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WIU Alumnus Al Boyer and Son, Cameron, to Speak to Music, Business Classes

November 12, 2018

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MACOMB, IL – Western Illinois University Alumnus Alfred (Al) D. Boyer will return to campus this week to speak to students from the University's College of Fine Arts and Communication and the College of Business and Technology.

His son, Cameron Boyer, of the band "Weathers," will join him on campus. In addition to the advice and encouragement offered by the father and son to WIU students, this visit will also be used to solidify plans for Cameron perform his own music, orchestrated by Andrew Wentzel, with the WIU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Associate Professor Richard Hughey. Performances will be held in the COFAC Recital Hall on the WIU campus and in the Legacy Theatre in Carthage, IL. The 2019 dates for the performances, which are underwritten by Al, will be announced at a later date.

Al Boyer, a 1972 WIU graduate with a degree in accountancy, has more than 30 years of investment and merchant banking experience involving million and billion-dollar business deals. He has been involved in many merchant banking transactions for companies including, but not limited to, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Progress Energy of Progress Rail, Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines, Chrysler and Wetzel's Pretzels. He began his career as a CPA with PricewaterhouseCoopers and later served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of the central-California based Central Pacific corporation, a multi-billion-dollar financial institution involving banking, real estate development financing and mortgage banking.

Al Boyer is a major donor to WIU, has received numerous awards and has served on multiple boards at the University, including the President's Advisory Council and the WIU Foundation Board. Boyer is also committed to the arts, and while working with the College of Fine Arts and Communication through the Alfred D. Boyer Foundation, Al and his wife, Andrea Boyer, recently funded a new Steinway & Sons Boston upright piano for the School of Music's "The Steinway Project."

Cameron is the founder and front man of "Weathers," a four-piece alternative band based in Los Angeles, CA, which was formed in 2015. "Weathers" signed a recording contract with RCA Records in Spring 2016, and a publishing-deal with Sony ATV in 2018. "Weathers" released, "Kids in the Night," parts one and two Eps, before releasing its full-length album in Summer 2018. Cameron grew up an active member of the music community; he began playing piano when he was 5 and is a self-taught guitarist. Songs of note are "Happy Pills," "1983," "Problems" and "The Night is Calling." Their recent album, "Kids in The Night," "breaks the awkward silence many young adults feel when confronting mental illness, while providing comfort in the notion that it's okay to not be okay, and bad times will eventually become growing experiences."

Al and Cameron will meet with three COFAC classes Thursday, Nov. 15 to discuss the progress and success of becoming an artist signed by a major label, and the realities of being signed by a label such as RCA Records. The pair will also discuss the business aspects and the recent publishing deal "Weathers" signed with Sony ATV Publishing.

"Cameron is a talented musician who produces many of his own music videos, and he has been through the tough process of writing songs, producing concerts and working with major labels in the music business," said Julie Baker, COFAC director of development. "We are excited to work on this performance project with Cameron and our WIU Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Richard Hughey. To give our students this opportunity is unique and something they will remember for a lifetime."

Al will also speak with accounting students from WIU's CBT at a session Friday, Nov. 16. This session will focus on his career history - from Carthage, IL to his time at WIU to his now-home base of California.

"It is an honor to host the Boyers on campus this week," Baker added.

For more information on the WIU Orchestra, visit wiu.edu/cofac/orchestras. For more information on "Weathers," visit weathersband.com.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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