Karla Bauer

“I’m not in this just for the income, I do this for the outcome. As the passionate founder of SHINE On Music LLC, I’ve combined my two loves: creating and performing my original music and giving access to high-quality music programs to youth from the underserved communities where I volunteer on a weekly basis and in the rural communities where I grew up.”

Public Performance/Exhibition

Karla inspires students to find the courage to pursue their dreams relentlessly but unlike any other music arts program, the primary goal of the SHINE On Music Workshop is to teach youth how to promote themselves successfully and “safely” in a digital world.

The Shine On Music Community Outreach Concert will consist of Karla performing songs from her latest gospel/jazz albums with four highly skilled Kansas City jazz musicians accompanying. The students will join Karla on stage to perform in front of a packed house of their family and friends for a grand concert finale! They will be taught production, marketing, rehearsal, and performance skills while promoting accountability to others, self-esteem, and a sense of belonging.

SHINE On! Music Workshop and Community Outreach Program

The SHINE On Music Workshop and Community Outreach Concert program was born from a unique blend of professional and creative skills Karla has as a senior software engineer and as a successful singer and songwriter. She released her fifth studio album in June 2022.

She has documented over twenty years of real-life experiences to provide a deeper understanding to her students of what it really takes to become a successful artist. She embraces both the triumphs and challenges and has poured the lessons learned into the SHINE On Music Workshop program.

SHINE On! Music Workshop Lesson Plan:

• How to brand and promote yourself successfully and “safely” in a digital world
• How to have a corporate career while waiting for your music career to take off
• Understand the importance of creating your own original music
• Teach performance skills while rehearsing the songs for the grand concert finale

SHINE On! Music Community Outreach Concert Activities:

• Karla presents the Shine On Music Workshop to the students
• Karla rehearses songs with students and attends dress rehearsal
• Students perform with Karla and her jazz band onstage in front of an audience of their family, friends, and the community
• After-concert meet-and-greet with Karla, students, and the community

SHINE On! Musical Storytime:

Karla’s mission is to demonstrate how borders can be broken down when experiences are shared. This mission is accomplished through performing her hope-induced music or reading her book at a children’s storytime event. 

Karla’s 2021 Christmas album includes a song that has been brought to life as a children’s bedtime book titled, “Be Still: A Mother’s Lullaby.” The award-winning book also features stunning illustrations by Beth Snider.

• Book reading with children and their families
• Lullaby sing-along 
• Book signing
• Meet-and-greet 

The SHINE On Music Workshop and Community Outreach Concert program has been a great success because the program can be produced with little effort and a small budget. Kansas Arts Commission grants can help cover the following expenses:

• Workshop Presenter Fee – Karla Bauer will present the workshop to students
• Musicians’ Rehearsal and Concert Performance Fees – Karla Bauer and four highly skilled Kansas City jazz musicians
• Travel Expenses – Karla Bauer and four highly skilled Kansas City jazz musicians

SHINE On Musical Storytime

• Author’s Travel Expenses – Karla Bauer to travel outside Kansas City
• Author’s Book Reading Presenter Fee – Karla Bauer will be onsite for a storytime event with children and their families
• Author’s Workshop Presenter Fee – Karla Bauer will present the workshop to students adapted for the age of children attending

Community Outreach and Developing Audiences

It is very important to Karla to nourish the creativity and ideas of young artists to provide to them a wider range of cultural opportunities and viewpoints. The SHINE On Music program, including Community Outreach Concerts and Musical Storytime events, has been enthusiastically welcomed by presenters because it can be produced with little effort and a small budget, and it provides community-building and economic benefits.

The impact of the project will be felt in different ways by the various local audiences including students, parents, teachers, Karla Bauer’s existing fan base, traditional gospel and jazz fans, non-profit organizations, and businesses. There’s an estimated attendance of 30 students for the two-hour SHINE On workshop session and 150 or more attending the concert.

SHINE On! Musicians Assisting Musicians Workshop

As an independent music artist and owner of SHINE On Music, LLC. Karla is committed to providing business education to young, up-and-coming artists on how to develop their career and how to promote themselves successfully and safely in an ever-changing digital world. The SHINE On! Musicians Assisting Musicians Workshop was born from a unique blend of professional and creative skills she has as a business entrepreneur owning her own software engineering company for over eleven years and as a successful independent singer and songwriter. Karla documented over twenty years of real-life experiences and captured this information to provide a deeper understanding of what it really takes to become a successful artist both creatively and professionally. Karla has embraced both the triumphs and challenges and have poured the lessons learned into the SHINE On! Musicians Assisting Musicians Workshop to share with other fellow artists to keep them from making the same costly mistakes—saving them time, money, and heartache.

The SHINE On! Musicians Assisting Musicians Workshop Overview will be free to the students and their parents. Limited to 30 participants per two-hour workshop, the artist will learn how to promote themselves at little to no cost while addressing specific business challenges that artists of all disciplines need to know to be successful.

SHINE On! Workshop Overview and Lesson Plan

• Music Industry Recap – Understanding the reality of the music industry
• Production – Outline of best practices on how to produce and release your works
• Brand & Marketing – How to brand and promote successfully and safely in a digital world
• Website – What to include and to omit from website and social media pages
• Digital Press Kit – How to create a digital press kit for less than $10 a month
• Copyright – Understand the importance of copyrighting and licensing their works
• Royalties – How to track and get paid for their works in a digital world
• Cover Songs – Copyright laws when recording and performing cover songs

Master Classes – Additional in-depth lesson plans are available upon request for an additional cost.

• How to build a Digital Press Kit
• How to build an Email Marketing Campaign
• How to create your own Website
• How to apply for Grants as an Individual Artist