Grace Masura’s ‘Here’s to Her Voice’ event brings women in music together

Grace Masura smiles as she sits at the Inverted Fountain while wearing a beige sweater and jeans. The fourth-year music industry student organized and produced this Friday’s “Here’s to Her Voice” event, which will take place at Hotel Ziggy and is hosted by her own GEM Productions for her UCLA capstone project. (Max Zhang/Daily Bruin)
“Here's to Her Voice”
March 14
Hotel Ziggy
7:00 p.m.
By Martin Sevcik
March 12, 2025 5:13 p.m.
This post was updated March 12 at 8:23 p.m.
From the artists to the organizers, “Here’s to Her Voice” is a celebration of women in the music industry.
“Here’s to Her Voice” will bring four rising female musicians to Hotel Ziggy on Friday, celebrating Women’s History Month and fundraising for the Global Fund for Women. The event is the capstone project of fourth-year music industry student Grace Masura, representing the culmination of her academic and professional experiences at UCLA, as well as the first event hosted by Masura’s GEM Productions.
“I want it to really be an event that creates community and creates a space where a woman can talk to other women in the music industry and feel supported and feel empowered,” Masura said. “The title ‘Here’s to Her Voice’ was a notion to … raising a glass to the women in our lives, the women in the music industry that inspire us, the artists that inspire us.”
The event will feature UCLA students, including artists amelie kalia and Bree Frances, and Los Angeles-based artists Bella Fiske and Madeline The Person. Each artist will also receive a recording studio session through a partnership with GRL SND Studio, which Masura said was another way for the event to offer opportunities for the up-and-coming artists. Women in Music UCLA is also working the event, Masura added, offering an activity booth during the event to facilitate the community-building aspects of the benefit show.
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Women in Music UCLA’s Chair of Communications Kate Kresser said the organization – which supports student artists through networking events, panels and concerts – was excited to support “Here’s to Her Voice” through marketing support and event setup. The fourth-year music industry student said Masura is highly organized and has a strong vision for the event, particularly in its emphasis on female artists.
“That’s kind of been at the forefront of the conversation the entire time – how can we make this as uplifting and supportive to women as possible?” Kresser said. “That’s even why she wanted Women in Music to get involved, because her vision very closely aligns with the vision of Women in Music as a whole.”
Music industry lecturer Stig Edgren said the event’s success came from Masura’s ambition and planning talent. As an advisor for the project, he said he offered support throughout and helped flesh out her ideas, but he added that Masura was always the one making decisions and coming up with solutions. From Masura booking artists and venues to setting prices, he was impressed by her passion, he said, as well as her diplomatic and approachable attitude. He added that this is especially impressive as a capstone project, which usually does not culminate in a fully realized event.
“Based on what she’s done before, what she’s learned in my class, she’s taken it all and put it together with a theme, a venue, artist, booking artists, picking prices,” Edgren said. “That was really well done.”

This was not Masura’s first time diving into event planning. Since her second year at UCLA, Masura has worked at venues – such as the Troubadour and House of Blues – and record labels including UCLA’s Cherry Pop Records and Universal Music Group, where she currently works.
Carly Schwartz, director of creator partnerships at 1824 under Universal Music Group and Masura’s current supervisor, said no task is too big or small for Masura, who is able to excel in new situations. She said she was not surprised by Masura’s ability to bring the event to life, adding that it will create a place for women – including Masura herself – to thrive in the industry.
“The music industry, it’s a very male-dominated place, so it’s really important to … create a more welcoming and inviting place for women to flourish and inspire other people,” Schwartz said. “Look what you can do even at a young age and look at how much Grace has done already.”
Masura said her capstone project began as a different event in collaboration with Interscope Records – another one of her current workplaces – which she said had to be canceled due to the Los Angeles County wildfires in January. As she pivoted to another project midquarter, she said she identified the potential for a Women’s History Month event focused on uplifting women from the get-go and began reaching out to artists and venues.
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With the project nearing completion, she said she is grateful for the opportunity to plan an event entirely on her own. She said the project represents a culmination of her experiences at UCLA and allowed her to tap into the relationships and connections she built during that time.
“It definitely was a little bit crazy to decide last-minute to put this all together, but I knew even if it was a little concert in my apartment – no matter where it happened – it would be special and unique,” Masura said. “Being able to start something of my own – start GEM Productions and just get the ball rolling – was super, super cool, and I’ve loved every second of it.”
Masura said she hopes to work in event planning or music marketing for a record label after graduation. Looking back on her experiences, Masura said she has enjoyed conducting front-to-back event planning at Interscope Records, as well as working consistently with the same artists and watching their careers develop at Cherry Pop Records. She added that she wants GEM Productions to continue hosting events to highlight women and queer people in the music industry. No matter what exact path Masura takes, Edgren said he is confident she has a future in the industry.
“She is absolutely a candidate who could be a high-end, top professional event or concert producer – there’s no question,” Edgren said. “A lot of people can dream up ideas, but to pull them off – that’s the real work of an artist.”