Kim Kamerin

Instructor, Music Industry Studies

Norco College School of Visual & Performing Arts

Professor Kamerin is an award-winning educator and twenty-year veteran of the music classroom. He has teaching experience at the Middle School, High School and University, and he has taught with distinction across much of the college music curriculum including Music Industry Studies. Professor Kamerin is a certified Pro Tools Expert, and is a highly qualified recording engineer. He is a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers), and is a voting member of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). A professional musician for nearly thirty years, Professor Kamerin brings a wealth of practical experience and teaching expertise to the classroom.

Professor Kamerin teaches the following Music courses: Choir, Music Theory, Class Piano, Music Appreciation, History of Rock and Roll, Multicultural Music of the Americas, as well as Applied Music for Voice, Piano, and Composition. In addition, he teaches Songwriting, Live Sound, and the Recording Studio Workshop in Music Industry Studies.

Kim Kamerin loves to cozy up with a good book-- a good book of sonatas that is. He sight reads sheet music the way most people devour novels. That’s a handy ability to have when you’re in charge of a college’s music department. A teacher for more than 26 years, Kim received his Bachelor’s degree in performance and K-12 teaching certificate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and his Master’s in Conducting and Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Nevada, Reno. But teaching wasn’t his first experience sharing his music with the masses. On the day Kim was supposed to enroll as a freshman in college, he received a call from a friend, inviting him to join a popular Las Vegas cover band called Livewire. He learned 40 songs in three rehearsals, and was onstage in San Diego by the weekend!

Eventually though, Kim found his way back to UNLV, receiving a piano scholarship awarded by a teacher who was impressed that he had taught himself how to play Mozart. “It didn’t occur to me at first to pursue a career in music,” explains Kim. “In high school I was on the varsity track team and planning to study engineering, when a friend of mine asked me to play with his live band. He knew I’d been playing the piano since I could reach the keys. Playing with the band was amazing and reminded me that music has been a constant throughout my entire life. After that, I knew I didn’t want to study anything else.”

As a piano major at UNLV, Kim did a lot of accompanying for vocalists, taught private piano lessons, and worked with almost every school in Las Vegas on their choir programs. After being around so many all-state level choirs and some of the top conductors in the country on a regular basis, it seemed natural to transition into teaching. He began teaching choir at a local middle school, and after two years was offered a position at the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts, a magnet high school dedicated to international studies and the performing arts. In his five years at the school, Kim taught piano, choir and commercial music, which encompassed recording techniques and computer audio technology. He also held opera workshops, conducted full orchestra performances of Handel’s “Messiah” and Mozart’s “Requiem in D Minor,” and created arrangements for a highly-lauded production of “Fame” as well as a synthesized realization of “Into the Woods.” From there Kim moved on to the College of Sequoias in California, where he developed and launched their commercial music program, while also teaching traditional music at nearby Reedley College. Three years ago, he became an instructor at Norco and the rest is history.

Says Kim: “I remember clearly the moment I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life teaching. I was in college and working towards my K-12 certificate by teaching at an elementary school. I taught a morning class for first graders and at lunch, one of them came barreling across the playground and threw her arms around me. She wanted to hug me because she had loved our musical exercises that morning. I knew in that moment that the connection I’d felt while teaching the class made a difference; it was as important to them as it was to me. That hasn’t changed at the collegiate level. Whether it’s the students that are just a bit interested in learning about music, or the ones that are really trying to develop themselves as serious artists, I love interacting with all of them. I love the challenges of reaching them, connecting with them, and making a difference in their lives.”

At Norco College, Kim teaches Choir, Live Sound, Studio Recording Workshop, Music Fundamentals, Music Theory, Music Appreciation, Basic Musicianship, Applied Voice, and Applied Piano. In the summer, he co-teaches Studio Techniques as well as Piano and Music Appreciation. In the spring, he co-teaches Songwriting. Director of two disciplines, traditional music and commercial music, Kim oversees production of the school’s annual CD release, available at Norcomusic.com.

When not in the classroom, Kim enjoys playing the guitar and piano, improvising and composing music. He has released two albums with original music, a group jazz album that is currently being remastered and a solo piano album entitled “Something to Believe In.” Another solo piano album is currently in the works, and Kim plans to release sheet music books to accompany both piano CDs. He also writes traditional choral music in his spare time, premiering an original choral work last year called “Amor Vincit Omnia” which translates to “Love Conquers All.”

A lover of all things nature, when he’s not working on his music, Kim enjoys spending time outdoors with his family. His sons Benjamin and Christopher are students at Occidental College in Los Angeles and he and his wife Valerie, whom he married in 2015, had a baby boy in August 2016!

To view the Music program page, click here.