Alumni Affairs/See All BT IssuesBerklee Today Summer 2018
A Magazine for Contemporary Music and Musicians
Featured
The Liberal Arts Muse
Aristotle described the liberal arts as liberating because subjects like history, philosophy, science, and literature give students the freedom to think independently and ask complex, abstract, questions. We asked Berklee students to talk about how liberal arts classes have contributed to their...
Berklee Beat
Students Learn the Ropes at Major Music Festivals
The summer is just beginning, but up-and-coming Berklee artists have already begun a series of appearances at music festivals across the United States and Canada.
Soundbreaking: Create Your Legacy at Berklee
The practice of planned giving (also called legacy giving) at Berklee and Boston Conservatory at Berklee is offering important scholarship support to young musicians. Planned gifts are made during estate planning with funds allocated at that time or at a future date.
The Family Grows by 1,082
At May’s commencement ceremony, Larry Simpson, senior vice president for academic affairs/provost, told graduates that, with 1,082 members, they are the largest graduating class in Berklee’s history. They represent 72 countries with women making up 34 percent of the total.
Soundbreaking: Offering Hometown Support
When provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Lawrence Simpson and his wife, Ann, established the Lawrence and Ann Simpson Endowed Scholarship in 2011, they directed their support to students of African-American or Latino descent who hail from their hometown of Cleveland, OH...
Soundbreaking: Alumni Pay It Forward at Career Jam 2018
The second annual Career Jam featured an impressive array of music industry luminaries offering expertise and guidance to students through panel presentations, workshops, master classes, auditions, and mentoring sessions.
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Celebrates 2018 Graduating Class
The Boston Conservatory at Berklee celebrated its 2018 graduating class in an afternoon commencement ceremony that welcomed Grammy Award–winning opera icon Victoria Livengood (a 1985 conservatory graduate) and Tony and Grammy Award–winning Broadway actor, singer, director, and activist Billy...
Longtime Colleagues Bid Farewell
The spring 2018 semester marked the retirement of several longtime Berklee staff and faculty members who have contributed greatly to the institution.
Distinguished Alumni Reconnect
The Office of Alumni Affairs recently honored eight alumni with Alumni Achievement Awards, bringing the group to campus for a day of reconnecting, networking, video shoots, a reception, and an awards ceremony.
Two Added to the Board of Trustees
Berklee’s Board of Trustees chair Susan Whitehead recently announced the addition of Robert S. Murley and Steve Ruchefsky to the board.
Julius Williams Takes the Baton at the BCSO
Professor Julius Williams has been named as the music director and conductor of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra (BCSO).
The Woodshed
Why Lead Sheets?
Lead sheets are an abbreviated form of notation featuring just the essential musical information. Yet, in many contemporary music production scenarios, notation is commonly avoided—leading to miscommunication.
Expert Testimony
Expert Testimony
Jack Perricone, Berklee’s Songwriting Department chair emeritus, discusses the craft of songwriting with Mark Small.
Regional Spotlights
West Coast News
There’s an app for almost everything, but when Sara Leib ’01 wanted an app that could support her students’ vocal training, nothing satisfied. So, Leib, a professional singer, educator, and founder and CEO of Voice Guru, LLC, created her own, called Voxercise.
A Lasting Legacy
As the latest in an annual series of fundraising concerts in Los Angeles, WesFest 13 was an amazing musical experience that took the spirit of celebration to new heights. WesFest raises funds for the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship at Berklee.
Nashville Pros
When quizzed about what he’s learned in his life as a touring musician backing one of the biggest stars in country music today, bass player Travis Vance ’03 pauses. Then he offers a simple, yet sage piece of advice. “Always pack a towel,” he says.
Coda
Educating Artistic Citizens
For music education to have lasting value, it must focus on fostering a committed work ethic among students and inspire them to strive for artistic excellence at every level. In my classes, I stress that music and the other arts are the repository of culture and shed light on the human...
Lead Sheet
The Benefits of Service-Learning
Faculty Highlights
Larry Baione ’71, who has chaired the guitar department for 30 of his 44 years at Berklee, says becoming a guitarist was the luck of the draw.
Professor Jane Miller released the CD Boats. It features Miller (guitars), and faculty members Tim Ray, Lincoln Goines, Mark Walker, Eugene Friesen, and Larry Watson.
Associate professor Ben Houge developed a real-time algorithmic arrangement of the overture to étienne Méhul’s opera Les Amazones for the event at Symphony Hall titled “Le Dîner des Amazones.”
Alumni News
While at Berklee, Nils de Mol van Otterloo couldn’t have predicted the journey would take him from studio engineer to social worker to academia.
Composer and drummer Jeffrey Meyer of New York City released the album Paolo for Paw Maw Music with Michael Pellera ’76 playing piano, which is available on iTunes. Meyer was recently a guest composer at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
Composer Joel Goodman of Topanga, CA, wrote the scores for the documentaries The Gilded Age and The Bombing of Wall Street. Both aired on PBS in February. Visit joelgoodman.com.