What is Grace Weber’s Music Lab?
Grace Weber’s Music Lab is a FREE monthly music & arts education program for middle and high school students throughout the greater Milwaukee area, founded in 2017 as an initiative with Radio Milwaukee by Grammy Award-winning artist and Milwaukee native, Grace Weber. Presented by HYFIN — a Radio Milwaukee station, Music Lab gives young people the opportunity to learn about music, artistry & the entertainment industry directly from professional musicians, creatives & industry leaders. Through live performances, conversations, workshops & our Teen Open Mic, students are encouraged to explore their creativity, develop their craft, collaborate with their peers & build meaningful connections within Milwaukee’s creative community.
Who is the music lab for?
Music Lab programming is designed primarily for teens ages 13–18, from aspiring musicians and performers to young people interested in the many creative careers that exist behind the scenes. Family, friends & siblings are also welcome to attend our in-person sessions, and audiences of all ages can tune in virtually via the Music Lab Facebook livestream. Whether you’re already making music, exploring the arts or simply curious about the creative world, there’s a place for you at Music Lab.
When does the Music Lab take place?
Music Lab takes place monthly throughout the school year, typically on the last Friday of the month from 5–7 PM, with a Teen Social Hour beginning at 4 PM before each session. Our season generally runs from September through May, with individual session dates announced throughout the year.
Where does the Music Lab Happen?
Music Lab is hosted at Radio Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point studios, located at 220 E. Pittsburgh Avenue in Milwaukee. Sessions are offered in a hybrid format, allowing students & community members to join us in person or tune in virtually through the Music Lab Facebook page.
What does the Music Lab Look like?
Every in-person Music Lab begins with our Teen Social Hour at 4 PM in the Radio Milwaukee lobby, featuring free food, music & space for students to hang out, meet one another & connect before the program begins. At 5 PM, we kick off the Lab with a live performance from our featured guest, followed by an artist conversation, student Q&A and, at select sessions, an interactive workshop. From there, we open the stage for our Teen Open Mic, where young performers can share their work in a supportive environment and receive constructive feedback from our featured guest. We close each Lab with student giveaways, Music Lab gear & other prizes — but more importantly, we hope students leave with new ideas, new connections & a greater sense of possibility for their own creative journeys.Lab gear and prizes.
who hosts the music lab?
Music Lab is led & hosted by Program Director B~Free, a Milwaukee-raised singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist & music educator, alongside Program Assistant Brit Nicole, a Milwaukee-based poet, artist, author & singer. Together, they guide each session’s artist conversations, student Q&As & Teen Open Mic while creating a welcoming space where young people can connect authentically with working artists — and with one another.
Why do we do the Music Lab?
We believe young people deserve spaces where their creativity is taken seriously. Music & the arts have the power to build community, create connection & bridge divides. Through Music Lab, we want Milwaukee’s young people to have direct access to working artists, creative professionals, new ideas & one another — while seeing firsthand that there are many ways to build a life in music and the arts.
We hope every session can spark something: a new friendship, a collaboration, a song, a career idea, the confidence to step onstage for the first time — or maybe even Milwaukee’s next great creative force.
Above all, we want young people to have a space to create, be heard, feel valued & know that their ideas belong here.
FOUNDER: GRACE WEBER
Grace is a Grammy Award-Winning singer/songwriter hailing from Milwaukee, WI. Growing up singing in central Youth Gospel Choir of Milwaukee, her lifelong musical pursuits developed a soul-igniting vocal presence. Her talents have taken her from widespread recognition performing at the Apollo & the Oprah Winfrey Show, to touring & working alongside the likes of Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, TOBi, Jean Deaux & PJ Morton. She won her very first Grammy after penning the opening track on Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book “All We Got” feat. Kanye West & Chicago Children’s Choir.
With over 10 million music streams on all platforms & the release of her sophomore album, “Paperflower,” her work has made its way to many prominent spaces, including two headlining tours & a debut live performance on the COLORS STUDIOS platform in Berlin (notably, a firsttime appearance for a Milwaukee artist.) When founding the Music Lab in 2017, she aimed to create a free & safe space for MKE students to create, be heard & feel valued, while learning about the music & entertainment industries through featured monthly guests & a teen open mic segment.
For more information about Grace Weber, please visit www.graceweber.com.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: B~FREE
Singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist & music educator B~Free is a Milwaukee-raised, Los Angeles-based artist whose career spans performance, production, composition & arts education. Classically and jazz-trained in flute, voice & piano, she is an alumna of Milwaukee High School of the Arts and holds degrees in music from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania & VanderCook College of Music. Alongside her career as a professional artist, B~Free has served as Program Director of Grace Weber’s Music Lab at Radio Milwaukee since 2019, helping connect Milwaukee youth with working artists, creative professionals & opportunities throughout the music industry.
As a recording artist, B~Free has built a catalog rooted in R&B, soul, jazz & electronic music, with much of her work written, arranged & produced independently. Her self-produced sophomore album, Ode 2 A Luv Affair, was named the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s No. 1 Milwaukee album of 2016, while the Shepherd Express praised it as an “immaculately constructed R&B record.” Her releases have since included collaborations such as the deep-house single “Hate 2 Luv” featuring Durand Bernarr, the self-produced multi-hyphenate anthem “iProduce My Own Ish,” and her third studio album, Millennial Symphony, released in 2025.
Throughout her career, B~Free has performed across a variety of stages and creative spaces, including serving as direct opening support for Janelle Monáe during her 2018 Milwaukee tour stop. Since relocating to Los Angeles, she has continued expanding her work as a performer, producer, composer & flutist while developing new collaborations on both coasts. She is also a member of the Black Flute Brigade (BFB), an LA-based collective of Black flutists creating performances, arrangements & multimedia work centered around expanding the visibility and possibilities of the flute in contemporary music.
Beyond her own releases, B~Free’s creative work includes music production, vocal production, arranging, songwriting & composition for other artists and organizations. Her online performances & musical content have also received recognition from artists including Brandy, Missy Elliott & Lizzo.
Across each facet of her work, B~Free continues to merge her identities as an artist & educator — creating, performing and producing professionally while using those experiences to help the next generation of young creatives see more possibilities for themselves.
For more information about B~Free, visit bfree2music.com.
GWML PROGRAM ASSISTANT: BRIT NICOLE
BRIT NICOLE is a spoken word artist, community healer, performer, musician, songwriter, and facilitator based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Her first feature performance was in August 2013 at Brewing Grounds for Change. That same year, Brit co-founded PENtastic, one of the longest-running open mics in her hometown. Since then, Brit has taken her talents to Poetry Unplugged, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Middle Earth MKE, Imaginary Heroes events, churches, Voltage! Teen Slam, Br(OK)en Genius, and many more.
When she is not performing, you can catch Brit hosting an open mic, such as Lyrical Sanctuary, or other community gatherings, such as a game night or writing workshop. She works hard to center reflection, healing, and creativity in all she does, no matter the activity or age group it serves. Brit has taught poetry in a multitude of spaces from community organizations, to schools, to churches. She has had a residency with Arts @ Large since September 2021 that has provided her with more opportunities to connect with Milwaukee's communities through her art. She is also the winner for "Best Local Author" in Shepherd Express' "Best of MKE 2022".
Brit published her first book of poetry titled, "Moods, Melanin, and Magic: A Manifesto" back in May 2021 and released her spoken word album titled, "Nocturnal Butterfly" back in April 2022 that is exclusively on Band Camp and in April of 2023, became a filmmaker with her collaborative short film, "Soulmate".