong sense of artistry, and an extraordinary commitment to developing their craft. This year, winners were selected from nearly 11,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines – classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing.
YoungArts award winners are eligible for exclusive creative and professional development support throughout their careers including microgrants and financial awards and presentation opportunities in collaboration with major venues and cultural partners nationwide. 2025 YoungArts winners also have the opportunity to participate in YoungArts Labs, all-expenses-paid learning intensives with field-defining artists in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville.
About Grammy Camp
The GRAMMY Museum recently announced the guest artists participating in GRAMMY Camp 2025 across all three host cities, which include: Cimafunk, DARUMAS, and GALE in Miami; Braxton Cook, Chloe Flower, and Renée Elise in New York; and Alexander Stewart, Aly & AJ, Daniel Seavey, D’Mile, India Shawn, and Reneé Rapp in Los Angeles. Each artist will share insights from their career journeys and help prepare students for careers and future success in the music industry.
Guest artists in prior years have included Maren Morris, Lizzy McAlpine, Gracie Abrams and many more. Now in its 21st year, GRAMMY Camp focuses on all aspects of commercial music and will feature various career tracks in all three locations, including: music business, instrumental performance, electronic music audio production, songwriting, and vocal performance.
Each location will incorporate a curriculum tailored to its unique musical heritage. Each track is taught by GRAMMY-winning and -nominated professionals, Recording Academy members, industry experts, and notable guest artists, offering participants an exclusive glimpse into real-world music career pathways. Students are selected for one career track, but have the opportunity to collaborate with all students.
