Miranda Hasani ’25 Behind the Scenes: From Campus Concert to Iconic Music Festivals

When Associate Professor Elizabeth Covino invited Allison Pangakis ’08 to speak to students in her Introduction to the Sports, Entertainment and Event – Management Industry class, the perfect opportunity emerged for Miranda Hasani ’25.

Pangakis, director of site operations for Newport Festivals Foundation, is an alumnus of JWU’s Sports, Entertainment, Event – Management (SEEM) program. Miranda, who transferred to JWU as a junior, is a current senior SEEM major with a specialization in Live Entertainment Management, which she chose as the preferred journey to her ideal careers in concert promotion and artist management. Before coming to JWU, Miranda earned an associate degree and focused on business courses.

Miranda gives credit to her professor for bringing her and Pangakis together. “Associate Professor Covino, who knew I wanted to go into live entertainment, invited Allison as a guest speaker, so she kind of bridged that connection for me. Allison and I stayed after class to talk, and she kept me in mind for work at the festivals. Then I reached out to her again,” said Miranda, whose networking paid off — Pangakis hired her to work for two of the most famous music festivals in the United States.

Miranda worked directly for Pangakis as an operations assistant. “She's been amazing,” said Miranda about Pangakis. “I would help her out with any task she didn't have time to do, mainly with food and craft vendors, designing their setup and where to place them at the festival. I also made sure to invoice them properly and that they had the insurance needed. And I helped the box office and checked in with artist relations to see if they needed help with the artists’ needs. I learned a lot about all of the little steps needed to put something like a major music festival together.”

Miranda worked for the festivals from mid-July through early August at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, and couldn’t have had a better experience. “It's beautiful and right against the water, so just being there every day — I felt I couldn't have had that job anywhere else. With the music added in, it was very special to me because that's really what I want to go into. Hopefully down the line I'll have a position at the festivals because I've grown to very much care about them.”

Pangakis was impressed with Miranda’s skills and professionalism. “I was so fortunate to have Miranda on my team for this year's Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festivals! She has great event instincts — she knows when to ask questions, when to take initiative, when to make a decision and when to talk it through with others on the team. She may be a naturally quiet person, but she is always listening and retaining information. Her calm demeanor was a welcome balance to the busy work environment, and I feel that vendors were really impressed with their interactions with her,” Pangakis said.

Never Enough Experience

At JWU, experiential education has been an important part of how students learn and gain experience for more than 100 years. Miranda is taking full advantage of that, determined to build a well-rounded background and skill set.

In her junior year alone, Miranda completed three Directed Experiential Education (DEE) courses (real-world projects are embedded in the courses that are led by JWU faculty):

• Served on the Marketing Committee for the 10th Annual SEEM Leadership Conference
• Was co-producer for the Tech 10 Awards (with Rhode Island Monthly and the Rhode Island Foundation)
• Involved in creating entertainment deliverables for FirstWorks, which brings live entertainment to different spaces and audiences

Miranda has also taken on internships and part-time and freelance positions, including sponsorship strategist for Project Insulin, event ambassador for Gillette Stadium and social media consultant for Gallery Night Providence. Between these experiences and her DEEs, Miranda has gained skills in social media, promotions, project management and more.

Miranda says her favorite course at JWU so far has been Concert, Tour and Music Festival Production Management; it offers the ultimate hands-on project for students interested in just about any area of the entertainment and events industries. First, you learn all the details of what it takes to put on a live concert, then you actually produce, manage and market one. Miranda and her classmates created "Not Your Dad's Music Festival" under the seasoned guidance of Associate Professor Julie Viscardi- Smalley. “We set up every detail for the show and had a mini outdoor festival with four different artists, including one who is a well-known performer, Simone. It was cool having her.”

How does Miranda manage to fit so much into her schedule? “I think I'm very motivated. I'm a bit of an overachiever, so I've just been trying to do everything,” she notes.

What Led Miranda to JWU?

“I knew I wanted to go into music and concerts, but I didn't know where. There weren’t really programs around that encompassed both of my interests — it was either business or music, there's not a lot of programs that do both. My girlfriend was already going to JWU, and I learned about the SEEM program from her. I decided to scope out what the program was really about. I went to three major events, the SEEM conference, the concert and a trade show – that was before I was a student here.”

Associate Professor Viscardi-Smalley was also a major reason Miranda chose JWU. “She was very in tune with my interests and remembered everything I told her after emailing her and staying in contact. She was very good about that, and I learned a lot from her about the classes offered,” said Miranda.

Between the courses, experiences and faculty, Miranda was seriously considering JWU as her next step. “After going to the events and seeing how the professors actually care about their students, I was very on board with coming here. I liked having a range of possible careers and I'm learning a lot of different things. I can take lots of different pathways and I'm very open to that.”

Miranda has been deeply impacted by the professors she learned from and got to know. “Speaking personally about the program I've chosen, I think Johnson & Wales has very experienced professors who have been out in the industry and want to teach students because they care, and they want to motivate people to do what they did. They are great leaders and great people in general, and they really push for their students. I don't think I could have been in a 200-person lecture hall. Coming here and being known by my professors — they keep up with what I'm doing and bring opportunities to me — is a big reason I'm here.”

Networking and Mentors

Networking with Pangakis was not the only time Miranda connected with alumni and other industry contacts thanks to faculty. 

“Our professors try to bring in as many guest speakers and industry people as possible. Through faculty I’ve met people in the events industry who I ended up working for. We've had a lot of successful SEEM graduates visit, and I’ve connected with them through LinkedIn or email. They’re very open to helping students.”

Who does Miranda consider a mentor? It’s hard for her to choose from all of the people who support her. “I would definitely consider Dr. Viscardi-Smalley a mentor. I truly admire her in so many ways and she's had such a plentiful career. She's so understanding of people and very kind and courteous. You can see that about her just by how she treats her students and how she understands that people are going through different things in life, and she gives grace for that.”

Through a few of the DEEs Miranda took, she’s had the chance to learn from faculty outside the College of Hospitality Management including the College of Arts & Sciences. “I would also consider Professor Evan Villari a mentor. He is a lot more of a creative than I am and I'm more of a structured person, but I've learned a lot about being understanding and how other people have different processes for getting through things. I think that's making me a little more well-rounded.”

As a JWU alumnus who has become quite successful in the entertainment and events world, Pangakis also speaks highly of the networking opportunities at the university. “JWU is an incredible resource for both students and alumni. Students have a lot of opportunities to meet and network with industry professionals, right in their classrooms, and this allows them to take control of their career path. As an alumnus I go back to the university often to find great employees, like Miranda, to help staff events around the state.”