Songwriter Lindy Robbins was named a master teacher for the Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project, a summer mentorship program at Northwestern’s Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts.

The Songwriters Project is a collaborative effort between the Johnny Mercer Foundation, a group that supports songwriters, and Northwestern’s American Music Theatre Project. Now in its 14th year, the program will feature Robbins and three other songwriters mentoring a class of 15 new songwriters in a weeklong intensive schedule of master classes and workshops.

Robbins is a multi-platinum selling and award-winning songwriter who has penned lyrics for everyone from Liza Minnelli to The Cheetah Girls and Selena Gomez. After starting her career in the cabaret and theater scene in the ‘90s and founding and composing for “The Tonics,” Robbins began writing mainstream hits in a variety of genres, including pop, R&B and even EDM.

She was the writer behind recent hits including Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper,” Hot Chelle Rae’s “Tonight Tonight” and Jason Derulo’s “Want to Want Me.” She will join three returning songwriters to mentor the up-and-comers, who include a range of talents like a Broadway actress and a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”

Songwriters Project producer Brannon Bowers said in a University release that Robbins is an exciting addition to the program.

“Lindy has a wide breadth of experience, having success in nearly every genre,” Bowers said. “Her songs have been recorded by many top artists in the music industry and have been streamed over 500 million times. Her versatility and recent success will greatly benefit the Project and the songwriters.”

Robbins is joining an impressive cadre of mentors — past teachers included Lin-Manuel Miranda, and participants in the program have gone on to win awards including Oscars, like songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

After the week, the residency will culminate in a June 29 “Songwriters in Concert,” where the songwriters can publicly showcase the material they’ve come up with and workshopped.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @birenbaum