Berklee Today Fall/ Winter 2024

BerkleeToday F/W 2024

The Magazine of Berklee College of Music

An Artist’s Advocate JIM LUCCHESE BECOMES BERKLEE’S FIFTH PRESIDENT IN JANUARY.

Contents

F/W 2024

F EATU R ES

DE PA R TME N T S

10

04

Jim Lucchese, whose career as an entrepreneur and lawyer has focused on helping musicians, becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January.

ALL THE BERKLEE NEWS THAT FITS

An Artist’s Advocate

Beat

BY KIMBERLY ASHTON

16

38

Country music has exploded in popularity as new artists—and fans—flood in.

NEWS FROM OUR ALUMNI COMMUNITY

Cowboy Charters

Pulse

BY ALEXANDER GELFAND

Alum Notes 40

22

A LU MN I P R OFI L ES

Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.

BY CHESTON KNAPP

In Sync

BY MICHAEL BLANDING

28

Daniel Beilman 43 Alissia Benveniste 44

BY MAURA JOHNSTON

Final Cadence 47

Finding Common Sound

Berklee embarks on a partnership in Morocco that helps musicians dig deeper into their artistry and bridge musical cultures.

BY KIMBERLY ASHTON

34

48

Finale

Showstopper

BY TATO BAEZA

Leveling Up

Krisha Marcano knew her path early in life.

Now, as the Conservatory’s dean of theater, she’s helping others find theirs.

BY SARAH GODCHER MURPHY

There’s not much consciousness among people in the Americas of what’s going on in Africa and [that] we got a lot of our music from them.

PROFESSOR LEO BLANCO (SEE PAGE 28)

On the cover: Jim Lucchese, photographed by Kelly Davidson. Opposite: Performers at the Gnaoua World Music Festival, image courtesy of A3 Communications.

Contents

F/W 2024

F EATU R ES

DE PA R TME N T S

10

04

Jim Lucchese, whose career as an entrepreneur and lawyer has focused on helping musicians, becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January.

ALL THE BERKLEE NEWS THAT FITS

An Artist’s Advocate

Beat

BY KIMBERLY ASHTON

16

38

Country music has exploded in popularity as new artists—and fans—flood in.

NEWS FROM OUR ALUMNI COMMUNITY

Cowboy Charters

Pulse

BY ALEXANDER GELFAND

Alum Notes 40

22

A LU MN I P R OFI L ES

Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.

BY CHESTON KNAPP

In Sync

BY MICHAEL BLANDING

28

Daniel Beilman 43 Alissia Benveniste 44

BY MAURA JOHNSTON

Final Cadence 47

Finding Common Sound

Berklee embarks on a partnership in Morocco that helps musicians dig deeper into their artistry and bridge musical cultures.

BY KIMBERLY ASHTON

34

48

Finale

Showstopper

BY TATO BAEZA

Leveling Up

Krisha Marcano knew her path early in life.

Now, as the Conservatory’s dean of theater, she’s helping others find theirs.

BY SARAH GODCHER MURPHY

There’s not much consciousness among people in the Americas of what’s going on in Africa and [that] we got a lot of our music from them.

PROFESSOR LEO BLANCO (SEE PAGE 28)

On the cover: Jim Lucchese, photographed by Kelly Davidson. Opposite: Performers at the Gnaoua World Music Festival, image courtesy of A3 Communications.

Letter from the President Jim Lucchese Berklee Today | Fall/Winter 2024 A PUBLICAT ION OF T H E O FFI CE O F CO MMU N I CAT I O N S A N D MA RKE T I N G

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

DESIGN

Dear Berklee alumni,

Kimberly Ashton Maura Johnston, Cheston Knapp, Darry Madden, John Mirisola, Sarah Godcher Murphy, Bryan Parys Patrick Mitchell MODUSOP.NET

COPY EDITORS CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

CONTENT STRATEGY DEPARTMENT

SENIOR DIRECTOR

Nick Balkin

DIRECTOR

Tara Bellucci

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Bryan Parys

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER PROOFING MANAGER

Diane Owens Calef Brown, Kelly Davidson, Séan Alonzo Harris, Eric Palma

OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT SENIOR DIRECTOR, ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND ANNUAL GIVING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS/LOS ANGELES

Erin Tunnicliffe Joseph Dreeszen Dana M. James B.M. ’09

John Mirisola Lesley O’Connell

I’m thrilled to be opening this issue of Berklee Today, and to introduce myself. It is an honor to join a global community that, in addition to being extremely talented, is world-renowned for its innovation. For years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of the exceptional artists from the Berklee community, and I’m always impressed by your originality and skill. Your impact on creative culture cannot be overstated.

I observed this impact firsthand at the Lee Berk tribute concert in April. During the show, I witnessed the legacy of the Berk family and the inspiring depth and diversity of talent that graced the stage. Walking out of that tribute, I was moved not only by the incredible performances, but also by the community’s love, kindness, and mutual respect. I left struck by the realization of what an extraordinary privilege it would be to guide such an outstanding institution into its next chapter.

As I step into the role of Berklee’s fifth president in January, I will do my best to continue our tradition of musical excellence across a diverse range of disciplines and to foster the unique vibe that makes Berklee such a special place. To do so, my top priority will be to listen to and learn from students, faculty, staff, and you, our alumni. I look forward to building on Berklee’s many firsts in music, dance, and theater education and developing forward-looking programs and partnerships to ensure our students are prepared to build the future of the arts and live creative lives on their own terms.

I couldn’t be more excited to join this extraordinary community.

Sincerely, Jim Lucchese Incoming President

As the alumni-oriented magazine of Berklee College of Music, Berklee Today is dedicated to informing, enriching, and serving the extended Berklee community.

By sharing information about college matters, music industry issues and events, alumni activities and accomplishments, and musical topics of interest, Berklee Today serves as a valuable forum for our family throughout the world and a source of commentary on contemporary music.

Berklee Today (ISSN 1052-3839) is published once a year by Berklee College of Music’s Office of Communications and Marketing. All contents © 2024 by Berklee College of Music.

Send all address changes, press releases, letters to the editor, and advertising inquiries to Berklee Today, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215-3693, +1 617-747-2843, kashton@berklee.edu. Alumni are invited to send in details of activities suitable for coverage. Unsolicited submissions are accepted.

Alum Notes may be submitted to berklee.edu/alumni/forms/alumni-updates. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608.

Canada returns should be sent to IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada. Visit us at berklee.edu/berklee-today.

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Letter from the President Jim Lucchese Berklee Today | Fall/Winter 2024 A PUBLICAT ION OF T H E O FFI CE O F CO MMU N I CAT I O N S A N D MA RKE T I N G

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

DESIGN

Dear Berklee alumni,

Kimberly Ashton Maura Johnston, Cheston Knapp, Darry Madden, John Mirisola, Sarah Godcher Murphy, Bryan Parys Patrick Mitchell MODUSOP.NET

COPY EDITORS CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

CONTENT STRATEGY DEPARTMENT

SENIOR DIRECTOR

Nick Balkin

DIRECTOR

Tara Bellucci

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Bryan Parys

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER PROOFING MANAGER

Diane Owens Calef Brown, Kelly Davidson, Séan Alonzo Harris, Eric Palma

OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT SENIOR DIRECTOR, ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND ANNUAL GIVING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS/LOS ANGELES

Erin Tunnicliffe Joseph Dreeszen Dana M. James B.M. ’09

John Mirisola Lesley O’Connell

I’m thrilled to be opening this issue of Berklee Today, and to introduce myself. It is an honor to join a global community that, in addition to being extremely talented, is world-renowned for its innovation. For years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of the exceptional artists from the Berklee community, and I’m always impressed by your originality and skill. Your impact on creative culture cannot be overstated.

I observed this impact firsthand at the Lee Berk tribute concert in April. During the show, I witnessed the legacy of the Berk family and the inspiring depth and diversity of talent that graced the stage. Walking out of that tribute, I was moved not only by the incredible performances, but also by the community’s love, kindness, and mutual respect. I left struck by the realization of what an extraordinary privilege it would be to guide such an outstanding institution into its next chapter.

As I step into the role of Berklee’s fifth president in January, I will do my best to continue our tradition of musical excellence across a diverse range of disciplines and to foster the unique vibe that makes Berklee such a special place. To do so, my top priority will be to listen to and learn from students, faculty, staff, and you, our alumni. I look forward to building on Berklee’s many firsts in music, dance, and theater education and developing forward-looking programs and partnerships to ensure our students are prepared to build the future of the arts and live creative lives on their own terms.

I couldn’t be more excited to join this extraordinary community.

Sincerely, Jim Lucchese Incoming President

As the alumni-oriented magazine of Berklee College of Music, Berklee Today is dedicated to informing, enriching, and serving the extended Berklee community.

By sharing information about college matters, music industry issues and events, alumni activities and accomplishments, and musical topics of interest, Berklee Today serves as a valuable forum for our family throughout the world and a source of commentary on contemporary music.

Berklee Today (ISSN 1052-3839) is published once a year by Berklee College of Music’s Office of Communications and Marketing. All contents © 2024 by Berklee College of Music.

Send all address changes, press releases, letters to the editor, and advertising inquiries to Berklee Today, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215-3693, +1 617-747-2843, kashton@berklee.edu. Alumni are invited to send in details of activities suitable for coverage. Unsolicited submissions are accepted.

Alum Notes may be submitted to berklee.edu/alumni/forms/alumni-updates. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608.

Canada returns should be sent to IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada. Visit us at berklee.edu/berklee-today.

2 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

3 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STUDY ABROAD STUDENT LANIF AZCONA PERFORMS AT AT UN LAGO DE CONCIERTOS ON APRIL 22, 2022, IN VALENCIA, SPAIN.

4 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

TATO BAEZA

All the Berklee News That Fits

STUDY ABROAD STUDENT LANIF AZCONA PERFORMS AT AT UN LAGO DE CONCIERTOS ON APRIL 22, 2022, IN VALENCIA, SPAIN.

4 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

TATO BAEZA

All the Berklee News That Fits

Beat Careers —

Academics —

Mentoring and Music: The Global Career Summit Returns to Valencia

Berklee Launches Black Music and Culture Major

BY DARRY MADDEN

BY JOHN MIRISOLA

6 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Center. “Tremendous career insights are gained through keynotes, panels, workshops, open recording sessions, and much more.”

The summit welcomes more than two dozen presenters from the global entertainment industry to speak, provide one-on-one mentoring, and lead workshops.

While the summit is open to the public, organizers are limiting ticket sales to 50 to ensure that attendees have ample networking opportunities.

Designed to provide practical knowledge, sessions will focus on business, film scoring, production, and songwriting. Speakers include composer and sound designer Amy McKnight; engineer and producer Fiona Cruickshank; Xavier Brossard-Ménard, a singing casting partner at Cirque Du Soleil; producer and songwriter Christian Lohr; and Lillia Betz, the head of AI R&D at Ableton.

“The International Career Center team always delivers a great program for their summit,

and it is truly a pleasure to learn from peers and industry professionals,” said ANTOINE ROUSSEAU MA ’20, the founder of audio and visual design services agency Memento who has attended the summit since he was a student at Berklee Valencia. “I enjoy discovering the latest trends and tips from the speakers.”

Tickets are available through January 7. More information can be found at valencia-spotlight. berklee.edu/career-summit.

DAVE GREEN

The Global Career Summit returns to Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain, from January 14 to 17. The four-day conference, now in its ninth year, brings together experts, thought leaders, and others who are shaping the future of the music industry.

“If you are interested in careers within the music business, composition, production, or songwriting, Berklee’s Global Career Summit is a great opportunity,” said Stine Glismand, director of Berklee’s International Career

@VISITVALENCIA

This fall Berklee’s Africana Studies Division launched Berklee’s newest degree program: the Bachelor of Music in Black music and culture. Students entering the program will pursue a concentration in gospel music that combines performance training in the genre, an academic grounding in the tradition’s sociocultural history, and a practical study of the gospel music business.

“Birthed from the blues, negro spirituals, and Protestant hymnody, gospel music not only gave rise to a deeply moving and emotive style of performance but also expanded a thriving segment of the entertainment and media industry while having an undeniable impact on various cultures and societies around the globe,” said Emmett G. Price III, founding dean of the Africana Studies Division, who designed the new major in partnership with Michael C. Mason, chair of the Africana Studies Department, in collaboration with faculty members from across the institution. Mason said the major’s concentration on gospel music “will allow students to dive deeply into this unique cultural art form.”

In support of the new major, two new faculty members have joined the Africana Studies Department: gospel pianist and music director David Freeman Coleman, and gospel music scholar Teresa Hairston-Jackson.

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Beat Careers —

Academics —

Mentoring and Music: The Global Career Summit Returns to Valencia

Berklee Launches Black Music and Culture Major

BY DARRY MADDEN

BY JOHN MIRISOLA

6 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Center. “Tremendous career insights are gained through keynotes, panels, workshops, open recording sessions, and much more.”

The summit welcomes more than two dozen presenters from the global entertainment industry to speak, provide one-on-one mentoring, and lead workshops.

While the summit is open to the public, organizers are limiting ticket sales to 50 to ensure that attendees have ample networking opportunities.

Designed to provide practical knowledge, sessions will focus on business, film scoring, production, and songwriting. Speakers include composer and sound designer Amy McKnight; engineer and producer Fiona Cruickshank; Xavier Brossard-Ménard, a singing casting partner at Cirque Du Soleil; producer and songwriter Christian Lohr; and Lillia Betz, the head of AI R&D at Ableton.

“The International Career Center team always delivers a great program for their summit,

and it is truly a pleasure to learn from peers and industry professionals,” said ANTOINE ROUSSEAU MA ’20, the founder of audio and visual design services agency Memento who has attended the summit since he was a student at Berklee Valencia. “I enjoy discovering the latest trends and tips from the speakers.”

Tickets are available through January 7. More information can be found at valencia-spotlight. berklee.edu/career-summit.

DAVE GREEN

The Global Career Summit returns to Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain, from January 14 to 17. The four-day conference, now in its ninth year, brings together experts, thought leaders, and others who are shaping the future of the music industry.

“If you are interested in careers within the music business, composition, production, or songwriting, Berklee’s Global Career Summit is a great opportunity,” said Stine Glismand, director of Berklee’s International Career

@VISITVALENCIA

This fall Berklee’s Africana Studies Division launched Berklee’s newest degree program: the Bachelor of Music in Black music and culture. Students entering the program will pursue a concentration in gospel music that combines performance training in the genre, an academic grounding in the tradition’s sociocultural history, and a practical study of the gospel music business.

“Birthed from the blues, negro spirituals, and Protestant hymnody, gospel music not only gave rise to a deeply moving and emotive style of performance but also expanded a thriving segment of the entertainment and media industry while having an undeniable impact on various cultures and societies around the globe,” said Emmett G. Price III, founding dean of the Africana Studies Division, who designed the new major in partnership with Michael C. Mason, chair of the Africana Studies Department, in collaboration with faculty members from across the institution. Mason said the major’s concentration on gospel music “will allow students to dive deeply into this unique cultural art form.”

In support of the new major, two new faculty members have joined the Africana Studies Department: gospel pianist and music director David Freeman Coleman, and gospel music scholar Teresa Hairston-Jackson.

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Beat Academics —

City Music —

Community —

New Circus Arts Minor at Conservatory

Strings Professor Leads Effort to Bring Music to Polling Stations B Y B R YA N P A R Y S

Unifying, positive, inspiring— these are likely not the words many Americans would use to describe the voting process over the last few election cycles. Cellist Mike Block, associate professor of strings, is trying to change that.

In 2020, Block had the opportunity to perform live at an early-voting polling station in Somerville, Massachusetts, and the experience was so energizing that he felt moved to take the idea further. He put the word out to his musical network, dubbing the initiative Play the Vote, and by the time election day came around in November, his group had organized 1,500 musicians to play at about 700 polling stations across the country. Block says that the initiative “was built on the desire to create a more positive voting experience.

There is inherent competition that comes with an election, but voters participate in elections under the shared purpose of uplifting the democratic process.”

Part of the reason musicians were so quick to rally for Play the Vote in 2020 was because it

Berklee City Music celebrated over three decades of empowering young artists at its annual gala, Amplify Berklee. All proceeds benefit City Music, the college’s educational outreach program, which uses contemporary music to help youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially, and emotionally.

An organization with national reach, City Music serves nearly 2,000 students regionally and more than 60,000 young people across the country through a variety of partnerships and initiatives.

Held at the Westin Copley Place in Boston on November 2, the gala featured special guests DJ Jazzy Jeff and Brian Kennedy ’93 as well as musical performances by the Berklee City Music All-Stars, the Berklee City Music Ensemble, the Berklee City Music Alumni Band, Cosmo & the Four-Strings, Clara Rose and the Hot Club of Back Bay, pipe major Dave Methven, Upper Structure, Kieran Rhodes BM ’24, Catfish in the Sky, On Broadway, Lotus Feet, the Eguie Castrillo Salsa Orchestra, the Berklee Bob Marley Ensemble, the Afro-Pop Ambassadors with Albino Mbie BM ‘13, and the Michael Jackson Ensemble.

DJ, rapper, producer, actor, and entrepreneur DJ Jazzy Jeff, who rose to fame as part of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with Will Smith, DJed the dance party that closed out the night. Now on tour with New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul, he continues to influence generations of aspiring artists through his productions, solo projects, collaborations, and global tours.

City Music alumnus Brian Kennedy ‘93 is a four-time Grammy Award–winning songwriter and producer. With over 20 years in the industry, his credits include hits such as “Disturbia” (Rihanna), “Here We Go … Again” (the Weeknd/Tyler, the Creator), and “If This Isn’t Love” ( Jennifer Hudson). He’s also collaborated with top artists, including Smokey Robinson, Lady Gaga, and Kelly Clarkson. Kennedy joined Berklee City Music’s ambassador program this summer. —Kimberly Ashton

8 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

came about several months into a global shutdown that wreaked havoc on the live-music industry and on the many freelance musicians who relied on live performances not just for their livelihood but for their sense of identity. Play the Vote gave these musicians the chance, even in a small way, to get back to doing the thing they loved most.

Since then, the excitement generated by Play the Vote has only grown. Play the Vote is now a nonprofit, and the organization set its sights on expanding for the 2024 election. Block said that, for this year, he aimed to grow the initiative to 5,000 musicians across all 50 states.

“The biggest lesson we learned [in 2020] is that there’s a genuine interest in improving the voter experience through music,” he said. “With more time to plan, we’ve been able to bring in more team members, organize with greater structure, and ensure that both the musicians and voters have a positive and meaningful voting experience through the unifying power of music.”

GUTTER CREDIT IS CENTERED

DJ Jazzy Jeff and Brian Kennedy Headline Annual Gala

OPPOSITE: KELLY LORENZ

Boston Conservatory at Berklee launched a new circus arts/cirque minor this fall, becoming the first academic institution in the country to offer a formal course of studies in the subject. The new minor includes required experiential classes in clowning, tumbling, masks, and juggling, as well as a liberal arts course covering the history of circus traditions from all over the world. Students can choose from elective courses in dance, theater, and acrobatics that build cirque techniques and complement their major studies. Developed by Theresa Lang, professor of theater, and Tommy Neblett, dean of dance, the minor is available to all students at the Conservatory and at the College.

Launching college-level circus studies is a logical next step for Boston Conservatory, Neblett says, as the performance world continues to expand and combine disciplines. “The more skills a performer has, the better, because the lines are now so blurred between dance and theater and music and visual arts,” he says."S A R A H G O D C H E R M U R P H Y

9 Illustration by T K T K T K

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Beat Academics —

City Music —

Community —

New Circus Arts Minor at Conservatory

Strings Professor Leads Effort to Bring Music to Polling Stations B Y B R YA N P A R Y S

Unifying, positive, inspiring— these are likely not the words many Americans would use to describe the voting process over the last few election cycles. Cellist Mike Block, associate professor of strings, is trying to change that.

In 2020, Block had the opportunity to perform live at an early-voting polling station in Somerville, Massachusetts, and the experience was so energizing that he felt moved to take the idea further. He put the word out to his musical network, dubbing the initiative Play the Vote, and by the time election day came around in November, his group had organized 1,500 musicians to play at about 700 polling stations across the country. Block says that the initiative “was built on the desire to create a more positive voting experience.

There is inherent competition that comes with an election, but voters participate in elections under the shared purpose of uplifting the democratic process.”

Part of the reason musicians were so quick to rally for Play the Vote in 2020 was because it

Berklee City Music celebrated over three decades of empowering young artists at its annual gala, Amplify Berklee. All proceeds benefit City Music, the college’s educational outreach program, which uses contemporary music to help youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially, and emotionally.

An organization with national reach, City Music serves nearly 2,000 students regionally and more than 60,000 young people across the country through a variety of partnerships and initiatives.

Held at the Westin Copley Place in Boston on November 2, the gala featured special guests DJ Jazzy Jeff and Brian Kennedy ’93 as well as musical performances by the Berklee City Music All-Stars, the Berklee City Music Ensemble, the Berklee City Music Alumni Band, Cosmo & the Four-Strings, Clara Rose and the Hot Club of Back Bay, pipe major Dave Methven, Upper Structure, Kieran Rhodes BM ’24, Catfish in the Sky, On Broadway, Lotus Feet, the Eguie Castrillo Salsa Orchestra, the Berklee Bob Marley Ensemble, the Afro-Pop Ambassadors with Albino Mbie BM ‘13, and the Michael Jackson Ensemble.

DJ, rapper, producer, actor, and entrepreneur DJ Jazzy Jeff, who rose to fame as part of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with Will Smith, DJed the dance party that closed out the night. Now on tour with New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul, he continues to influence generations of aspiring artists through his productions, solo projects, collaborations, and global tours.

City Music alumnus Brian Kennedy ‘93 is a four-time Grammy Award–winning songwriter and producer. With over 20 years in the industry, his credits include hits such as “Disturbia” (Rihanna), “Here We Go … Again” (the Weeknd/Tyler, the Creator), and “If This Isn’t Love” ( Jennifer Hudson). He’s also collaborated with top artists, including Smokey Robinson, Lady Gaga, and Kelly Clarkson. Kennedy joined Berklee City Music’s ambassador program this summer. —Kimberly Ashton

8 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

came about several months into a global shutdown that wreaked havoc on the live-music industry and on the many freelance musicians who relied on live performances not just for their livelihood but for their sense of identity. Play the Vote gave these musicians the chance, even in a small way, to get back to doing the thing they loved most.

Since then, the excitement generated by Play the Vote has only grown. Play the Vote is now a nonprofit, and the organization set its sights on expanding for the 2024 election. Block said that, for this year, he aimed to grow the initiative to 5,000 musicians across all 50 states.

“The biggest lesson we learned [in 2020] is that there’s a genuine interest in improving the voter experience through music,” he said. “With more time to plan, we’ve been able to bring in more team members, organize with greater structure, and ensure that both the musicians and voters have a positive and meaningful voting experience through the unifying power of music.”

GUTTER CREDIT IS CENTERED

DJ Jazzy Jeff and Brian Kennedy Headline Annual Gala

OPPOSITE: KELLY LORENZ

Boston Conservatory at Berklee launched a new circus arts/cirque minor this fall, becoming the first academic institution in the country to offer a formal course of studies in the subject. The new minor includes required experiential classes in clowning, tumbling, masks, and juggling, as well as a liberal arts course covering the history of circus traditions from all over the world. Students can choose from elective courses in dance, theater, and acrobatics that build cirque techniques and complement their major studies. Developed by Theresa Lang, professor of theater, and Tommy Neblett, dean of dance, the minor is available to all students at the Conservatory and at the College.

Launching college-level circus studies is a logical next step for Boston Conservatory, Neblett says, as the performance world continues to expand and combine disciplines. “The more skills a performer has, the better, because the lines are now so blurred between dance and theater and music and visual arts,” he says."S A R A H G O D C H E R M U R P H Y

9 Illustration by T K T K T K

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

An Artist’s Advocate Jim Lucchese, whose career as an entrepreneur and lawyer has focused on helping musicians, becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January.

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STORY BY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

Kimberly Ashton

Kelly Davidson

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An Artist’s Advocate Jim Lucchese, whose career as an entrepreneur and lawyer has focused on helping musicians, becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January.

10 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

Kimberly Ashton

Kelly Davidson

11 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“All of my work has been driven by a deep respect for independent working musicians.”

a letter Jim Lucchese wrote to the chair of Berklee’s Presidential Search Committee last spring, he starts with a disclaimer. His life’s trajectory “seems more certain in hindsight than it did at the time,” he writes. But a theme comes through: He’s been continually searching for ways to support artists who’ve had the courage to live creative lives.

Lucchese, who becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January, doesn’t really consider himself one of these artists despite his decades of gigging in local bands—“I’m not calling myself a drummer when Omar Hakim is a block away,” he says—but rather an advocate for them.

It’s this mission that Lucchese brings with him to Berklee, along with decades of expertise in helping artists through his work as an entertainment lawyer and then as an entrepreneur at the Echo Nest, Spotify, and Sofar Sounds. In a Q&A, he shared how he plans to approach his presidency and what he sees as his immediate priorities, as well as those for Berklee, while also acknowledging that many of these initiatives are already underway.

had a relationship with Berklee.

He’s the one who suggested I apply for a scholarship to the Five-Week program. I got it and attended. That was a transformative experience for me that began a decades-long relationship with Berklee.

of copyright and IP as technology was creating new opportunities for artists while also really changing the overall landscape.

It became clear to me that if you wanted to create opportunities for independent musicians using technology, you needed to understand copyright and ip. And Do you still play drums? that’s why I went to Georgetown [University’s] law school. AfI’ve been playing locally and re- ter that, I worked at Greenberg gionally for 25-30 years. Berklee Traurig as an artist-side transacis a common thread among near- tional attorney, where I primarly everyone I’ve played music ily represented musicians, with with, whether they be alumni or an additional focus on emerging faculty. For example, the last gig I music technologies. played included two Berklee faculty members and three Berklee How did you go from that to alumni. the Echo Nest?

What have you learned about the music industry from your time gigging?

All of my work has been driven by a deep respect for independent working musicians. they give cities their soul. they make all of our lives better. I believe everyone relies on local musicians and creatives, but there’s certainly a risk that we, as a society, could take for granted that they’ll always be there. i’m moCan you tell me about your tivated by a desire to hopefully early experiences with music? help make the path for indepenWas your family musical? dent musicians a little easier and more sustainable. playing music My father never had any formal and building many of my closest training, but was a natural drum- friendships with local and indemer. He had a hand drum and pendent musicians definitely inhe always played it. So I started forms that work. playing when I was young and my parents were always incred- You started your career ibly supportive. working in music as an How old were you when you started playing drums?

I was around 11. I always gravitated to drums, and my parents were great and tolerated a drum set in the house the whole time I was growing up. My instructor 12 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

attorney. Can you tell me about that?

I decided to go to law school because I wanted to directly work on behalf of artists. I knew what I wanted to do as a lawyer before I even applied to law school. Also, I wanted a deeper understanding

Funny enough, playing music was integral to how I met the founders of the Echo Nest. I played in a quartet with a wonderful pianist who was getting his ms degree at mit, and his father—also a great pianist— taught at mit. The two of them said, “You should meet these two musicians at the Media Lab who are trying to apply their research in machine learning to fix music discovery.” I did. I found their vision incredibly exciting and we really hit it off.

Another music connection… our first institutional investor at the Echo Nest was a former road manager of another band I’d played with. So, I guess some of those gigs paid off.

At that time, music discovery and recommendation was based on a retail mindset: “If you bought this, you might buy that.” But there was no understanding of the music itself, and recommendations had a heavy popularity bias because recommendations were mostly influenced by purchase frequency—which was the same way it worked for a blender or a pair of jeans. That’s the problem that the Echo Nest sought

JIM LUCCHESE WITH BARKLEE, BERKLEE PUBLIC SAFETY’S RESOURCE DOG.

13 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“All of my work has been driven by a deep respect for independent working musicians.”

a letter Jim Lucchese wrote to the chair of Berklee’s Presidential Search Committee last spring, he starts with a disclaimer. His life’s trajectory “seems more certain in hindsight than it did at the time,” he writes. But a theme comes through: He’s been continually searching for ways to support artists who’ve had the courage to live creative lives.

Lucchese, who becomes Berklee’s fifth president in January, doesn’t really consider himself one of these artists despite his decades of gigging in local bands—“I’m not calling myself a drummer when Omar Hakim is a block away,” he says—but rather an advocate for them.

It’s this mission that Lucchese brings with him to Berklee, along with decades of expertise in helping artists through his work as an entertainment lawyer and then as an entrepreneur at the Echo Nest, Spotify, and Sofar Sounds. In a Q&A, he shared how he plans to approach his presidency and what he sees as his immediate priorities, as well as those for Berklee, while also acknowledging that many of these initiatives are already underway.

had a relationship with Berklee.

He’s the one who suggested I apply for a scholarship to the Five-Week program. I got it and attended. That was a transformative experience for me that began a decades-long relationship with Berklee.

of copyright and IP as technology was creating new opportunities for artists while also really changing the overall landscape.

It became clear to me that if you wanted to create opportunities for independent musicians using technology, you needed to understand copyright and ip. And Do you still play drums? that’s why I went to Georgetown [University’s] law school. AfI’ve been playing locally and re- ter that, I worked at Greenberg gionally for 25-30 years. Berklee Traurig as an artist-side transacis a common thread among near- tional attorney, where I primarly everyone I’ve played music ily represented musicians, with with, whether they be alumni or an additional focus on emerging faculty. For example, the last gig I music technologies. played included two Berklee faculty members and three Berklee How did you go from that to alumni. the Echo Nest?

What have you learned about the music industry from your time gigging?

All of my work has been driven by a deep respect for independent working musicians. they give cities their soul. they make all of our lives better. I believe everyone relies on local musicians and creatives, but there’s certainly a risk that we, as a society, could take for granted that they’ll always be there. i’m moCan you tell me about your tivated by a desire to hopefully early experiences with music? help make the path for indepenWas your family musical? dent musicians a little easier and more sustainable. playing music My father never had any formal and building many of my closest training, but was a natural drum- friendships with local and indemer. He had a hand drum and pendent musicians definitely inhe always played it. So I started forms that work. playing when I was young and my parents were always incred- You started your career ibly supportive. working in music as an How old were you when you started playing drums?

I was around 11. I always gravitated to drums, and my parents were great and tolerated a drum set in the house the whole time I was growing up. My instructor 12 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

attorney. Can you tell me about that?

I decided to go to law school because I wanted to directly work on behalf of artists. I knew what I wanted to do as a lawyer before I even applied to law school. Also, I wanted a deeper understanding

Funny enough, playing music was integral to how I met the founders of the Echo Nest. I played in a quartet with a wonderful pianist who was getting his ms degree at mit, and his father—also a great pianist— taught at mit. The two of them said, “You should meet these two musicians at the Media Lab who are trying to apply their research in machine learning to fix music discovery.” I did. I found their vision incredibly exciting and we really hit it off.

Another music connection… our first institutional investor at the Echo Nest was a former road manager of another band I’d played with. So, I guess some of those gigs paid off.

At that time, music discovery and recommendation was based on a retail mindset: “If you bought this, you might buy that.” But there was no understanding of the music itself, and recommendations had a heavy popularity bias because recommendations were mostly influenced by purchase frequency—which was the same way it worked for a blender or a pair of jeans. That’s the problem that the Echo Nest sought

JIM LUCCHESE WITH BARKLEE, BERKLEE PUBLIC SAFETY’S RESOURCE DOG.

13 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“Listening to students, listening to faculty and staff to better understand the biggest opportunities and challenges they are facing is my top priority .”

apps, focused on serving artists and audiences who were previously overlooked by traditional radio or the preexisting music-promotional infrastructure.

Did that work continue when you went to Spotify?

to solve: to more deeply understand the music itself in order to make what would otherwise be considered niche music, or an artist who’s putting out their first record, as visible and easy to discover as an artist on the Billboard Top 100. Tens of millions of songs were coming online, but if they weren’t understood and visible to recommendation systems, it would be nearly impossible for those artists to find their audiences.

So, at the Echo Nest, we built a music discovery platform that tried to understand music the way that you and I do, but at a scale to understand over 50 million tracks. We built a business powering music recommendation and other music data applications for hundreds of music 14 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Spotify was one of our earliest customers, and then in 2014 they acquired the Echo Nest. When we became a part of Spotify, we launched new features like Discover Weekly and Daily Mix. We also launched Fresh Finds, focused on helping you find music that’s still under the radar.

Then a colleague and I started the creator team at Spotify, which was focused on building services directly for musicians.

We started by launching what became Spotify for Artists, giving artists deep insights into their listeners on Spotify—how their music is being discovered, how it’s being shared, fan activity, and where their fans are around the world.

We also launched Fans First, enabling artists to reward their top fans with presale access to tickets and exclusive merchandise. These rewards drove over $100 million in nonstreaming revenue for musicians.

So your career started out with helping listeners find music that they might like from undiscovered artists, and then you went to Spotify, and then to Sofar, where you were doing the same thing for live music.

As a lawyer, I was directly representing musicians, from independent artists just starting out to artists touring stadiums. At the Echo Nest, we were a group of musicians focused on music discovery. And then at Spotify,

we were building ways for artists to better understand their fans and connect with them.

And yes, what attracted me to Sofar was the importance of live [music] for independent touring artists. Sofar Sounds is a global live music community that has put on over 40,000 small concerts in nontraditional spaces across about 400 cities around the world. As you know, performing live is the largest source of revenue for the vast majority of artists. Cities have become more hostile to small, independent venues where you’d pay five or 10 bucks, the room would draw, and you would just go discover music live. There are a whole lot of reasons why that is, but what attracted me to Sofar was that it was a community-based approach to creating spaces for live music discovery, something so important to artists who are building a fan base organically in their hometown or getting in the van and building an audience through touring.

This is a nice segue to your upcoming presidency. How do you think that you’re going to use these lessons to inform how you approach leading Berklee?

I would say first is to listen and learn. I come with experiences and perspectives across a range of creative industries, but my background is still narrow compared to the incredible creative breadth of the Berklee community. So listening to students, listening to faculty and staff to better understand the biggest opportunities and challenges they are facing is my top priority. You’ve got to start with a really deep understanding of the people you’re here to serve.

Another area of commonality between my background and

Berklee’s is not being afraid to be first. Not just seeing trends in creativity and creative industries but anticipating them and then making the space for our amazing faculty and students to shape—not just navigate, but lead—what’s coming. One of the things that really excites me about Berklee is the long list of firsts, and the constant embrace of what’s next, the drive to be innovative. So creating places for great thought leadership to prepare students, faculty, and staff to continue to drive the future of creativity is a key priority.

You’ve been involved with Berklee for a while. You’ve been a part of Berklee ICE [Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship], the presidential advisory council, POPP [Pre-College, Online, and Professional Programs].

How did this involvement come about?

I first met [former Berklee President] Roger Brown when I was at the Echo Nest, and he invited me to join the Presidential Advisory Council. Of course, Berklee already had a major impact on me as a younger music student, so I was thrilled to get involved in some way. From that connection, I got exposed to Berkleeice, which was very connected to innovation and new opportunities in and around music created by technology. So that was a natural fit for me. Around that time, I told Roger that I wanted to have a bit more of an impact, and he introduced me to [popp Senior Vice President] Debbie Cavalier who asked me to serve on the popp advisory board.

What have you learned about the Berklee community over these years?

Three things come to mind.

First, the breadth of creative excellence is humbling and still surprising. I’m talking about the incredible stories of Berklee faculty and staff and the impact that they’ve had with their creative pursuits. But also how they are multiplying that impact through instruction across such an amazing array of disciplines.

Secondly, Berklee is the creative heart and soul of Boston.

And I still think there’s even more opportunity to amplify Berklee’s creative impact on the local community.

And lastly, Berklee’s impressive global impact. Berklee’s role in shaping global music and culture, and the international network that it’s built—as well as the impact Berklee alumni have had all around the world—is something that drew me to Berklee and something that I want to continue to foster and develop.

Those are areas in which I’m going to focus a lot of my efforts. I also think there are amazing opportunities to continue to look at Berklee Online, which has increased access and successful completion in a lot of different ways. But meeting students’ needs is really going to be top of the list, and one of the ways that you do that is to ensure that faculty—and that’s why students are here—have what they need to do their jobs well.

How would you like to see Berklee’s relationship with its alumni evolve?

Berklee alumni are an incredible group of people who are really defining creativity and the creative industries in virtually every discipline. Connecting with alumni and finding ways to bring them together more, to be more of a resource to that community and create even more connectivity among students and alumni is I know you might not be able a priority. I’ve spent a lot of time to answer this yet, but do you building products and services have any long-term priorities for creative communities, and I for Berklee? see the Berklee alumni network as such a community. I do see a I feel like I have a lot more to through line between serving learn, but my priorities align re- our alumni and continuing to ally well with the work that’s al- improve postgraduate success. ready been done in the unified strategic planning. A few areas What do you do in your free that come to mind are encourag- time? ing progress that increases access to Berklee and continuing My wife, Tomasina, and I go to momentum of meeting more of a lot of shows. Actually, we go to the financial need of incoming a lot of shows as a family, too. I students. I want to help ensure have three kids. My son, Jude, that students have an excep- just started college in California. tional and singular experience This summer, we went to the that’s really rooted in preparing Outside Lands Music Festival for them to go out in the world and a couple days. I have two daughto make an impact. And, there- ters, Anna and Violet. One’s a fore, postgraduate success is junior in high school and one’s a priority. I’ll also focus on the a sophomore in high school. So Boston Conservatory at Berklee really, when I’m not working or and making sure we unlock the playing music, I’m hanging out full potential of the merger. with them.

15 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“Listening to students, listening to faculty and staff to better understand the biggest opportunities and challenges they are facing is my top priority .”

apps, focused on serving artists and audiences who were previously overlooked by traditional radio or the preexisting music-promotional infrastructure.

Did that work continue when you went to Spotify?

to solve: to more deeply understand the music itself in order to make what would otherwise be considered niche music, or an artist who’s putting out their first record, as visible and easy to discover as an artist on the Billboard Top 100. Tens of millions of songs were coming online, but if they weren’t understood and visible to recommendation systems, it would be nearly impossible for those artists to find their audiences.

So, at the Echo Nest, we built a music discovery platform that tried to understand music the way that you and I do, but at a scale to understand over 50 million tracks. We built a business powering music recommendation and other music data applications for hundreds of music 14 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Spotify was one of our earliest customers, and then in 2014 they acquired the Echo Nest. When we became a part of Spotify, we launched new features like Discover Weekly and Daily Mix. We also launched Fresh Finds, focused on helping you find music that’s still under the radar.

Then a colleague and I started the creator team at Spotify, which was focused on building services directly for musicians.

We started by launching what became Spotify for Artists, giving artists deep insights into their listeners on Spotify—how their music is being discovered, how it’s being shared, fan activity, and where their fans are around the world.

We also launched Fans First, enabling artists to reward their top fans with presale access to tickets and exclusive merchandise. These rewards drove over $100 million in nonstreaming revenue for musicians.

So your career started out with helping listeners find music that they might like from undiscovered artists, and then you went to Spotify, and then to Sofar, where you were doing the same thing for live music.

As a lawyer, I was directly representing musicians, from independent artists just starting out to artists touring stadiums. At the Echo Nest, we were a group of musicians focused on music discovery. And then at Spotify,

we were building ways for artists to better understand their fans and connect with them.

And yes, what attracted me to Sofar was the importance of live [music] for independent touring artists. Sofar Sounds is a global live music community that has put on over 40,000 small concerts in nontraditional spaces across about 400 cities around the world. As you know, performing live is the largest source of revenue for the vast majority of artists. Cities have become more hostile to small, independent venues where you’d pay five or 10 bucks, the room would draw, and you would just go discover music live. There are a whole lot of reasons why that is, but what attracted me to Sofar was that it was a community-based approach to creating spaces for live music discovery, something so important to artists who are building a fan base organically in their hometown or getting in the van and building an audience through touring.

This is a nice segue to your upcoming presidency. How do you think that you’re going to use these lessons to inform how you approach leading Berklee?

I would say first is to listen and learn. I come with experiences and perspectives across a range of creative industries, but my background is still narrow compared to the incredible creative breadth of the Berklee community. So listening to students, listening to faculty and staff to better understand the biggest opportunities and challenges they are facing is my top priority. You’ve got to start with a really deep understanding of the people you’re here to serve.

Another area of commonality between my background and

Berklee’s is not being afraid to be first. Not just seeing trends in creativity and creative industries but anticipating them and then making the space for our amazing faculty and students to shape—not just navigate, but lead—what’s coming. One of the things that really excites me about Berklee is the long list of firsts, and the constant embrace of what’s next, the drive to be innovative. So creating places for great thought leadership to prepare students, faculty, and staff to continue to drive the future of creativity is a key priority.

You’ve been involved with Berklee for a while. You’ve been a part of Berklee ICE [Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship], the presidential advisory council, POPP [Pre-College, Online, and Professional Programs].

How did this involvement come about?

I first met [former Berklee President] Roger Brown when I was at the Echo Nest, and he invited me to join the Presidential Advisory Council. Of course, Berklee already had a major impact on me as a younger music student, so I was thrilled to get involved in some way. From that connection, I got exposed to Berkleeice, which was very connected to innovation and new opportunities in and around music created by technology. So that was a natural fit for me. Around that time, I told Roger that I wanted to have a bit more of an impact, and he introduced me to [popp Senior Vice President] Debbie Cavalier who asked me to serve on the popp advisory board.

What have you learned about the Berklee community over these years?

Three things come to mind.

First, the breadth of creative excellence is humbling and still surprising. I’m talking about the incredible stories of Berklee faculty and staff and the impact that they’ve had with their creative pursuits. But also how they are multiplying that impact through instruction across such an amazing array of disciplines.

Secondly, Berklee is the creative heart and soul of Boston.

And I still think there’s even more opportunity to amplify Berklee’s creative impact on the local community.

And lastly, Berklee’s impressive global impact. Berklee’s role in shaping global music and culture, and the international network that it’s built—as well as the impact Berklee alumni have had all around the world—is something that drew me to Berklee and something that I want to continue to foster and develop.

Those are areas in which I’m going to focus a lot of my efforts. I also think there are amazing opportunities to continue to look at Berklee Online, which has increased access and successful completion in a lot of different ways. But meeting students’ needs is really going to be top of the list, and one of the ways that you do that is to ensure that faculty—and that’s why students are here—have what they need to do their jobs well.

How would you like to see Berklee’s relationship with its alumni evolve?

Berklee alumni are an incredible group of people who are really defining creativity and the creative industries in virtually every discipline. Connecting with alumni and finding ways to bring them together more, to be more of a resource to that community and create even more connectivity among students and alumni is I know you might not be able a priority. I’ve spent a lot of time to answer this yet, but do you building products and services have any long-term priorities for creative communities, and I for Berklee? see the Berklee alumni network as such a community. I do see a I feel like I have a lot more to through line between serving learn, but my priorities align re- our alumni and continuing to ally well with the work that’s al- improve postgraduate success. ready been done in the unified strategic planning. A few areas What do you do in your free that come to mind are encourag- time? ing progress that increases access to Berklee and continuing My wife, Tomasina, and I go to momentum of meeting more of a lot of shows. Actually, we go to the financial need of incoming a lot of shows as a family, too. I students. I want to help ensure have three kids. My son, Jude, that students have an excep- just started college in California. tional and singular experience This summer, we went to the that’s really rooted in preparing Outside Lands Music Festival for them to go out in the world and a couple days. I have two daughto make an impact. And, there- ters, Anna and Violet. One’s a fore, postgraduate success is junior in high school and one’s a priority. I’ll also focus on the a sophomore in high school. So Boston Conservatory at Berklee really, when I’m not working or and making sure we unlock the playing music, I’m hanging out full potential of the merger. with them.

15 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

Alexander Gelfand

Cowboy Charters Country music has exploded in popularity as new artists—and fans—flood in.

I L L U S T R AT I O N BY

Calef Brown

16 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

17 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

Alexander Gelfand

Cowboy Charters Country music has exploded in popularity as new artists—and fans—flood in.

I L L U S T R AT I O N BY

Calef Brown

16 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

17 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is so cool. What is this?’

And she was like, ‘It’s country music.’”

ANDREI GARTHOFF BM ’13

Country music is having a moment.

18 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ate professor at Berklee. In recent years, Stanton has seen growing numbers of students enroll in his country music class, through which generations of players—including guitarist CLAY COOK ’98 of the Zac Brown Band and Americana luminaries GILLIAN WELCH PDM ’92 and DAVID RAWLINGS BM ’92—have already passed.

The changing demographics of country musicians and fans, as well as the broadening of the genre, is driving this surge.

Much of the current demand is coming from Millennial and Gen Z listeners; and there are signs that the country music industry, which has historically sidelined women, people of color, and the lgbtq+ community, is becoming more inclusive. This year’s AmericanaFest in Nashville featured a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, along with OUTLaw Queer Country, a showcase for queer country performers.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for there to be true acceptance. But I know it’s getting better,” says singer-songwriter ANDREI GARTHOFF BM ’13, whose experience as an Asian American country artist has veered from having hostile encounters with the kkk to playing AmericanaFest and the first Asian and Pacific Islanders Night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. (Though he sees definite signs of improvement, Garthoff continues to encounter industry professionals who don’t quite know what to make of an Asian American country artist; and he is now considering leveraging country’s growing international appeal to build a following in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China to help garner industry support back in the U.S.)

At the same time, country’s sonic palette is expanding, with more artists fusing traditional country elements with the sounds of contemporary rock, pop, and R&B—and breaking records in the process.

This year, Beyoncé became the first Black female artist to top Billboard’s country album chart with the wildly eclectic Cowboy Carter, which threw everything from Patsy Cline to Chicano rock into the mix.

And the Nigerian American artist Shaboozey made history by simultaneously dominating all the major radio-airplay charts—including country, pop, and rhythmic, which tracks hiphop and dance music—with the country-meets-hip-hop track “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” based on the 2001 song “Tipsy” by rapper J-Kwon.

Country has experienced spikes in popularity before, with artists such as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and Taylor Swift achieving mainstream success by appealing to broad popular tastes. Today, however, the entire genre seems poised to achieve newfound cultural prominence as it reinvents itself along multiple axes.

So what exactly is behind the rise of country music? And what does it mean for the future of the genre?

No Borders

Members of the Berklee community play many roles in the contemporary country scene, from performers and songwriters to producers and coaches.

Many say that the current ascendance of country music has as much to do with musical and technological trends as it does with country’s traditional strengths. And as several point

MICHAEL J. PATTON/LISA STANTON

CATIE OFFERMAN

“It’s become cool,” says BOB STANTON, a guitarist and associ-

DAVID MCCLISTER

Country artists regularly top the Billboard Top 100 chart, which tracks the most popular songs in the U.S. The genre is the fastest growing in America, and 2023 was its best year ever, according to entertainment data firm Luminate. Pop stars like Post Malone and Lana Del Ray have been rushing to put out country albums. And global interest in country has been surging, with listenership rocketing in Germany and the U.K., and festivals from Sydney to Stockholm attracting both homegrown and American talent.

“I have been mind-blown by the European country fans. That, to me, is where I can say, ‘Dang, that is crazy,’” singer-songwriter CATIE OFFERMAN BM ’13—who has played the Highways Festival at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the C2C Festival, Europe’s largest country event—says of the genre’s rising popularity.

out, some of what appears to be new—namely, country’s recent embrace of Black artists and contemporary R&B—has deep roots.

“The people who invented country music were Black,” says Stanton, referring to the many pioneering Black artists who helped develop the genre’s musical repertoire and techniques in the 1920s and 1930s.

Indeed, what we now call country (and what record executives in the 1920s called “hillbilly music”) emerged from a stew of African American and European American music that included English ballads, Appalachian string band tunes, spirituals, and the blues. Even the banjo, that quintessential early-country instrument, can be traced to West Africa.

Over time, country continued to draw on a range of sounds, from big-band swing to Mexican ranchera music, orchestral pop to arena rock, all while retaining an emphasis on narrative storytelling and relatable themes like heartbreak and loss.

“Country music is storytelling,” says AMANDA WILLIAMS BM ’99, a second-generation Nashville tunesmith (her late father, Kim Williams, is in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame) who provides coaching and career counseling to aspiring country songwriters through her Songpreneurs program.

According to Associate Professor JOEL SCHWINDT, a musicologist at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee who is writing a book about authenticity in country music, there has long been a tension between the country community’s desire to maintain a distinct musical identity apart from mainstream popular music, and the country music industry’s need to stay relevant and achieve broad commercial

success.

“Part of country’s identity of realness and authenticity is being separate—‘we don’t sound like the rest of pop music,’” Schwindt says. “That said, country music is also a business, and the producers know that if you are just doing the same old things over and over and over again, you’re going to become obscure.”

That tension was heightened by the establishment in the 1950s of Nashville’s Music Row, which remains the commercial center of country music. One of the first things to come out of Music Row was the so-called Nashville Sound, a skillful amalgam of country and pop that was designed to achieve crossover success. Ever since, country music has swung like a pendulum between whatever artists and fans consider to be traditional—e.g., Southern accents, rural imagery, pedal steel guitar (derived from the Hawaiian steel guitar, which found its way into country in the 1920s)—and whatever happens to be trending in contemporary music culture.

“Country is always so cyclical in how it sounds, because it borrows elements from pop and then it goes back to classic country,” Garthoff says.

The bright, modern pop sensibility that Taylor Swift brought to country in the early 2000s, for instance, drew a whole new audience of young listeners.

“They went from liking the Frozen soundtrack to being Taylor Swift fans,” Williams says.

Some of those fans wound up delving much deeper into country. Garthoff, who was born in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. at age 9, discovered the genre through a CD mixtape that his high school girlfriend gave him.

At the time, Garthoff was a bud-

BOB STANTON

ding guitarist; and one of the tracks was Swift’s “Love Story,” a hit on both the country and pop charts that opened with a banjo riff and some plaintive steel guitar.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is so cool. What is this?’” Garthoff recalls asking his girlfriend. “And she was like, ‘It’s country music.’”

Garthoff Googled “country guitar players,” discovered the neo-traditionalist Brad Paisley, and ultimately developed a sound that skews traditional while incorporating a touch of contemporary rock and pop.

Today’s crossover artists perform the same kind of hybridizing, gateway-drug function. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” for example, draws on trap, folk rock, and the sounds of the Florida and Texas dance hall scenes, where DJs have been mashing up country and hip-

ANDREI GARTHOFF

19 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is so cool. What is this?’

And she was like, ‘It’s country music.’”

ANDREI GARTHOFF BM ’13

Country music is having a moment.

18 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ate professor at Berklee. In recent years, Stanton has seen growing numbers of students enroll in his country music class, through which generations of players—including guitarist CLAY COOK ’98 of the Zac Brown Band and Americana luminaries GILLIAN WELCH PDM ’92 and DAVID RAWLINGS BM ’92—have already passed.

The changing demographics of country musicians and fans, as well as the broadening of the genre, is driving this surge.

Much of the current demand is coming from Millennial and Gen Z listeners; and there are signs that the country music industry, which has historically sidelined women, people of color, and the lgbtq+ community, is becoming more inclusive. This year’s AmericanaFest in Nashville featured a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, along with OUTLaw Queer Country, a showcase for queer country performers.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for there to be true acceptance. But I know it’s getting better,” says singer-songwriter ANDREI GARTHOFF BM ’13, whose experience as an Asian American country artist has veered from having hostile encounters with the kkk to playing AmericanaFest and the first Asian and Pacific Islanders Night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. (Though he sees definite signs of improvement, Garthoff continues to encounter industry professionals who don’t quite know what to make of an Asian American country artist; and he is now considering leveraging country’s growing international appeal to build a following in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China to help garner industry support back in the U.S.)

At the same time, country’s sonic palette is expanding, with more artists fusing traditional country elements with the sounds of contemporary rock, pop, and R&B—and breaking records in the process.

This year, Beyoncé became the first Black female artist to top Billboard’s country album chart with the wildly eclectic Cowboy Carter, which threw everything from Patsy Cline to Chicano rock into the mix.

And the Nigerian American artist Shaboozey made history by simultaneously dominating all the major radio-airplay charts—including country, pop, and rhythmic, which tracks hiphop and dance music—with the country-meets-hip-hop track “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” based on the 2001 song “Tipsy” by rapper J-Kwon.

Country has experienced spikes in popularity before, with artists such as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and Taylor Swift achieving mainstream success by appealing to broad popular tastes. Today, however, the entire genre seems poised to achieve newfound cultural prominence as it reinvents itself along multiple axes.

So what exactly is behind the rise of country music? And what does it mean for the future of the genre?

No Borders

Members of the Berklee community play many roles in the contemporary country scene, from performers and songwriters to producers and coaches.

Many say that the current ascendance of country music has as much to do with musical and technological trends as it does with country’s traditional strengths. And as several point

MICHAEL J. PATTON/LISA STANTON

CATIE OFFERMAN

“It’s become cool,” says BOB STANTON, a guitarist and associ-

DAVID MCCLISTER

Country artists regularly top the Billboard Top 100 chart, which tracks the most popular songs in the U.S. The genre is the fastest growing in America, and 2023 was its best year ever, according to entertainment data firm Luminate. Pop stars like Post Malone and Lana Del Ray have been rushing to put out country albums. And global interest in country has been surging, with listenership rocketing in Germany and the U.K., and festivals from Sydney to Stockholm attracting both homegrown and American talent.

“I have been mind-blown by the European country fans. That, to me, is where I can say, ‘Dang, that is crazy,’” singer-songwriter CATIE OFFERMAN BM ’13—who has played the Highways Festival at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the C2C Festival, Europe’s largest country event—says of the genre’s rising popularity.

out, some of what appears to be new—namely, country’s recent embrace of Black artists and contemporary R&B—has deep roots.

“The people who invented country music were Black,” says Stanton, referring to the many pioneering Black artists who helped develop the genre’s musical repertoire and techniques in the 1920s and 1930s.

Indeed, what we now call country (and what record executives in the 1920s called “hillbilly music”) emerged from a stew of African American and European American music that included English ballads, Appalachian string band tunes, spirituals, and the blues. Even the banjo, that quintessential early-country instrument, can be traced to West Africa.

Over time, country continued to draw on a range of sounds, from big-band swing to Mexican ranchera music, orchestral pop to arena rock, all while retaining an emphasis on narrative storytelling and relatable themes like heartbreak and loss.

“Country music is storytelling,” says AMANDA WILLIAMS BM ’99, a second-generation Nashville tunesmith (her late father, Kim Williams, is in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame) who provides coaching and career counseling to aspiring country songwriters through her Songpreneurs program.

According to Associate Professor JOEL SCHWINDT, a musicologist at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee who is writing a book about authenticity in country music, there has long been a tension between the country community’s desire to maintain a distinct musical identity apart from mainstream popular music, and the country music industry’s need to stay relevant and achieve broad commercial

success.

“Part of country’s identity of realness and authenticity is being separate—‘we don’t sound like the rest of pop music,’” Schwindt says. “That said, country music is also a business, and the producers know that if you are just doing the same old things over and over and over again, you’re going to become obscure.”

That tension was heightened by the establishment in the 1950s of Nashville’s Music Row, which remains the commercial center of country music. One of the first things to come out of Music Row was the so-called Nashville Sound, a skillful amalgam of country and pop that was designed to achieve crossover success. Ever since, country music has swung like a pendulum between whatever artists and fans consider to be traditional—e.g., Southern accents, rural imagery, pedal steel guitar (derived from the Hawaiian steel guitar, which found its way into country in the 1920s)—and whatever happens to be trending in contemporary music culture.

“Country is always so cyclical in how it sounds, because it borrows elements from pop and then it goes back to classic country,” Garthoff says.

The bright, modern pop sensibility that Taylor Swift brought to country in the early 2000s, for instance, drew a whole new audience of young listeners.

“They went from liking the Frozen soundtrack to being Taylor Swift fans,” Williams says.

Some of those fans wound up delving much deeper into country. Garthoff, who was born in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. at age 9, discovered the genre through a CD mixtape that his high school girlfriend gave him.

At the time, Garthoff was a bud-

BOB STANTON

ding guitarist; and one of the tracks was Swift’s “Love Story,” a hit on both the country and pop charts that opened with a banjo riff and some plaintive steel guitar.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is so cool. What is this?’” Garthoff recalls asking his girlfriend. “And she was like, ‘It’s country music.’”

Garthoff Googled “country guitar players,” discovered the neo-traditionalist Brad Paisley, and ultimately developed a sound that skews traditional while incorporating a touch of contemporary rock and pop.

Today’s crossover artists perform the same kind of hybridizing, gateway-drug function. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” for example, draws on trap, folk rock, and the sounds of the Florida and Texas dance hall scenes, where DJs have been mashing up country and hip-

ANDREI GARTHOFF

19 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“We live in a time when the lines of genres are more blurred than ever before. You’d almost have to have earplugs in not to be influenced by a lot of different things.”

SIERRA HULL ’11

20 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

than ever before,” Hull says.

“You’d almost have to have earplugs in not to be influenced by a lot of different things.”

Going Digital

Streaming and social media are among the biggest factors driving all that genre-blurring. They are also responsible for much of the current buzz surrounding country, and for opening the door to a new generation of country artists and audiences.

Country music fans came late to the digital game, only migrating from physical media to streaming and social media during the pandemic, Schwindt says. When they finally made the shift to the online world, however, they did so in droves: Demand for country on Spotify has more than doubled over the last five years, and data from

Luminate show that country audio streams exceeded 20 billion in 2023, representing a nearly 24 percent increase over the prior year—almost twice the increase seen for the music industry overall.

The impact on country musicians has been profound.

Today’s artists are no longer obliged to pursue what had been for decades the sole path to country stardom: moving to Nashville, signing with a record label, and securing a spot on the tightly guarded playlists of country radio. Instead, they can self-release on Spotify or YouTube while chasing virality on TikTok and Instagram.

The weakening of country’s traditional gatekeepers has had a democratizing effect on the industry, allowing a broader range of talent to evade the various barriers (stylistic, racial, gender-based) that have historically made it harder for some to achieve success than others.

“Anything goes now,” Offerman says. “You can do you and have a space.”

Less gatekeeping has also given artists of all stripes an alternate path to record deals and radio airplay, which continue to offer financial rewards along with valuable perks like marketing, promotion, and tour support.

“Now the business model is DIY,” says bassist and producer LUIS ESPAILLAT BM ’94, who once played a session with an unsigned singer-songwriter whose 2 million+ TikTok followers eventually landed him a lucrative deal with a major label. “If you start to blow up, then the labels will be like, ‘Okay, well, let’s help you push on a little more.’”

The recommendation algorithms employed by streaming and social media platforms also encourage cross-genre lis-

administrative costs.

Recommendation algorithms can be a double-edged sword, too. Artists who don’t post enough Instagram reels can find that the material they most want circulated won’t be recommended, while acts that don’t enjoy enough streams can find themselves shut out of Spotify’s coveted New Boots playlist for up-and-coming country artists.

“There are still gatekeepers,” Hull says.

Yet no one disputes that the changes roiling the country landscape have on balance been positive: More people around the world are making and listening to country music than ever before, and the expansion of the genre—musically, socially, and commercially—shows little sign of abating.

“There’s room for everybody in country music,” Williams says.

LUIS ESPAILLAT

KYLE G. MCLAUGHLIN/KENNY VARGA

SIERRA HULL

JOEL SCHWINDT

NATHAN LESLIE/FLORIE NAMIR

hop for years. Taking authentic influences from wherever they might be found, says Williams, “is what country music has always been known for.”

You can hear that same catholic taste in Williams’ own catalog, which includes Appalachian-style tunes alongside countrified interpretations of Bruce Springsteen and ’50s-era pop.

It’s also evident in the increasingly eclectic body of work produced by mandolinist SIERRA HULL ’11, who cut her teeth on bluegrass—an acoustic, improv-centric cousin of country that favors old-time tunes and instrumental virtuosity—but has in recent years put her own distinctive spin on material by everyone from Percy Mayfield and Tears for Fears to progressive rockers Polyphia.

“We live in a time when the lines of genres are more blurred

tening, which helps introduce country music to people who would not tune in to country radio or browse the country bin in a brick-and-mortar store. And as more and more artists blend country with other sounds, those same algorithms become more likely to serve a helping of something more traditional to a Beyoncé or Shaboozey fan.

“You happen to hear something, and then boom—the algorithm is going to recommend something you would never have thought of, and it becomes your new favorite artist,” Espaillat says.

In a way, this isn’t so different from the path that led Garthoff from Taylor Swift to Brad Paisley. But rather than being paved by friends bearing mixtapes, the new road to country runs through ai-enhanced algorithms with access to billions of users worldwide.

Of course, streaming and so-

cial media have their limits— and their downsides.

Streams and likes don’t necessarily translate into concert tickets. And now that record labels and country radio programmers use streaming and social media numbers to gauge popular appeal, country artists are under increasing pressure to produce a steady stream of online content—even if, like Offerman, they already have a record deal.

“I can’t take it for granted that I have a label,” she says. “I kind of have to pretend they’re not there, and just keep posting stuff.”

Streaming platforms also pay a pittance compared to the physical media they have supplanted. Williams calculates that while sales of 5 million physical units would earn her $455,000 in songwriting royalties, the same number of streams would yield a paltry $98 on Spotify.

And that’s before subtracting

AMANDA WILLIAMS

21 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“We live in a time when the lines of genres are more blurred than ever before. You’d almost have to have earplugs in not to be influenced by a lot of different things.”

SIERRA HULL ’11

20 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

than ever before,” Hull says.

“You’d almost have to have earplugs in not to be influenced by a lot of different things.”

Going Digital

Streaming and social media are among the biggest factors driving all that genre-blurring. They are also responsible for much of the current buzz surrounding country, and for opening the door to a new generation of country artists and audiences.

Country music fans came late to the digital game, only migrating from physical media to streaming and social media during the pandemic, Schwindt says. When they finally made the shift to the online world, however, they did so in droves: Demand for country on Spotify has more than doubled over the last five years, and data from

Luminate show that country audio streams exceeded 20 billion in 2023, representing a nearly 24 percent increase over the prior year—almost twice the increase seen for the music industry overall.

The impact on country musicians has been profound.

Today’s artists are no longer obliged to pursue what had been for decades the sole path to country stardom: moving to Nashville, signing with a record label, and securing a spot on the tightly guarded playlists of country radio. Instead, they can self-release on Spotify or YouTube while chasing virality on TikTok and Instagram.

The weakening of country’s traditional gatekeepers has had a democratizing effect on the industry, allowing a broader range of talent to evade the various barriers (stylistic, racial, gender-based) that have historically made it harder for some to achieve success than others.

“Anything goes now,” Offerman says. “You can do you and have a space.”

Less gatekeeping has also given artists of all stripes an alternate path to record deals and radio airplay, which continue to offer financial rewards along with valuable perks like marketing, promotion, and tour support.

“Now the business model is DIY,” says bassist and producer LUIS ESPAILLAT BM ’94, who once played a session with an unsigned singer-songwriter whose 2 million+ TikTok followers eventually landed him a lucrative deal with a major label. “If you start to blow up, then the labels will be like, ‘Okay, well, let’s help you push on a little more.’”

The recommendation algorithms employed by streaming and social media platforms also encourage cross-genre lis-

administrative costs.

Recommendation algorithms can be a double-edged sword, too. Artists who don’t post enough Instagram reels can find that the material they most want circulated won’t be recommended, while acts that don’t enjoy enough streams can find themselves shut out of Spotify’s coveted New Boots playlist for up-and-coming country artists.

“There are still gatekeepers,” Hull says.

Yet no one disputes that the changes roiling the country landscape have on balance been positive: More people around the world are making and listening to country music than ever before, and the expansion of the genre—musically, socially, and commercially—shows little sign of abating.

“There’s room for everybody in country music,” Williams says.

LUIS ESPAILLAT

KYLE G. MCLAUGHLIN/KENNY VARGA

SIERRA HULL

JOEL SCHWINDT

NATHAN LESLIE/FLORIE NAMIR

hop for years. Taking authentic influences from wherever they might be found, says Williams, “is what country music has always been known for.”

You can hear that same catholic taste in Williams’ own catalog, which includes Appalachian-style tunes alongside countrified interpretations of Bruce Springsteen and ’50s-era pop.

It’s also evident in the increasingly eclectic body of work produced by mandolinist SIERRA HULL ’11, who cut her teeth on bluegrass—an acoustic, improv-centric cousin of country that favors old-time tunes and instrumental virtuosity—but has in recent years put her own distinctive spin on material by everyone from Percy Mayfield and Tears for Fears to progressive rockers Polyphia.

“We live in a time when the lines of genres are more blurred

tening, which helps introduce country music to people who would not tune in to country radio or browse the country bin in a brick-and-mortar store. And as more and more artists blend country with other sounds, those same algorithms become more likely to serve a helping of something more traditional to a Beyoncé or Shaboozey fan.

“You happen to hear something, and then boom—the algorithm is going to recommend something you would never have thought of, and it becomes your new favorite artist,” Espaillat says.

In a way, this isn’t so different from the path that led Garthoff from Taylor Swift to Brad Paisley. But rather than being paved by friends bearing mixtapes, the new road to country runs through ai-enhanced algorithms with access to billions of users worldwide.

Of course, streaming and so-

cial media have their limits— and their downsides.

Streams and likes don’t necessarily translate into concert tickets. And now that record labels and country radio programmers use streaming and social media numbers to gauge popular appeal, country artists are under increasing pressure to produce a steady stream of online content—even if, like Offerman, they already have a record deal.

“I can’t take it for granted that I have a label,” she says. “I kind of have to pretend they’re not there, and just keep posting stuff.”

Streaming platforms also pay a pittance compared to the physical media they have supplanted. Williams calculates that while sales of 5 million physical units would earn her $455,000 in songwriting royalties, the same number of streams would yield a paltry $98 on Spotify.

And that’s before subtracting

AMANDA WILLIAMS

21 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

KEY CHANGES A SPECIAL SERIES TRACKING EVOLUTIONS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

In Sync

Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.

22 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

I LLUST R AT I O N BY

Michael Blanding

Eric Palma

23 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

KEY CHANGES A SPECIAL SERIES TRACKING EVOLUTIONS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

In Sync

Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.

22 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

I LLUST R AT I O N BY

Michael Blanding

Eric Palma

23 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond.”

J O S H S U T H E R L A N D B M ’19

diplomat in the name of getting the rights to a track. “More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond,” says Sutherland, who helped oversee music for Max’s Euphoria and Rap Sh!t. “And they may want a little more money, so you’ve got to put your budgeting and negotiating skills to use.”

Invisible but Essential

Sinking into the couch and flicking on the latest movie or show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, we may take for granted the soundtracks that lilt or pump behind the action on-screen, but every bit of music that appears on our screens is there because of a music supervisor, who both consults with the director or showrunner to choose songs and

Caviar Presents, and recently for a documentary on Jim Henson and the Muppets. He also served as head of operations for the Guild of Music Supervisors in 2023.

For Six Feet Under, Golubic made playlists for each of the characters to help him get inside their heads. “The process really helps you think deeply about a character—what is it that really moves them,” he says. Sometimes the task of a music supervisor can get quite complicated, as with a recent episode of the show Poker Face, a crime procedural with a “case-of-the-week” structure.

Showrunner Rian Johnson created a plot involving a band with a hit song ripped off from the theme of the ’80s sitcom Benson.

“We had to figure out how to clear the existing copyright, and then hire a band to write a new song similar to it, but also viable as a hit,” says Golubic, who has come to Berklee several times to pres-

the field has expanded into advertising, sports, video games, social media, virtual-reality experiences, and even exercise equipment.

“If you are on a bike watching a class and music is playing in the background, a music supervisor was involved in making that happen,” Wares says.

While a director sometimes has a clear view of the music they want, and only needs the supervisor to clear the rights, for others a supervisor is a true collaborator in coming up with the musical signature of the project, says Thomas Golubic, a veteran who has worked on shows including Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead.

“We are brought in by the network to essentially build out the soundscape for a TV show or film,” says Professor LAMARCUS MILLER, who worked as a music supervisor for The Wonder Years and RapLAMARCUS MILLER

24 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ABBEY HENDRIX

SAMI POSNER

JEFF LEWIS/ DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEE

JOSH SUTHERLAND

then performs the painstaking behind-the-scenes work to clear the rights to use them.

“A music supervisor is a bridge between the creative and administrative,” says CHRISTOPHER WARES, assistant chair of Berklee’s Music Business/Management Department. “They have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and genres, as well as a deep understanding of who controls the publishing rights.”

Also known as “sync,” music supervision includes overseeing the synchronization between music and some form of visual media. “With the increasing number of shows on streaming channels such as Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock, music supervisors have become highly sought-after, and the field is increasingly attractive to those who love both music and visual media. As music proliferates into more and more forms of media,

JOSH SOLOMON/BIANCA POLETTI

JOSH SUTHERLAND BM ’19 was up against the clock. A music supervisor for the NFL, he was working to clear a package of songs that would accompany players as they walked out for the draft. The one he really wanted to license was a new song, “teka”—a catchy electronic track with a driving beat by DJ Snake and Peso Pluma.

The only problem was that the track was so new that not all of the rights for it were settled. “So many artists have friends, producers, and managers that are involved in the writing process,” Sutherland says—in this case, 11 writers and seven publishers just for this one song. With the draft days away, Sutherland set to work, negotiating separately with each rightsholder. One owned just 0.5% of the song. In the end, he was able to clear the song in the nick of time.

It wasn’t the first time Sutherland had to play detective and

25 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond.”

J O S H S U T H E R L A N D B M ’19

diplomat in the name of getting the rights to a track. “More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond,” says Sutherland, who helped oversee music for Max’s Euphoria and Rap Sh!t. “And they may want a little more money, so you’ve got to put your budgeting and negotiating skills to use.”

Invisible but Essential

Sinking into the couch and flicking on the latest movie or show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, we may take for granted the soundtracks that lilt or pump behind the action on-screen, but every bit of music that appears on our screens is there because of a music supervisor, who both consults with the director or showrunner to choose songs and

Caviar Presents, and recently for a documentary on Jim Henson and the Muppets. He also served as head of operations for the Guild of Music Supervisors in 2023.

For Six Feet Under, Golubic made playlists for each of the characters to help him get inside their heads. “The process really helps you think deeply about a character—what is it that really moves them,” he says. Sometimes the task of a music supervisor can get quite complicated, as with a recent episode of the show Poker Face, a crime procedural with a “case-of-the-week” structure.

Showrunner Rian Johnson created a plot involving a band with a hit song ripped off from the theme of the ’80s sitcom Benson.

“We had to figure out how to clear the existing copyright, and then hire a band to write a new song similar to it, but also viable as a hit,” says Golubic, who has come to Berklee several times to pres-

the field has expanded into advertising, sports, video games, social media, virtual-reality experiences, and even exercise equipment.

“If you are on a bike watching a class and music is playing in the background, a music supervisor was involved in making that happen,” Wares says.

While a director sometimes has a clear view of the music they want, and only needs the supervisor to clear the rights, for others a supervisor is a true collaborator in coming up with the musical signature of the project, says Thomas Golubic, a veteran who has worked on shows including Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead.

“We are brought in by the network to essentially build out the soundscape for a TV show or film,” says Professor LAMARCUS MILLER, who worked as a music supervisor for The Wonder Years and RapLAMARCUS MILLER

24 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ABBEY HENDRIX

SAMI POSNER

JEFF LEWIS/ DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEE

JOSH SUTHERLAND

then performs the painstaking behind-the-scenes work to clear the rights to use them.

“A music supervisor is a bridge between the creative and administrative,” says CHRISTOPHER WARES, assistant chair of Berklee’s Music Business/Management Department. “They have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and genres, as well as a deep understanding of who controls the publishing rights.”

Also known as “sync,” music supervision includes overseeing the synchronization between music and some form of visual media. “With the increasing number of shows on streaming channels such as Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock, music supervisors have become highly sought-after, and the field is increasingly attractive to those who love both music and visual media. As music proliferates into more and more forms of media,

JOSH SOLOMON/BIANCA POLETTI

JOSH SUTHERLAND BM ’19 was up against the clock. A music supervisor for the NFL, he was working to clear a package of songs that would accompany players as they walked out for the draft. The one he really wanted to license was a new song, “teka”—a catchy electronic track with a driving beat by DJ Snake and Peso Pluma.

The only problem was that the track was so new that not all of the rights for it were settled. “So many artists have friends, producers, and managers that are involved in the writing process,” Sutherland says—in this case, 11 writers and seven publishers just for this one song. With the draft days away, Sutherland set to work, negotiating separately with each rightsholder. One owned just 0.5% of the song. In the end, he was able to clear the song in the nick of time.

It wasn’t the first time Sutherland had to play detective and

25 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“There is no shame around reality TV now—even artists are aware they contain make-or-break moments to expose them to big audiences.”

N I KO L E LU E B B E B M ’15

CHRISTOPHER WARES

26 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

fiant anthem set over a pounding beat. She reworked the song using vocals from an Australian youth chorus, then interspersed quotes from Muhammad Ali. The spot won an Emmy last year for best commercial. “When it locks in, it feels great,” Hendrix says.

“You can make a great ad that people remember forever.”

Sports television and reality television rely on subscription libraries of music composed specially for sync. CATHERINE PASTRANA MA ’17 used such libraries in her work as a supervisor for ESPN, making mini-documentaries about sports figures. She’d write down the emotions she felt reading through the scripts and then search for music to fit them. For a documentary about professional weight lifter Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson—who played the character Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on Game of Thrones—she noted that much of the imagery of his

Icelandic home was sparse and frigid, so she searched for cold, even melancholy, music to create the film’s mood.

Music supervisors increasingly rely on a number of technologies to help them navigate these libraries and pinpoint the exact tunes they need. The most indispensable tool is Disco, a platform that allows users to organize a music library, search for songs using metadata, and share songs with others in a way that allows them to control who can listen to it. Aiding in finding music are a number of ai-driven music search engines, such as aims (ai Music Search). Berklee students and alumni have their own music licensing platform, raidar (Rights and Asset Information in Decentralized, Authoritative Repositories) which allows them to upload music and directly license it for sync using blockchain technology to control and track usage.

THOMAS GOLUBIC

The music available through music libraries has become more sophisticated over the past several years, says NIKOLE LUEBBE BM ’15, who has worked as a music supervisor with Tinopolis and as a freelancer before joining Warner Bros.’ video game department last year. While working on the reality TV show Top Chef in 2019, she would sometimes cringe at the music selections available in such libraries. Now music libraries feature more nuanced pieces written by top composers such as Hans Zimmer, who’s written an album specifically for sync.

reality TV 10 years ago, I remember being almost embarrassed,” she says. But the popularity of shows from The Real Housewives to The Bachelor has brought the genre into the mainstream.

“There is no shame around reality TV now—even artists are aware they contain make-orbreak moments to expose them to big audiences.”

That’s even more the case for video games, which now feature elaborate immersive worlds in which gamers spend hours. “People spend half their life in these games, and fall in love with the music,” says Luebbe. Rather than rely on prerecorded music to New Demand provide the soundtrack to these games, now she often works with Reality TV is one genre in which orchestras that record original music has become much more content. Music supervisors also sophisticated, says Luebbe, who structure licensing deals differnow teaches a music supervision ently for video games, allowing course through Berklee Online. fans to use the music in videos “When I first started working in and remixes.

KEVIN MCINTYRE / JACOB SHERMAN

Sometimes, Miller says, music supervisors need to square a creator’s lofty ideas with the reality of how much the desired music actually costs. A lesser-known artist used in the background might cost $5,000 all-in. But a recognizable artist can cost between $40,000 and $60,000, while a major-label artist such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Beyoncé can easily run six figures.

Major advertisers are often willing to pay big money to use pieces from well-known artists, or to hire orchestras to record original compositions. “Since commercials are so short, music can really be the idea—everything can center around a particular lyric or musical motif or choreography,” says ABBEY HENDRIX BM ’13, a music supervisor with Apple.

Last year she produced a spot showcasing the iPhone’s accessibility features using the Spinifex Gum song “The Greatest,” a de-

KELLY DAVIDSON/ ASHLEY WEST LEONARD

ent to students.

Copyright comprises two separate parts: the publishing rights to the composition and the performance rights to the recording.

While sometimes a supervisor can go to a label for “one-stop” rights, more often they need to play sleuth, first scouring databases such as ascap or bmi and then branching out to internet searches and phone calls to track down owners. “I’ve made some insane Sherlock Holmes moves— for example, calling someone’s second cousin’s church—because I’m looking to clear an arrangement,” says SAMI POSNER ’13, a freelance music supervisor with Blue Lily Music.

After tracking down rightsholders, music supervisors then need to negotiate rates, which can vary wildly depending on how long the song will be used and in what context, as well as where the broadcast will air.

CATHERINE PASTRANA

Social media has added a new dimension to sync as people post snippets of films, TV shows, ads, or other video content to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and other social platforms.

Supervisors usually negotiate separate rights for social media use. Sometimes, however, the limitations are beyond their control, as when Universal prohibited TikTok from using the record label’s catalog.

Other media are also creating new employment opportunities for music supervisors. For example, it’s become increasingly common for podcast producers to hire music supervisors who can help their shows stand out in a crowded market. “It’s really [about] creating a musical personality or sonic branding for the project,” Posner says.

For all the excitement and popularity of the music supervision field, practitioners still

struggle to be recognized for the crucial role they play in tying together the visual and the auditory elements in a vast variety of creative projects. “I know few music supervisors who have steady incomes,” says Golubic.

“It’s a poorly paid job and a poorly understood job—a lot of studios use their leverage to force supervisors to take low fees.” A recent attempt to unionize the field failed. But the Guild of Music Supervisors has been working to both better educate artists on how to make their music easier to license to emphasize to labels and producers that music supervisors help make everything sound better. “There’s a big push for continued education about the role,” Posner says. “We are really emphasizing that we are an integral part of the creative team.”

NIKOLE LUEBBE

27 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

“There is no shame around reality TV now—even artists are aware they contain make-or-break moments to expose them to big audiences.”

N I KO L E LU E B B E B M ’15

CHRISTOPHER WARES

26 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

fiant anthem set over a pounding beat. She reworked the song using vocals from an Australian youth chorus, then interspersed quotes from Muhammad Ali. The spot won an Emmy last year for best commercial. “When it locks in, it feels great,” Hendrix says.

“You can make a great ad that people remember forever.”

Sports television and reality television rely on subscription libraries of music composed specially for sync. CATHERINE PASTRANA MA ’17 used such libraries in her work as a supervisor for ESPN, making mini-documentaries about sports figures. She’d write down the emotions she felt reading through the scripts and then search for music to fit them. For a documentary about professional weight lifter Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson—who played the character Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on Game of Thrones—she noted that much of the imagery of his

Icelandic home was sparse and frigid, so she searched for cold, even melancholy, music to create the film’s mood.

Music supervisors increasingly rely on a number of technologies to help them navigate these libraries and pinpoint the exact tunes they need. The most indispensable tool is Disco, a platform that allows users to organize a music library, search for songs using metadata, and share songs with others in a way that allows them to control who can listen to it. Aiding in finding music are a number of ai-driven music search engines, such as aims (ai Music Search). Berklee students and alumni have their own music licensing platform, raidar (Rights and Asset Information in Decentralized, Authoritative Repositories) which allows them to upload music and directly license it for sync using blockchain technology to control and track usage.

THOMAS GOLUBIC

The music available through music libraries has become more sophisticated over the past several years, says NIKOLE LUEBBE BM ’15, who has worked as a music supervisor with Tinopolis and as a freelancer before joining Warner Bros.’ video game department last year. While working on the reality TV show Top Chef in 2019, she would sometimes cringe at the music selections available in such libraries. Now music libraries feature more nuanced pieces written by top composers such as Hans Zimmer, who’s written an album specifically for sync.

reality TV 10 years ago, I remember being almost embarrassed,” she says. But the popularity of shows from The Real Housewives to The Bachelor has brought the genre into the mainstream.

“There is no shame around reality TV now—even artists are aware they contain make-orbreak moments to expose them to big audiences.”

That’s even more the case for video games, which now feature elaborate immersive worlds in which gamers spend hours. “People spend half their life in these games, and fall in love with the music,” says Luebbe. Rather than rely on prerecorded music to New Demand provide the soundtrack to these games, now she often works with Reality TV is one genre in which orchestras that record original music has become much more content. Music supervisors also sophisticated, says Luebbe, who structure licensing deals differnow teaches a music supervision ently for video games, allowing course through Berklee Online. fans to use the music in videos “When I first started working in and remixes.

KEVIN MCINTYRE / JACOB SHERMAN

Sometimes, Miller says, music supervisors need to square a creator’s lofty ideas with the reality of how much the desired music actually costs. A lesser-known artist used in the background might cost $5,000 all-in. But a recognizable artist can cost between $40,000 and $60,000, while a major-label artist such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Beyoncé can easily run six figures.

Major advertisers are often willing to pay big money to use pieces from well-known artists, or to hire orchestras to record original compositions. “Since commercials are so short, music can really be the idea—everything can center around a particular lyric or musical motif or choreography,” says ABBEY HENDRIX BM ’13, a music supervisor with Apple.

Last year she produced a spot showcasing the iPhone’s accessibility features using the Spinifex Gum song “The Greatest,” a de-

KELLY DAVIDSON/ ASHLEY WEST LEONARD

ent to students.

Copyright comprises two separate parts: the publishing rights to the composition and the performance rights to the recording.

While sometimes a supervisor can go to a label for “one-stop” rights, more often they need to play sleuth, first scouring databases such as ascap or bmi and then branching out to internet searches and phone calls to track down owners. “I’ve made some insane Sherlock Holmes moves— for example, calling someone’s second cousin’s church—because I’m looking to clear an arrangement,” says SAMI POSNER ’13, a freelance music supervisor with Blue Lily Music.

After tracking down rightsholders, music supervisors then need to negotiate rates, which can vary wildly depending on how long the song will be used and in what context, as well as where the broadcast will air.

CATHERINE PASTRANA

Social media has added a new dimension to sync as people post snippets of films, TV shows, ads, or other video content to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and other social platforms.

Supervisors usually negotiate separate rights for social media use. Sometimes, however, the limitations are beyond their control, as when Universal prohibited TikTok from using the record label’s catalog.

Other media are also creating new employment opportunities for music supervisors. For example, it’s become increasingly common for podcast producers to hire music supervisors who can help their shows stand out in a crowded market. “It’s really [about] creating a musical personality or sonic branding for the project,” Posner says.

For all the excitement and popularity of the music supervision field, practitioners still

struggle to be recognized for the crucial role they play in tying together the visual and the auditory elements in a vast variety of creative projects. “I know few music supervisors who have steady incomes,” says Golubic.

“It’s a poorly paid job and a poorly understood job—a lot of studios use their leverage to force supervisors to take low fees.” A recent attempt to unionize the field failed. But the Guild of Music Supervisors has been working to both better educate artists on how to make their music easier to license to emphasize to labels and producers that music supervisors help make everything sound better. “There’s a big push for continued education about the role,” Posner says. “We are really emphasizing that we are an integral part of the creative team.”

NIKOLE LUEBBE

27 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Finding

GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT BERKLEE AT THE GNAOUA AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO

Berklee embarks on a partnership in Morocco that helps musicians dig deeper into their artistry and bridge musical cultures.

Common STORY BY

Kimberly Ashton

28 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

S ound

29

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Finding

GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT BERKLEE AT THE GNAOUA AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO

Berklee embarks on a partnership in Morocco that helps musicians dig deeper into their artistry and bridge musical cultures.

Common STORY BY

Kimberly Ashton

28 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

S ound

29

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

NEILA TAZI

30 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

out of the way for anyone not looking for it. Those who made pilgrimages there were mostly artists and musicians, including the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, who came to explore a style of music that’s said to be a musical wellspring from which the blues and other African-diaspora genres later arose.

“Essaouira was a very interesting city but was really marginalized. It was like a hippie city,” says Neila Tazi, owner of A3 Communications, a marketing and public relations agency that also organizes cultural events. In 1998, she and a group of friends decided the city would be a perfect spot to start a small festival for aficionados who had an interest in the region’s distinctive Gnawa (also written as “Gnaoua”) music.

“It wasn’t music we would see on stages or on TV,” Tazi says. In 1999, A3 changed that by launching a free, open-air festival with one stage, and enjoyed a small success. Then word started to spread.

Within two years, nearly half a million people came to Essaouira to attend what some now call the “Moroccan Woodstock,” a multistage event featuring dozens of concerts. Over time, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival has turned the city into a year-round musical mecca. In December, 60 Minutes aired a 22-minute spot on the festival and the culture it celebrates.

“If you say Montreux, you think jazz. If you say Cannes, you think cinema. And if you say Essaouira, you think Gnawa. It’s totally linked now,” Tazi, who is now also a senator in Morocco, says. And thanks to her efforts and those of her team, in 2019 Gnawa culture entered unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity.

“Originally practised by groups and individuals from slavery and the slave trade dating back to at least the 16th century, Gnawa culture…[combines] ancestral African practices, Arab-Muslim influences and native Berber cultural performances,” the unesco inscription reads.

It’s this cultural and musical richness that also attracted Berklee, which partnered with the festival in June to launch a concurrent six-day educational program designed for professional musicians from around the world.

Berklee had been looking for ways to further engage in Africa, and the festival had been on its radar for several years but the pandemic had put a potential partnership on ice. In 2022, the festival returned after a two-year hiatus, and last year, when Tazi reached out to Berklee, everyone agreed the timing was now right for a partnership.

“The Gnaoua and World Music Festival…was very much aligned with the values and the history that Berklee also represents, even more so with the fact that Berklee acknowledges in its mission [that it is] founded on the culture and music of the African diaspora,” says María Martínez Iturriaga, senior vice president of Berklee Global.

The initiative ties into the work Berklee Global is doing in engaging with critically important musical traditions, says Jason Camelio, assistant vice president of global initiatives.

“It’s arguable that the roots of the blues come from the Gnawa music tradition. If you really dig into the [Gnawa stringed] instrument—the guembri— and the spiritual tradition of the music, you’re going to find that there are strong, strong connections,” he says.

IMAGE COURTESY OF A3 COMMUNICATIONS

A QUARTER-CENTURY AGO, ESSAOUIRA WAS MOSTLY A QUIET OLD PORT ON THE COASTAL EDGE OF MOROCCO,

“If you say Montreux, you think jazz.

If you say Cannes, you think cinema.

And if you say Essaouira, you think Gnawa. It’s totally linked now.”

NEILA TAZI, COFOUNDER OF GNAOUA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

NEILA TAZI

30 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

out of the way for anyone not looking for it. Those who made pilgrimages there were mostly artists and musicians, including the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, who came to explore a style of music that’s said to be a musical wellspring from which the blues and other African-diaspora genres later arose.

“Essaouira was a very interesting city but was really marginalized. It was like a hippie city,” says Neila Tazi, owner of A3 Communications, a marketing and public relations agency that also organizes cultural events. In 1998, she and a group of friends decided the city would be a perfect spot to start a small festival for aficionados who had an interest in the region’s distinctive Gnawa (also written as “Gnaoua”) music.

“It wasn’t music we would see on stages or on TV,” Tazi says. In 1999, A3 changed that by launching a free, open-air festival with one stage, and enjoyed a small success. Then word started to spread.

Within two years, nearly half a million people came to Essaouira to attend what some now call the “Moroccan Woodstock,” a multistage event featuring dozens of concerts. Over time, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival has turned the city into a year-round musical mecca. In December, 60 Minutes aired a 22-minute spot on the festival and the culture it celebrates.

“If you say Montreux, you think jazz. If you say Cannes, you think cinema. And if you say Essaouira, you think Gnawa. It’s totally linked now,” Tazi, who is now also a senator in Morocco, says. And thanks to her efforts and those of her team, in 2019 Gnawa culture entered unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity.

“Originally practised by groups and individuals from slavery and the slave trade dating back to at least the 16th century, Gnawa culture…[combines] ancestral African practices, Arab-Muslim influences and native Berber cultural performances,” the unesco inscription reads.

It’s this cultural and musical richness that also attracted Berklee, which partnered with the festival in June to launch a concurrent six-day educational program designed for professional musicians from around the world.

Berklee had been looking for ways to further engage in Africa, and the festival had been on its radar for several years but the pandemic had put a potential partnership on ice. In 2022, the festival returned after a two-year hiatus, and last year, when Tazi reached out to Berklee, everyone agreed the timing was now right for a partnership.

“The Gnaoua and World Music Festival…was very much aligned with the values and the history that Berklee also represents, even more so with the fact that Berklee acknowledges in its mission [that it is] founded on the culture and music of the African diaspora,” says María Martínez Iturriaga, senior vice president of Berklee Global.

The initiative ties into the work Berklee Global is doing in engaging with critically important musical traditions, says Jason Camelio, assistant vice president of global initiatives.

“It’s arguable that the roots of the blues come from the Gnawa music tradition. If you really dig into the [Gnawa stringed] instrument—the guembri— and the spiritual tradition of the music, you’re going to find that there are strong, strong connections,” he says.

IMAGE COURTESY OF A3 COMMUNICATIONS

A QUARTER-CENTURY AGO, ESSAOUIRA WAS MOSTLY A QUIET OLD PORT ON THE COASTAL EDGE OF MOROCCO,

“If you say Montreux, you think jazz.

If you say Cannes, you think cinema.

And if you say Essaouira, you think Gnawa. It’s totally linked now.”

NEILA TAZI, COFOUNDER OF GNAOUA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

FROM LEFT: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JAVIER VERCHER, GUEST ARTIST JAMEY HADDAD ’73, RON SAVAGE, KHALIL BENSOUDA, LEO BLANCO, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR VIKTORIJA PILATOVIC, AND JASON CAMELIO.

ABDEL KANDER

Origin Stories

JASON CAMELIO

ANAS CHLIH

LEO BLANCO

32 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: LEO BLANCO; NEILA TAZI; MINISTER OF YOUTH, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION MEHDI MOHAMED BENSAID; BERKLEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RON SAVAGE; AND MARIA MARTINEZ ITURRIAGA

pant Abdel Kander, a Moroccan bebop guitarist and Gnawa music enthusiast who works in cybersecurity in Paris. “Some of the tunes really [lend] themselves quite easily to that sort of a rhythm and groove.”

Anas Chlih, a Moroccan who’s been playing the festival for 14 years and who attended the Berklee program, agrees: “You discover when you start to research Moroccan music that jazz is in here already.”

Putting Down Roots

Kander and Chlih were among the 45 professional musicians who took part in the program.

Nearly half came from Morocco, six came from Sierra Leone, and others came from Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Tracy Jac-During, one of the participants from Sierra Leone, said the program presented a chance to connect with other musicians from around the world “just to learn new sounds from other people and share our own sound and see how we could learn and improve our music.”

This fusion of traditions was a defining feature of the program.

Blanco, the program’s academic director, says it was important for him to create a cultural bridge. “And I think it was beautiful because in the classes we kind of shine [a light on] what each of the cultures represent and how they manifest in different ways,” he says.

The mixture resulted in a sort of musical alchemy. “That level of diversity in terms of the musical breadth was something that we thought could happen, but until you’re there and see the magic that takes place it’s hard to conceive,” Martínez Iturriaga says.

The program’s days included a technical class, a lab, ensembles, and special lectures. Students would go from a class in which they explored different ways of feeling the downbeat to a seminar on navigating the music business.

“It’s a very long week in terms of what we gained from this experience,” Chlih says. “Intense in a very short time.” At the end of the week, the students performed on a festival stage the pieces they had developed during the program. And Chlih won a prize to take a Berklee Online course.

The Berklee Global team is already planning for the second edition of the program. “I’m really looking forward to seeing everything tick up significantly—the population, the diversity of students, the diversity of styles— and really pushing the envelope on what the outcomes could be.

I think it could be incredibly impactful,” Camelio says.

Kander feels that the partnership is the start of something big: “I wouldn’t be surprised if— let’s say, five or 10 years from now—some big-time artists are coming out of, or getting their big start or their initial spark in, the program.”

RON SAVAGE CONDUCTS AN ENSEMBLE AT THE FINAL CONCERT FOR THE BERKLEE AT GNAOUA AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL PROGRAM.

LEO BLANCO LEADS A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANSHIP SEMINAR WITH PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS INCLUDING GUEMBRI, OUD, GUITAR AND PIANO PLAYERS.

IMAGES COURTESY OF A3 COMMUNICATIONS

TRACY JAC-DURING

Like distant cousins who share traits inherited from a common ancestor, many African-diaspora genres that later developed across the Americas can trace their lineage back to sounds that still reverberate through Gnawa music.

“We stay with what is made here in this part of the Atlantic, and it’s jazz or rap or you name it in Latin America. But there’s not much consciousness among people in the Americas of what’s going on in Africa and [that] we got a lot of our music from them,” says Professor Leo Blanco, one of the five Berklee instructors who came from Boston and Valencia, Spain, to teach in the program.

“So I think that bridge needs to be re-established again in a different way.”

The original connection Blanco is referring to was established by the slave trade as enslaved people were brought from sub-Saharan Africa to places such as Morocco, and beyond. With them came their music. Some say that the krakeb, an iron castanet that’s prominent in the rhythmically rich and complex music of the Gnawa, came from the metal used to shackle slaves. Krakebs, along with a three-string bass lute called a guembri (a potential precursor to the banjo), constitute the genre’s primary instruments, along with the voice.

In Morocco, sub-Saharan rhythms blended with Arabic and Sufi styles to produce a genre steeped in spirituality and used in ceremonies that induce trances, but in North America they took different paths and made their way into blues and jazz.

“I try to get the Gnawi in John Coltrane, or the Gnawi in Dizzy Gillespie or in Thelonious Monk,” says program partici-

33 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

FROM LEFT: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JAVIER VERCHER, GUEST ARTIST JAMEY HADDAD ’73, RON SAVAGE, KHALIL BENSOUDA, LEO BLANCO, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR VIKTORIJA PILATOVIC, AND JASON CAMELIO.

ABDEL KANDER

Origin Stories

JASON CAMELIO

ANAS CHLIH

LEO BLANCO

32 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: LEO BLANCO; NEILA TAZI; MINISTER OF YOUTH, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION MEHDI MOHAMED BENSAID; BERKLEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RON SAVAGE; AND MARIA MARTINEZ ITURRIAGA

pant Abdel Kander, a Moroccan bebop guitarist and Gnawa music enthusiast who works in cybersecurity in Paris. “Some of the tunes really [lend] themselves quite easily to that sort of a rhythm and groove.”

Anas Chlih, a Moroccan who’s been playing the festival for 14 years and who attended the Berklee program, agrees: “You discover when you start to research Moroccan music that jazz is in here already.”

Putting Down Roots

Kander and Chlih were among the 45 professional musicians who took part in the program.

Nearly half came from Morocco, six came from Sierra Leone, and others came from Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Tracy Jac-During, one of the participants from Sierra Leone, said the program presented a chance to connect with other musicians from around the world “just to learn new sounds from other people and share our own sound and see how we could learn and improve our music.”

This fusion of traditions was a defining feature of the program.

Blanco, the program’s academic director, says it was important for him to create a cultural bridge. “And I think it was beautiful because in the classes we kind of shine [a light on] what each of the cultures represent and how they manifest in different ways,” he says.

The mixture resulted in a sort of musical alchemy. “That level of diversity in terms of the musical breadth was something that we thought could happen, but until you’re there and see the magic that takes place it’s hard to conceive,” Martínez Iturriaga says.

The program’s days included a technical class, a lab, ensembles, and special lectures. Students would go from a class in which they explored different ways of feeling the downbeat to a seminar on navigating the music business.

“It’s a very long week in terms of what we gained from this experience,” Chlih says. “Intense in a very short time.” At the end of the week, the students performed on a festival stage the pieces they had developed during the program. And Chlih won a prize to take a Berklee Online course.

The Berklee Global team is already planning for the second edition of the program. “I’m really looking forward to seeing everything tick up significantly—the population, the diversity of students, the diversity of styles— and really pushing the envelope on what the outcomes could be.

I think it could be incredibly impactful,” Camelio says.

Kander feels that the partnership is the start of something big: “I wouldn’t be surprised if— let’s say, five or 10 years from now—some big-time artists are coming out of, or getting their big start or their initial spark in, the program.”

RON SAVAGE CONDUCTS AN ENSEMBLE AT THE FINAL CONCERT FOR THE BERKLEE AT GNAOUA AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL PROGRAM.

LEO BLANCO LEADS A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANSHIP SEMINAR WITH PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS INCLUDING GUEMBRI, OUD, GUITAR AND PIANO PLAYERS.

IMAGES COURTESY OF A3 COMMUNICATIONS

TRACY JAC-DURING

Like distant cousins who share traits inherited from a common ancestor, many African-diaspora genres that later developed across the Americas can trace their lineage back to sounds that still reverberate through Gnawa music.

“We stay with what is made here in this part of the Atlantic, and it’s jazz or rap or you name it in Latin America. But there’s not much consciousness among people in the Americas of what’s going on in Africa and [that] we got a lot of our music from them,” says Professor Leo Blanco, one of the five Berklee instructors who came from Boston and Valencia, Spain, to teach in the program.

“So I think that bridge needs to be re-established again in a different way.”

The original connection Blanco is referring to was established by the slave trade as enslaved people were brought from sub-Saharan Africa to places such as Morocco, and beyond. With them came their music. Some say that the krakeb, an iron castanet that’s prominent in the rhythmically rich and complex music of the Gnawa, came from the metal used to shackle slaves. Krakebs, along with a three-string bass lute called a guembri (a potential precursor to the banjo), constitute the genre’s primary instruments, along with the voice.

In Morocco, sub-Saharan rhythms blended with Arabic and Sufi styles to produce a genre steeped in spirituality and used in ceremonies that induce trances, but in North America they took different paths and made their way into blues and jazz.

“I try to get the Gnawi in John Coltrane, or the Gnawi in Dizzy Gillespie or in Thelonious Monk,” says program partici-

33 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Leveling Up Krisha Marcano knew her path early in life. Now, as the Conservatory’s dean of theater, she’s helping others find theirs.

34 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

PHOTOGRAPH BY

Sarah Godcher Murphy

Séan Alonzo Harris

35 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Leveling Up Krisha Marcano knew her path early in life. Now, as the Conservatory’s dean of theater, she’s helping others find theirs.

34 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

STORY BY

PHOTOGRAPH BY

Sarah Godcher Murphy

Séan Alonzo Harris

35 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

36 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

perienced classmates. “The teacher looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing here? Come to my office right after class.’ My first class!” Marcano says.

The teacher at Queensborough helped Marcano secure an audition for the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and told her how to take the train to the school’s campus in Westchester County. When Marcano was accepted as an undergraduate, she told her mother, “I got into a conservatory training program. It’s at suny Purchase.

I don’t know anything about any of those things, but we’re gonna figure it out.”

With this kind of spunk, Marcano was able to carve her own path forward, from suny Purchase to two of the most prestigious dance companies in the US, then on to Broadway, and eventually to faculty and staff positions in higher education.

She brings a rare breadth of experience to her latest role as dean as well as a contagious energy that is revitalizing the Theater Division.

It was the choreography of Martha Graham that first opened Marcano’s eyes to the possibilities of both modern dance and acting. Her studies at SUNY Purchase focused on Graham technique, introducing her to a dance vocabulary—and means of self-expression—unlike anything she had experienced before. “For the first time, I found the ability to sing through my body. There was something godlike, euphoric, about doing that in class,” she says.

About a year after graduating from suny Purchase, Marcano was hired by the Martha Graham Dance Company as the only woman of color in the troupe.

Performing Graham’s work was a formative experience for Marcano, who saw herself reflected

in its impassioned storytelling.

“Her actual choreography—the work that we got to do—formed who I was as a woman,” she says.

“I got to realize that I don’t have to be pretty. I can be destructive.

I can give life, and I can take it …. That just peeled an onion layer for me, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s more.’”

Working with the Graham company also tapped into Marcano’s theatricality and “just blew the walls off,” she says. For the first time, she felt like an actor as well as a dancer. After two years with the Graham company, she moved on to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two more, and then made the leap to musical theater as a dancer in the first national tour of Fosse. Marcano toured the world with that show, from 1999 to 2001, then joined the cast of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida as a swing. She covered nine different ensemble roles for that production—learning lines, stage positions, dance steps, and vocal parts for each one and filling in for castmates at a moment’s notice.

She remained with Aida for its entire Broadway run, from 2001 to 2004; as the production neared its end, she became its dance captain, running rehearsals for the company, ensuring quality control, and teaching choreography to new company members. Her job as dance captain was Marcano’s first taste of teaching, and she found that what made her a great performer also made her an effective instructor: noticing the details, learning from missteps, and trying to make the show a little better each time.

With each step forward in her performance career, Marcano learned an entirely new set of performance skills. By the time Aida closed, she had distinguished herself as a dancer

JANE FELDMAN

When she was four years old, Krisha Marcano saw a ballerina for the very first time while watching The Nutcracker on television at her home in Trinidad, and she instantly knew she was going to be a professional dancer. To be clear, she didn’t merely think she wanted to be one; she was certain it would happen for her someday. She begged to take ballet lessons, and when her grandmother said no (because lessons were too expensive), she pitched an epic tantrum that became a chapter in Marcano family lore.

“Apparently, I threw myself all over the living room,” says Marcano, who became Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s new dean of theater in July. She simply would not take “no” for an answer. “I don’t know what you all need to do, but I’m going to thrash around until you get it together,” she recalls thinking at the time.

Her grandmother relented, and Marcano received excellent ballet training in Trinidad until she finished high school. After graduation, there were no signposts pointing her in the direction of “professional dancer,” and no mentors explaining how to navigate the US educational system. Nevertheless, Marcano knew where she wanted to go next.

“I was born in New York and my mother was still living in New York, so I knew that once I finished high school that’s where I was going—because that’s where I was going to be dancing,” she says.

Marcano had heard of the city’s most prominent dance program, at Juilliard, but had no idea how to apply; however, she did figure out how to enroll in a modern dance class at nearby Queensborough Community College. With 14 years of ballet training under her belt, she was head and shoulders above her less-ex-

and ensemble cast member, and she’d become an accomplished singer. Finding new modalities of expression has kept her highly employable, she says; and integrating those modalities has made her a better artist.

“When I say that with Graham I found that I could sing through my body, I only [arrived at] that sentence by becoming a singer,” she says. “I realized that when I was dropped in and doing it well, that was how dance made me feel.”

For Marcano, the next logical step was to audition for principal acting parts. She quickly found one, originating the role of Squeak in The Color Purple at its Atlanta world premiere in 2004 and then on Broadway

from 2005 to 2008. Her costar LaChanze (a 2024 Boston Conservatory honorary degree recipient) played Celie and says it was gratifying to see Marcano take on a principal role for the first time.

“I watched her grow from an excited and eager young artist into a commanding presence on the stage, with her natural comedic talent, beautiful voice— and how she did it all with ease, even though it was anything but easy,” says LaChanze.

For her part, Marcano says that working with LaChanze was one of the best educational experiences of her life. “Being a principal, all eyes are on you for a different level of telling the story.

I remember in rehearsal, looking at LaChanze and learning. Like, if

they offered that for a workshop, I couldn’t afford to pay for it.”

As she branched out into a career as an educator, Marcano taught summer programs at Dance Theatre of Harlem and Joffrey Ballet School, and later worked as an adjunct professor at New York University. In 2016, she joined the faculty at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, developing the drama program’s musical theater dance curriculum. Now leading the Theater Division at Boston Conservatory, Marcano says she has three primary goals for the division in mind—and they sound a lot like what got her this far in the first place.

“Refining. Leveling up. Focus,” she says.

37 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

36 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

perienced classmates. “The teacher looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing here? Come to my office right after class.’ My first class!” Marcano says.

The teacher at Queensborough helped Marcano secure an audition for the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and told her how to take the train to the school’s campus in Westchester County. When Marcano was accepted as an undergraduate, she told her mother, “I got into a conservatory training program. It’s at suny Purchase.

I don’t know anything about any of those things, but we’re gonna figure it out.”

With this kind of spunk, Marcano was able to carve her own path forward, from suny Purchase to two of the most prestigious dance companies in the US, then on to Broadway, and eventually to faculty and staff positions in higher education.

She brings a rare breadth of experience to her latest role as dean as well as a contagious energy that is revitalizing the Theater Division.

It was the choreography of Martha Graham that first opened Marcano’s eyes to the possibilities of both modern dance and acting. Her studies at SUNY Purchase focused on Graham technique, introducing her to a dance vocabulary—and means of self-expression—unlike anything she had experienced before. “For the first time, I found the ability to sing through my body. There was something godlike, euphoric, about doing that in class,” she says.

About a year after graduating from suny Purchase, Marcano was hired by the Martha Graham Dance Company as the only woman of color in the troupe.

Performing Graham’s work was a formative experience for Marcano, who saw herself reflected

in its impassioned storytelling.

“Her actual choreography—the work that we got to do—formed who I was as a woman,” she says.

“I got to realize that I don’t have to be pretty. I can be destructive.

I can give life, and I can take it …. That just peeled an onion layer for me, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s more.’”

Working with the Graham company also tapped into Marcano’s theatricality and “just blew the walls off,” she says. For the first time, she felt like an actor as well as a dancer. After two years with the Graham company, she moved on to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two more, and then made the leap to musical theater as a dancer in the first national tour of Fosse. Marcano toured the world with that show, from 1999 to 2001, then joined the cast of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida as a swing. She covered nine different ensemble roles for that production—learning lines, stage positions, dance steps, and vocal parts for each one and filling in for castmates at a moment’s notice.

She remained with Aida for its entire Broadway run, from 2001 to 2004; as the production neared its end, she became its dance captain, running rehearsals for the company, ensuring quality control, and teaching choreography to new company members. Her job as dance captain was Marcano’s first taste of teaching, and she found that what made her a great performer also made her an effective instructor: noticing the details, learning from missteps, and trying to make the show a little better each time.

With each step forward in her performance career, Marcano learned an entirely new set of performance skills. By the time Aida closed, she had distinguished herself as a dancer

JANE FELDMAN

When she was four years old, Krisha Marcano saw a ballerina for the very first time while watching The Nutcracker on television at her home in Trinidad, and she instantly knew she was going to be a professional dancer. To be clear, she didn’t merely think she wanted to be one; she was certain it would happen for her someday. She begged to take ballet lessons, and when her grandmother said no (because lessons were too expensive), she pitched an epic tantrum that became a chapter in Marcano family lore.

“Apparently, I threw myself all over the living room,” says Marcano, who became Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s new dean of theater in July. She simply would not take “no” for an answer. “I don’t know what you all need to do, but I’m going to thrash around until you get it together,” she recalls thinking at the time.

Her grandmother relented, and Marcano received excellent ballet training in Trinidad until she finished high school. After graduation, there were no signposts pointing her in the direction of “professional dancer,” and no mentors explaining how to navigate the US educational system. Nevertheless, Marcano knew where she wanted to go next.

“I was born in New York and my mother was still living in New York, so I knew that once I finished high school that’s where I was going—because that’s where I was going to be dancing,” she says.

Marcano had heard of the city’s most prominent dance program, at Juilliard, but had no idea how to apply; however, she did figure out how to enroll in a modern dance class at nearby Queensborough Community College. With 14 years of ballet training under her belt, she was head and shoulders above her less-ex-

and ensemble cast member, and she’d become an accomplished singer. Finding new modalities of expression has kept her highly employable, she says; and integrating those modalities has made her a better artist.

“When I say that with Graham I found that I could sing through my body, I only [arrived at] that sentence by becoming a singer,” she says. “I realized that when I was dropped in and doing it well, that was how dance made me feel.”

For Marcano, the next logical step was to audition for principal acting parts. She quickly found one, originating the role of Squeak in The Color Purple at its Atlanta world premiere in 2004 and then on Broadway

from 2005 to 2008. Her costar LaChanze (a 2024 Boston Conservatory honorary degree recipient) played Celie and says it was gratifying to see Marcano take on a principal role for the first time.

“I watched her grow from an excited and eager young artist into a commanding presence on the stage, with her natural comedic talent, beautiful voice— and how she did it all with ease, even though it was anything but easy,” says LaChanze.

For her part, Marcano says that working with LaChanze was one of the best educational experiences of her life. “Being a principal, all eyes are on you for a different level of telling the story.

I remember in rehearsal, looking at LaChanze and learning. Like, if

they offered that for a workshop, I couldn’t afford to pay for it.”

As she branched out into a career as an educator, Marcano taught summer programs at Dance Theatre of Harlem and Joffrey Ballet School, and later worked as an adjunct professor at New York University. In 2016, she joined the faculty at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, developing the drama program’s musical theater dance curriculum. Now leading the Theater Division at Boston Conservatory, Marcano says she has three primary goals for the division in mind—and they sound a lot like what got her this far in the first place.

“Refining. Leveling up. Focus,” she says.

37 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

RACHEL GROVES MM ’23 OF ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND, RELEASED HER DEBUT SINGLE, “DR NEIL’S,” AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION FOR HARP AND STRING QUARTET THAT REFLECTS FOLK, JAZZ, AND CLASSICAL INFLUENCES. THE TRACK WAS INSPIRED

BY AND NAMED AFTER A GARDEN IN CENTRAL EDINBURGH.

38 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ZACH HYLAND

News from Our Alumni Community

RACHEL GROVES MM ’23 OF ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND, RELEASED HER DEBUT SINGLE, “DR NEIL’S,” AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION FOR HARP AND STRING QUARTET THAT REFLECTS FOLK, JAZZ, AND CLASSICAL INFLUENCES. THE TRACK WAS INSPIRED

BY AND NAMED AFTER A GARDEN IN CENTRAL EDINBURGH.

38 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

ZACH HYLAND

News from Our Alumni Community

Pulse

3 ANTHONY SCOTT PETITO ’82

of Catskill, NY, mixed and mastered the digital release of the 1959 album Live from the Northwest by Dave Brubeck.

Alum Notes 1968 STANLEY ELLIS BM of Falmouth, MA, had his short story “Ghost Music” published online by Jerry Jazz Musician magazine.

1974

NJ, retired after 25 years as an elementary instrumental music teacher in the Princeton Public Schools. Before then, he worked with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and as assistant conductor and pianist for the Ice Capades.

JOSH SKLAIR of Rosamond, CA,

played guitar on the latest album

by Billy Price, Person of Interest, between tour dates with Paul Anka and with the Blues Brothers. He also performed with the Houston Symphony.

1979 JONATHAN LAX BM of Cordova, TN,

performed at the Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis; at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA; with the International Trumpet Guild; and with the SoulSations in Memphis.

1982

1 JEFFREY GUENTHER of Hopat-

cong, NJ, released his second album, Adopted by Grace, this year.

1976

bum in September.

1977

TONY CORMAN BM of Berkeley,

CA, wrote an article about the basics of M3 guitar that was published in the May issue of Downbeat.

1 LUIS DISLA of Hollywood, FL, released DislaMotion (The Prophecy, Vol.2), on which he has nine original compositions.

1983

1978

BRIAN BIGELOW BM of Fall River, MA, created and teaches with Dr. Marc Hauser a course called the Power of Music, which shows how music affects our moods and emotions.

STEVE KRAMER BM of Hamilton,

GLEN DARCEY of Sun Valley, CA,

40 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Burbank, CA, is a founding member of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.

MIKE CRUTCHER of Lowell, MA,

worked with soul singer Jose Ramos and his Group Du Jour.

PETER DICK BM of Toronto, Canada, released his fifth album, Above Ground, with his new group, Peter Dick Trio.

ROB ELRICK BM of Chicago, IL, is the CEO and owner of Elrick Bass Guitars and Modern Vintage guitar brands.

JEFF KASHIWA of Edmonds, WA, released Luminoso, a collection of songs composed by Brazilian luminary Joyce Moreno.

LAURA SIERSEMA BM of Greenfield,

1984

MA, released Stillness Variations, a collection of eight modern pieces for piano and viola, with Professor MIMI RABSON.

BRYANT ALLARD BM of Tigard,

1991

OR, released a new recording by his Powerhouse Jazz Quintet.

For 37 years, he’s been running an after-school band program in the Portland and the San Francisco areas called Musical Understanding Through Sound Education (M.U.S.E.).

CHRIS DEROSA of Brooklyn, NY, has been recording drum tracks for many artists from all over the world at his CDR Studios in NYC. In addition, he’s a staff writer for All About Jazz and has had articles published about PAT METHENY ’96H, Al Foster, Andy Summers, and others.

STEPHEN STERNBERG of Tallahassee, FL, was featured in the September–October issue of Tallahassee Magazine.

DAVID YAMASAKI of Honolulu, HI, cofounded Groovology with AARON ARANITA ’80 and SCOTT SHAFER ’84. They released their first al-

led the team that created the Hydrasynth synthesizer after designing over 70 other products as the former head of product development for Akai and Arturia.

GUILLERMO NOJECHOWICZ BM of

Arlington, MA, performed in Los Angeles for the first time with his new project, Norte y Sur Quartet, featuring CHRISTIAN JACOB PDM ’86 (piano), Henry Trey (bass), and Dan Rosenboom (trumpet).

1985 CACAU FERRARI PDM of Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil, released his first solo and independent album, Space Bass.

1 RONALD W. JACKSON JR. ’85 of

Teaneck, NJ, is a world-renowned seven-string jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He also produced, composed, and played on Kevin Powell’s Grammy-nominated album, Grocery Shopping with My Mother.

1987 DARIO SARACENO BM of Wappinger Falls, NY, released his eighth album, Banquet of Noise.

1988 STEFAN VEIT PDM of Mühlacker,

Germany, released his album Compadres 4, featuring his original compositions.

1989 JAMES CHRISTIAN MILLER of Clay-

ton, GA, is the lead guitarist for the Tom Proctor Band.

1990

JOHN ELLIOT BUCKINGHAM PDM of

MARC CHILLEMI BM of South Portland, ME, performed at the Havana Jazz Festival. He continues to lead the eight-piece Afro-Caribbean group Raging Brass.

alumni to release eight new rock/blues tunes.

MIKA POHJOLA PDM of Stockholm, Sweden, is studying for a doctorate in education science at Lund University. His research focuses on the identity constructions of musicians who are studying to become music teachers.

1995 EVE BUIGUES PDM of Los Angeles, CA, released a new solo album, Elevations. It’s a blend of jazz covers and originals, featuring her multi-instrumental and production skills.

ERIK EGOL BM of Sandy Hook, CT, published his first drum method book, A Guide to Rhythmic Freedom, on ErikEgol.com.

JULIAN GRACIANO of Buenos Aires, Argentina, published his new book on tango guitar, dedicated to the tango guitarist Roberto Grela. Transcriptions of his performances with bandoneonist Anibal Troilo and analysis are at youtube.com/gracianojulian.

ERIK STEIGEN BM of Santa Monica, CA, is a representative for Norway’s performing-rights organization TONO. He’s also a consultant at his own company, USA Media Rights, which owns subsidiaries Onward Talent Management and SoCal Records.

2000 PETER HASLER PDM of Zurich, Switzerland, released the EP Precious, containing five poprock songs.

1 JUSTIN AMARAL BM ’99 of

Madison, TN, released his first solo album, Life in Grooveland— The Hymnal. It’s an instrumental world beat collection of traditional hymns reimagined as duets and features notable instrumentalists.

NEIL GOLDBERG BM of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, cofounded Heavyocity in 2007 with college roommate DAVE FRASER PDM ’91.

Heavyocity is recognized as one of the leading virtual instrument companies in the industry, having developed over 50 virtual instruments and audio plugins.

1993 SOPHIE DUNÉR BM of Hovås, Sweden, is a freelance singer and composer in jazz and contemporary music who performed at Carnegie Hall in July.

1 MARTA KARASSAWA PDM of São

KENJI KIKUCHI PDM of Boston, MA, performed in 2022 on the Grammy–nominated recording X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.

1996

1994 ROBERT HOPKINS BM of Amarillo, TX, re-formed the band Ricochet Biscuit with three other Berklee

Paulo, Brazil, released an original album, Tempo Bom, featuring Associate Professor JACQUES SCHWARZ-BART.

DANIEL DELANEY BM of Westport, Ireland, has been researching and solving the mysteries of a recently discovered 19th century Irish music manuscript that contains some 220 tunes transcribed by women in the 1860s. He is publishing a book about it.

JUDAH SALEM KIM BM ’03 of Philadelphia, PA, organized a rock concert featuring five Asian-fronted acts at World Cafe Live. The concert’s goal was to encourage Asian Americans working in contemporary music to build a strong community.

41 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

3 ANTHONY SCOTT PETITO ’82

of Catskill, NY, mixed and mastered the digital release of the 1959 album Live from the Northwest by Dave Brubeck.

Alum Notes 1968 STANLEY ELLIS BM of Falmouth, MA, had his short story “Ghost Music” published online by Jerry Jazz Musician magazine.

1974

NJ, retired after 25 years as an elementary instrumental music teacher in the Princeton Public Schools. Before then, he worked with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and as assistant conductor and pianist for the Ice Capades.

JOSH SKLAIR of Rosamond, CA,

played guitar on the latest album

by Billy Price, Person of Interest, between tour dates with Paul Anka and with the Blues Brothers. He also performed with the Houston Symphony.

1979 JONATHAN LAX BM of Cordova, TN,

performed at the Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis; at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA; with the International Trumpet Guild; and with the SoulSations in Memphis.

1982

1 JEFFREY GUENTHER of Hopat-

cong, NJ, released his second album, Adopted by Grace, this year.

1976

bum in September.

1977

TONY CORMAN BM of Berkeley,

CA, wrote an article about the basics of M3 guitar that was published in the May issue of Downbeat.

1 LUIS DISLA of Hollywood, FL, released DislaMotion (The Prophecy, Vol.2), on which he has nine original compositions.

1983

1978

BRIAN BIGELOW BM of Fall River, MA, created and teaches with Dr. Marc Hauser a course called the Power of Music, which shows how music affects our moods and emotions.

STEVE KRAMER BM of Hamilton,

GLEN DARCEY of Sun Valley, CA,

40 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Burbank, CA, is a founding member of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.

MIKE CRUTCHER of Lowell, MA,

worked with soul singer Jose Ramos and his Group Du Jour.

PETER DICK BM of Toronto, Canada, released his fifth album, Above Ground, with his new group, Peter Dick Trio.

ROB ELRICK BM of Chicago, IL, is the CEO and owner of Elrick Bass Guitars and Modern Vintage guitar brands.

JEFF KASHIWA of Edmonds, WA, released Luminoso, a collection of songs composed by Brazilian luminary Joyce Moreno.

LAURA SIERSEMA BM of Greenfield,

1984

MA, released Stillness Variations, a collection of eight modern pieces for piano and viola, with Professor MIMI RABSON.

BRYANT ALLARD BM of Tigard,

1991

OR, released a new recording by his Powerhouse Jazz Quintet.

For 37 years, he’s been running an after-school band program in the Portland and the San Francisco areas called Musical Understanding Through Sound Education (M.U.S.E.).

CHRIS DEROSA of Brooklyn, NY, has been recording drum tracks for many artists from all over the world at his CDR Studios in NYC. In addition, he’s a staff writer for All About Jazz and has had articles published about PAT METHENY ’96H, Al Foster, Andy Summers, and others.

STEPHEN STERNBERG of Tallahassee, FL, was featured in the September–October issue of Tallahassee Magazine.

DAVID YAMASAKI of Honolulu, HI, cofounded Groovology with AARON ARANITA ’80 and SCOTT SHAFER ’84. They released their first al-

led the team that created the Hydrasynth synthesizer after designing over 70 other products as the former head of product development for Akai and Arturia.

GUILLERMO NOJECHOWICZ BM of

Arlington, MA, performed in Los Angeles for the first time with his new project, Norte y Sur Quartet, featuring CHRISTIAN JACOB PDM ’86 (piano), Henry Trey (bass), and Dan Rosenboom (trumpet).

1985 CACAU FERRARI PDM of Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil, released his first solo and independent album, Space Bass.

1 RONALD W. JACKSON JR. ’85 of

Teaneck, NJ, is a world-renowned seven-string jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He also produced, composed, and played on Kevin Powell’s Grammy-nominated album, Grocery Shopping with My Mother.

1987 DARIO SARACENO BM of Wappinger Falls, NY, released his eighth album, Banquet of Noise.

1988 STEFAN VEIT PDM of Mühlacker,

Germany, released his album Compadres 4, featuring his original compositions.

1989 JAMES CHRISTIAN MILLER of Clay-

ton, GA, is the lead guitarist for the Tom Proctor Band.

1990

JOHN ELLIOT BUCKINGHAM PDM of

MARC CHILLEMI BM of South Portland, ME, performed at the Havana Jazz Festival. He continues to lead the eight-piece Afro-Caribbean group Raging Brass.

alumni to release eight new rock/blues tunes.

MIKA POHJOLA PDM of Stockholm, Sweden, is studying for a doctorate in education science at Lund University. His research focuses on the identity constructions of musicians who are studying to become music teachers.

1995 EVE BUIGUES PDM of Los Angeles, CA, released a new solo album, Elevations. It’s a blend of jazz covers and originals, featuring her multi-instrumental and production skills.

ERIK EGOL BM of Sandy Hook, CT, published his first drum method book, A Guide to Rhythmic Freedom, on ErikEgol.com.

JULIAN GRACIANO of Buenos Aires, Argentina, published his new book on tango guitar, dedicated to the tango guitarist Roberto Grela. Transcriptions of his performances with bandoneonist Anibal Troilo and analysis are at youtube.com/gracianojulian.

ERIK STEIGEN BM of Santa Monica, CA, is a representative for Norway’s performing-rights organization TONO. He’s also a consultant at his own company, USA Media Rights, which owns subsidiaries Onward Talent Management and SoCal Records.

2000 PETER HASLER PDM of Zurich, Switzerland, released the EP Precious, containing five poprock songs.

1 JUSTIN AMARAL BM ’99 of

Madison, TN, released his first solo album, Life in Grooveland— The Hymnal. It’s an instrumental world beat collection of traditional hymns reimagined as duets and features notable instrumentalists.

NEIL GOLDBERG BM of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, cofounded Heavyocity in 2007 with college roommate DAVE FRASER PDM ’91.

Heavyocity is recognized as one of the leading virtual instrument companies in the industry, having developed over 50 virtual instruments and audio plugins.

1993 SOPHIE DUNÉR BM of Hovås, Sweden, is a freelance singer and composer in jazz and contemporary music who performed at Carnegie Hall in July.

1 MARTA KARASSAWA PDM of São

KENJI KIKUCHI PDM of Boston, MA, performed in 2022 on the Grammy–nominated recording X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.

1996

1994 ROBERT HOPKINS BM of Amarillo, TX, re-formed the band Ricochet Biscuit with three other Berklee

Paulo, Brazil, released an original album, Tempo Bom, featuring Associate Professor JACQUES SCHWARZ-BART.

DANIEL DELANEY BM of Westport, Ireland, has been researching and solving the mysteries of a recently discovered 19th century Irish music manuscript that contains some 220 tunes transcribed by women in the 1860s. He is publishing a book about it.

JUDAH SALEM KIM BM ’03 of Philadelphia, PA, organized a rock concert featuring five Asian-fronted acts at World Cafe Live. The concert’s goal was to encourage Asian Americans working in contemporary music to build a strong community.

41 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

7 JACQUELYN SCHREIBER BM ‘06

of Pasadena, CA, released her first full-length album, Flown, featuring her on vocals and keyboard. MARVIN “SMITTY” SMITH BM ’81, ANTOINE KATZ PDM ’13, and TALLEY SHERWOOD PDM ’87 also appear on the album.

The Music Teacher After a car accident left him temporarily deaf and blind, Daniel Beilman returned to music as a teacher. The rewards have been many. BY CHESTON KNAPP

2002

2005

2008

RICARDO PINHEIRO BM of Sintra, Portugal, released his album Tone Stories, featuring JORGE ROSSY PDM ’90, CHRIS CHEEK BM ’91, and Michael Formanek.

2003

PAMELA RICCI BM of Duxbury, MA, conceptualized, developed, and launched the new Zildjian ALCHEM-E Perfect Tune Headphones, which allow wearers to customize the device for their hearing.

of Washington, DC, wrote The Guide to Simple Career Planning, in which he discusses seven disciplines for young adults to build a solid foundation for life.

JEFF GITELMAN BM of New York,

2007

NY, cowrote the Jessie Murph song “Dirty,” featuring Teddy Swims, and the song “Wild Ones”

by Jessie Murph and Jelly Roll.

JEFFREY LIEN BM of Nashville, TN, was named CEO of Naxos of America, the leading classical, jazz, and world-music distributor in the US and Canada. He’s also the head of the National Independent Music Awards Jazz Council and a columnist for Downbeat.

NICHOLAS DAVID O’TOOLE BM of

JACOB HERTZOG BM of Fayetteville, AR, released his ninth studio album, Longing to Meet You, a jazz record dedicated to his daughter and the journey through IVF.

1 CHRISTOPHER NOCE BM ’07 of

Worcester, MA, made Yamaha’s 40 Under 40 Music Educators list for 2024.

Los Angeles, CA, launched Wave Canon, a production music sync catalog. His work spans major brands, films, and games.

released a bluegrass album in the fall with the Moon Mountain String Band.

DONOVAN PYLE of Orlando, FL,

2004

CEO of Health Compass Consulting, was named senior advisor to Validation Institute.

DANIEL RADIN BM of Waterford,

CT, launched Dan Radin Strategy Management Consulting to help music, audio, and creator-product companies grow.

JULIO SANTILLAN PDM of Buenos Aires, Argentina, released Duelo, an album featuring 13 original compositions, with his Julio Santillan Septet.

SARAH WILFONG of Eugene, OR, completed a doctorate of musical arts in violin performance at the University of Oregon. She is also a new member of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and

42 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

KRISTIN BIDWELL BM of Laconia, NH, is the new CEO of Audiovisual Consulting Team, a premier audiovisual (AV) consulting firm providing AV designs for commercial projects.

ELDAR HUDIYEV MM of Issaquah, WA, received the grand prize in the International Youth Music Competitions’ music composition category for his song “Circus,” written for solo clarinet and symphony orchestra.

PAUL EDWARD CLEVELAND JR. BM

MIKE FLANAGAN BM of Provincetown, MA, headlined Scullers Jazz Club alongside vocalist Lauren Scales and pianist Chris Grasso, with Associate Professor JOHN LOCKWOOD on bass and Richie Barshay on drums.

ALEXANDER FRANÇOIS BM of Blue Island, IL, is the new saxophonist for the Australian Pink Floyd Show, which The Times has described as “the gold standard” of Pink Floyd tribute acts. The Australian show has sold over 5 million tickets in 35 countries since 1988.

2009

5 TY ASOUDEGAN ’09 of Los

Angeles, CA, the front-of-house engineer at Whisky a Go Go, was featured in Guitar Player magazine, and has shared the stage with Slash, Buddy Guy, and Scott Ian, to name a few.

BRANT BUCKLEY BFA of Warrenville, IL, published Chicago Blues History: Preserving the Past, which reached No. 1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases under Blues and R&B Soul.

2010

AARON GREENE BM of West Bloomfield, MI, released Canary in the Crow’s Mind with his band Beasts & Machines.

SOFIA LAZOPOULOU of Ilioupoli, Greece, is a voice teacher whose students have all earned Berklee scholarships.

IAN RAPIEN BM of Irvine, CA, released his album The Fountain, which contains seven original songs.

1 JESLYN GORMAN BM of Los An-

geles, CA, is a singer and dancer who has toured with Nick Jonas,

Earlier this year, DANIEL BEILMAN B.M. ’14 was named a quarterfinalist for the prestigious Music Educator Award from the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum. This recognition has been humbling and unexpected.

Growing up, Beilman dreamed of a career as a bassoonist. If he thought of teaching at all, it was as a means toward this end. But he’s found that helping students with disabilities achieve new milestones has been a gift beyond reckoning.

“It’s been the most incredible and fulfilling job I’ve ever had,” he says of his work at Oak Park School in Sarasota, Florida. “I had a student today who said his first five words. Ever. And he’s a junior in high school. Things like this happen all day, every day.”

Beilman uses music as a tool to help his students feel more comfortable with themselves and the world, which helps them build the confidence they sometimes lack.

“Allowing music to be a form of communication, a way of learning how to speak or hear, is truly special,” he says, adding that music has been a big part of his recovery from a car accident that left him temporarily unable to do either.

When Beilman graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, he

was on track to having the life of his dreams.

He was traveling the world to play with orchestras, teaching in cities across Europe, and writing new music with ambitious composers. But in the spring of 2020, while driving to a hike, he lost control of the wheel. His car flipped and turned his world completely upside down.

In a movie of his life, this would be where the flashback montage happens. Beilman at six: stealing his sister’s clarinet and playing along to The Lion King soundtrack. In middle school: falling in love with the bassoon after seeing a Disney commercial in which a young girl plays the “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and her toys spring to life. At the Conservatory: staying up into the small hours playing with his classmates. In his mid-20s: pinching himself as he sits in with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker.

When Beilman woke up in the hospital, the fear he felt was literally unspeakable. In and out of medically induced comas, he couldn’t see, hear, or move. After stabilizing, he endured extensive facial reconstructive surgery, with over 60 implants and more grafts than he can remember. After his release, 21 days later, he realized that his journey to recovery had just

Alumni Spotlight Daniel Beilman begun. With the horrific behind him, what lay ahead was merely awful.

Over the next six months, his hearing and sight slowly returned.

To relearn how to use his facial muscles, he said his ABCs again and again, exaggerating each letter, and slowly regained his ability to speak. For almost two years, he couldn’t bring himself to even dream of playing his bassoon.

“My doctors said that if I blew too hard, a lot of things could happen,” he says. “So I was hesitant.”

He’s playing again now, though. And while he’s not at the same level

he was at before the accident, he’s still able to find the joy that drove him to the instrument and to music—the same joy he loves seeing in the faces of his students.

And he’s discovered a deep well of sympathy has opened inside him after his experience of being deaf and blind. “I get sad and emotional if I think about not playing and performing again,” he says. But now, no longer playing just for himself, he lives with a profound sense of purpose.

43 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

7 JACQUELYN SCHREIBER BM ‘06

of Pasadena, CA, released her first full-length album, Flown, featuring her on vocals and keyboard. MARVIN “SMITTY” SMITH BM ’81, ANTOINE KATZ PDM ’13, and TALLEY SHERWOOD PDM ’87 also appear on the album.

The Music Teacher After a car accident left him temporarily deaf and blind, Daniel Beilman returned to music as a teacher. The rewards have been many. BY CHESTON KNAPP

2002

2005

2008

RICARDO PINHEIRO BM of Sintra, Portugal, released his album Tone Stories, featuring JORGE ROSSY PDM ’90, CHRIS CHEEK BM ’91, and Michael Formanek.

2003

PAMELA RICCI BM of Duxbury, MA, conceptualized, developed, and launched the new Zildjian ALCHEM-E Perfect Tune Headphones, which allow wearers to customize the device for their hearing.

of Washington, DC, wrote The Guide to Simple Career Planning, in which he discusses seven disciplines for young adults to build a solid foundation for life.

JEFF GITELMAN BM of New York,

2007

NY, cowrote the Jessie Murph song “Dirty,” featuring Teddy Swims, and the song “Wild Ones”

by Jessie Murph and Jelly Roll.

JEFFREY LIEN BM of Nashville, TN, was named CEO of Naxos of America, the leading classical, jazz, and world-music distributor in the US and Canada. He’s also the head of the National Independent Music Awards Jazz Council and a columnist for Downbeat.

NICHOLAS DAVID O’TOOLE BM of

JACOB HERTZOG BM of Fayetteville, AR, released his ninth studio album, Longing to Meet You, a jazz record dedicated to his daughter and the journey through IVF.

1 CHRISTOPHER NOCE BM ’07 of

Worcester, MA, made Yamaha’s 40 Under 40 Music Educators list for 2024.

Los Angeles, CA, launched Wave Canon, a production music sync catalog. His work spans major brands, films, and games.

released a bluegrass album in the fall with the Moon Mountain String Band.

DONOVAN PYLE of Orlando, FL,

2004

CEO of Health Compass Consulting, was named senior advisor to Validation Institute.

DANIEL RADIN BM of Waterford,

CT, launched Dan Radin Strategy Management Consulting to help music, audio, and creator-product companies grow.

JULIO SANTILLAN PDM of Buenos Aires, Argentina, released Duelo, an album featuring 13 original compositions, with his Julio Santillan Septet.

SARAH WILFONG of Eugene, OR, completed a doctorate of musical arts in violin performance at the University of Oregon. She is also a new member of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and

42 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

KRISTIN BIDWELL BM of Laconia, NH, is the new CEO of Audiovisual Consulting Team, a premier audiovisual (AV) consulting firm providing AV designs for commercial projects.

ELDAR HUDIYEV MM of Issaquah, WA, received the grand prize in the International Youth Music Competitions’ music composition category for his song “Circus,” written for solo clarinet and symphony orchestra.

PAUL EDWARD CLEVELAND JR. BM

MIKE FLANAGAN BM of Provincetown, MA, headlined Scullers Jazz Club alongside vocalist Lauren Scales and pianist Chris Grasso, with Associate Professor JOHN LOCKWOOD on bass and Richie Barshay on drums.

ALEXANDER FRANÇOIS BM of Blue Island, IL, is the new saxophonist for the Australian Pink Floyd Show, which The Times has described as “the gold standard” of Pink Floyd tribute acts. The Australian show has sold over 5 million tickets in 35 countries since 1988.

2009

5 TY ASOUDEGAN ’09 of Los

Angeles, CA, the front-of-house engineer at Whisky a Go Go, was featured in Guitar Player magazine, and has shared the stage with Slash, Buddy Guy, and Scott Ian, to name a few.

BRANT BUCKLEY BFA of Warrenville, IL, published Chicago Blues History: Preserving the Past, which reached No. 1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases under Blues and R&B Soul.

2010

AARON GREENE BM of West Bloomfield, MI, released Canary in the Crow’s Mind with his band Beasts & Machines.

SOFIA LAZOPOULOU of Ilioupoli, Greece, is a voice teacher whose students have all earned Berklee scholarships.

IAN RAPIEN BM of Irvine, CA, released his album The Fountain, which contains seven original songs.

1 JESLYN GORMAN BM of Los An-

geles, CA, is a singer and dancer who has toured with Nick Jonas,

Earlier this year, DANIEL BEILMAN B.M. ’14 was named a quarterfinalist for the prestigious Music Educator Award from the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum. This recognition has been humbling and unexpected.

Growing up, Beilman dreamed of a career as a bassoonist. If he thought of teaching at all, it was as a means toward this end. But he’s found that helping students with disabilities achieve new milestones has been a gift beyond reckoning.

“It’s been the most incredible and fulfilling job I’ve ever had,” he says of his work at Oak Park School in Sarasota, Florida. “I had a student today who said his first five words. Ever. And he’s a junior in high school. Things like this happen all day, every day.”

Beilman uses music as a tool to help his students feel more comfortable with themselves and the world, which helps them build the confidence they sometimes lack.

“Allowing music to be a form of communication, a way of learning how to speak or hear, is truly special,” he says, adding that music has been a big part of his recovery from a car accident that left him temporarily unable to do either.

When Beilman graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, he

was on track to having the life of his dreams.

He was traveling the world to play with orchestras, teaching in cities across Europe, and writing new music with ambitious composers. But in the spring of 2020, while driving to a hike, he lost control of the wheel. His car flipped and turned his world completely upside down.

In a movie of his life, this would be where the flashback montage happens. Beilman at six: stealing his sister’s clarinet and playing along to The Lion King soundtrack. In middle school: falling in love with the bassoon after seeing a Disney commercial in which a young girl plays the “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and her toys spring to life. At the Conservatory: staying up into the small hours playing with his classmates. In his mid-20s: pinching himself as he sits in with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker.

When Beilman woke up in the hospital, the fear he felt was literally unspeakable. In and out of medically induced comas, he couldn’t see, hear, or move. After stabilizing, he endured extensive facial reconstructive surgery, with over 60 implants and more grafts than he can remember. After his release, 21 days later, he realized that his journey to recovery had just

Alumni Spotlight Daniel Beilman begun. With the horrific behind him, what lay ahead was merely awful.

Over the next six months, his hearing and sight slowly returned.

To relearn how to use his facial muscles, he said his ABCs again and again, exaggerating each letter, and slowly regained his ability to speak. For almost two years, he couldn’t bring himself to even dream of playing his bassoon.

“My doctors said that if I blew too hard, a lot of things could happen,” he says. “So I was hesitant.”

He’s playing again now, though. And while he’s not at the same level

he was at before the accident, he’s still able to find the joy that drove him to the instrument and to music—the same joy he loves seeing in the faces of his students.

And he’s discovered a deep well of sympathy has opened inside him after his experience of being deaf and blind. “I get sad and emotional if I think about not playing and performing again,” he says. But now, no longer playing just for himself, he lives with a profound sense of purpose.

43 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

Hitting Her Groove Since graduating a decade ago, bassist Alissia Benveniste has been exploring collaborations with legends and forging new creative connections. BY MAURA JOHNSTON

ALISSIA BENVENISTE BM ’14

had a lot of buzz surrounding her when she graduated from Berklee.

The producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist had already been gathering attention for bringing funk to a new generation while pursuing her bass major. Then, she says, “everything snowballed very quickly” once she graduated.

She began putting videos on YouTube of

44 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

her playing bass, and people took notice.

Prince called; so did Bootsy Collins. “A lot of labels just immediately wanted to sign me. It was very overwhelming,” she recalls. But she kept her head about herself and resisted anyone’s attempts to place her into a box. “I was very grounded,” she says. “I was always careful to make sure that I stood on my ground and really let them know,

Alumni Spotlight Alissia Benveniste

‘No, this is what I do. I love to produce. I love to be in the studio.’”

That keen sense of self has helped Benveniste become an in-demand producer and songwriter. The Collins call led to her working with the funk legend on his 2017 album World Wide Funk, and she’s since compiled a laundry list of credits as a bassist and a producer, getting in the studio with a slew of top-tier artists like Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, and Anderson .Paak. In 2017, she opened her studio, the Spaceship, in New York. She’s flaunted her ability to simultaneously make beats and shed bass at venues around the globe. And, in 2023, she earned her first Grammy nomination when Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, which features Benveniste’s songwriting and production work on the glittery “Heart Without the Heartbreak,” was a contender for Album of the Year.

Benveniste’s collaborative talents also extend to her Boogie Nights events, which came about after she saw the connections she was fostering between artists, DJs, designers, and other creatives both in and out of the studio.

“I was like, ‘We need a place that includes all these creatives for them to connect,’” she says, adding that she was looking for something

that wasn’t an event where people are paid and have a job to do.

“We just need a place where everybody can come, can dance, can have fun, but… [where] creatives can also connect with each other.”

Her talents for making connections and studio magic are going to come to full bloom on her forthcoming album, which, she says, will be collaboration-heavy.

“I didn’t want to limit myself to only work on something of mine,” she said. “When someone has a vision, I love to help them make it come to life.” Benveniste looked at star-studded albums by the likes of Harris and Ronson and realized that not a lot of female producers had released similar projects—so she was going to take control and not only execute her vision but also show off her evolution as an artist. “I love hearing certain artists on different types of songs and trying to see what comes out of it,” she said. “It’s also a new phase that I’m entering musically.”

Despite leaving Berklee a decade ago, Benveniste’s drive to gain enlightenment and understanding from each one of her experiences and connections has only grown stronger. “There’s always something to learn,” she says. “You take that knowledge, and you develop it and make it your own.”

NITIN MURALIKRISHNA MM ’16

of Chennai, India, won the 2023 Best Independent Song Recording, Mixing, and Mastering Award by the Indian Recording Arts Academy for the song “Mayflower” by Easy Wanderlings.

1 DINA RIZVIĆ PDM ’14 of Wembley, England, was nominated for a

Hollywood Independent Music Award for the third consecutive year.

Meghan Trainor, Rita Ora, Jason Derulo, and Taylor Swift.

BEATRIZ MACIAS BM of Baytown,

TX, was appointed principal flutist of the Estonian National Opera.

2011 SANTIAGO ABADÍA MM of Madrid, Spain, won first place at the 2024 Miquel Llobet International Guitar Competition of Barcelona for his work “Tríptico de la Luz” (“Triptych of Light”).

NATASHA KOJIC of Los Angeles, CA, is recording an album and working on the animated film Groove Tails, starring Jamie Foxx and Dave Bautista.

2012 KESTUTIS DAUGIRDAS PDM of

Burr Ridge, IL, performed his original works at the centennial Lithuanian Song Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania.

2013 BOBBY VILLARREAL BM of Van Nuys, CA, composed the score and themes for the series DORA, now streaming on Paramount+

and based on Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer.

2014 FABIO ROJAS GONZALEZ BM of

Queens, NY, released his debut album, Perseverance, this fall.

5 MANDI DANIELLE KITCHEN BM ’11 of Salt Lake City, UT, is a

published songwriter whose songs have been featured on albums produced by Warner Music, Ultra Music Publishing, and Artisjus Pro. Kitchen has also worked in music education for over 10 years.

2015 GUIDO ARCELLA DIEZ MM of Méri-

da, Mexico, runs Arcella Sound, which handled the audio for the video game The Karate Kid: Street Rumble; composed the music for the film Skelly, starring Brian Cox; and was involved in the music, sound, and mixing for the award-winning commercial “NFL Orígenes.”

TIMOTHY LEONELLI BM ’12, MM of Abington, MA, is on the brass staff team for the 21-time Drum Corps International world champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Concord, CA. Leonelli is also music supervisor and brass arranger at Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps, based in

Austin, TX. 2016 JOSEPH OYELADE of London, England, plays tenor sax for Burna Boy.

2017 JESSIE COX BM of Cambridge, MA, had his first monograph, Sounds of Black Switzerland, published by Duke University Press. He also began a position as assistant professor of music at Harvard University.

JONATHAN SANSON BM of Fort Worth, TX, received his master’s degree from the University of North Texas in 2020.

2018 SEBASTIAN KUCHCZYŃSKI MM of Miami, FL, began a doctoral program in jazz studies at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.

45 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

Hitting Her Groove Since graduating a decade ago, bassist Alissia Benveniste has been exploring collaborations with legends and forging new creative connections. BY MAURA JOHNSTON

ALISSIA BENVENISTE BM ’14

had a lot of buzz surrounding her when she graduated from Berklee.

The producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist had already been gathering attention for bringing funk to a new generation while pursuing her bass major. Then, she says, “everything snowballed very quickly” once she graduated.

She began putting videos on YouTube of

44 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

her playing bass, and people took notice.

Prince called; so did Bootsy Collins. “A lot of labels just immediately wanted to sign me. It was very overwhelming,” she recalls. But she kept her head about herself and resisted anyone’s attempts to place her into a box. “I was very grounded,” she says. “I was always careful to make sure that I stood on my ground and really let them know,

Alumni Spotlight Alissia Benveniste

‘No, this is what I do. I love to produce. I love to be in the studio.’”

That keen sense of self has helped Benveniste become an in-demand producer and songwriter. The Collins call led to her working with the funk legend on his 2017 album World Wide Funk, and she’s since compiled a laundry list of credits as a bassist and a producer, getting in the studio with a slew of top-tier artists like Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, and Anderson .Paak. In 2017, she opened her studio, the Spaceship, in New York. She’s flaunted her ability to simultaneously make beats and shed bass at venues around the globe. And, in 2023, she earned her first Grammy nomination when Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, which features Benveniste’s songwriting and production work on the glittery “Heart Without the Heartbreak,” was a contender for Album of the Year.

Benveniste’s collaborative talents also extend to her Boogie Nights events, which came about after she saw the connections she was fostering between artists, DJs, designers, and other creatives both in and out of the studio.

“I was like, ‘We need a place that includes all these creatives for them to connect,’” she says, adding that she was looking for something

that wasn’t an event where people are paid and have a job to do.

“We just need a place where everybody can come, can dance, can have fun, but… [where] creatives can also connect with each other.”

Her talents for making connections and studio magic are going to come to full bloom on her forthcoming album, which, she says, will be collaboration-heavy.

“I didn’t want to limit myself to only work on something of mine,” she said. “When someone has a vision, I love to help them make it come to life.” Benveniste looked at star-studded albums by the likes of Harris and Ronson and realized that not a lot of female producers had released similar projects—so she was going to take control and not only execute her vision but also show off her evolution as an artist. “I love hearing certain artists on different types of songs and trying to see what comes out of it,” she said. “It’s also a new phase that I’m entering musically.”

Despite leaving Berklee a decade ago, Benveniste’s drive to gain enlightenment and understanding from each one of her experiences and connections has only grown stronger. “There’s always something to learn,” she says. “You take that knowledge, and you develop it and make it your own.”

NITIN MURALIKRISHNA MM ’16

of Chennai, India, won the 2023 Best Independent Song Recording, Mixing, and Mastering Award by the Indian Recording Arts Academy for the song “Mayflower” by Easy Wanderlings.

1 DINA RIZVIĆ PDM ’14 of Wembley, England, was nominated for a

Hollywood Independent Music Award for the third consecutive year.

Meghan Trainor, Rita Ora, Jason Derulo, and Taylor Swift.

BEATRIZ MACIAS BM of Baytown,

TX, was appointed principal flutist of the Estonian National Opera.

2011 SANTIAGO ABADÍA MM of Madrid, Spain, won first place at the 2024 Miquel Llobet International Guitar Competition of Barcelona for his work “Tríptico de la Luz” (“Triptych of Light”).

NATASHA KOJIC of Los Angeles, CA, is recording an album and working on the animated film Groove Tails, starring Jamie Foxx and Dave Bautista.

2012 KESTUTIS DAUGIRDAS PDM of

Burr Ridge, IL, performed his original works at the centennial Lithuanian Song Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania.

2013 BOBBY VILLARREAL BM of Van Nuys, CA, composed the score and themes for the series DORA, now streaming on Paramount+

and based on Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer.

2014 FABIO ROJAS GONZALEZ BM of

Queens, NY, released his debut album, Perseverance, this fall.

5 MANDI DANIELLE KITCHEN BM ’11 of Salt Lake City, UT, is a

published songwriter whose songs have been featured on albums produced by Warner Music, Ultra Music Publishing, and Artisjus Pro. Kitchen has also worked in music education for over 10 years.

2015 GUIDO ARCELLA DIEZ MM of Méri-

da, Mexico, runs Arcella Sound, which handled the audio for the video game The Karate Kid: Street Rumble; composed the music for the film Skelly, starring Brian Cox; and was involved in the music, sound, and mixing for the award-winning commercial “NFL Orígenes.”

TIMOTHY LEONELLI BM ’12, MM of Abington, MA, is on the brass staff team for the 21-time Drum Corps International world champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Concord, CA. Leonelli is also music supervisor and brass arranger at Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps, based in

Austin, TX. 2016 JOSEPH OYELADE of London, England, plays tenor sax for Burna Boy.

2017 JESSIE COX BM of Cambridge, MA, had his first monograph, Sounds of Black Switzerland, published by Duke University Press. He also began a position as assistant professor of music at Harvard University.

JONATHAN SANSON BM of Fort Worth, TX, received his master’s degree from the University of North Texas in 2020.

2018 SEBASTIAN KUCHCZYŃSKI MM of Miami, FL, began a doctoral program in jazz studies at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.

45 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

Final Cadence

MIKE CASEY MM of Glendale, CA, released Valencia, his ninth album, which he wrote and recorded five years ago while a student at Berklee Valencia. It was inspired by the otherworldly architecture of the City of Arts & Sciences, which houses the Valencia campus.

HILDUR MARAL HAMÍÐSDÓTTIR MM

1 LAWRENCE LAVALE HANCOCK

MM ’22 of Detroit, MI, released his 10th studio album, the gospel record See Me Through.

2019 THORLEIFUR GAUKUR DAVIDSSON PDM of Nashville, TN, released a

record with OPIA Community, a label under Universal led by Ólafur Arnalds in collaboration with three Berklee alumni.

of Copenhagen, Denmark, is managing director of a new venture, OPIA Community, cofounded with Grammy-nominated artist Ólafur Arnalds.

2020 EMILY HESLER BM of Uppsala,

Sweden, is a voiceover designer at MachineGames. She edited, mixed, and implemented the dialogue in its newly released Indiana Jones game.

GRACE LOWE BM of Thurmont, MD,

toured with the Weeknd, Fall Out Boy, Weezer, Suga/Agust D of BTS, and the band Camino as a VIP coordinator. She toured Europe with Smashing Pumpkins in the summer of 2024 and with Green Day in the fall of 2024.

3 KELLY L. RILEY BM of Lynn, MA,

opened for the Steve Miller Band at a sold-out show at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium. Her video for “Let’s Jump in the Grass” has been nominated as Video of the Year by the International Singer-Songwriter Association Awards.

2021 AURORA DE LUCIA BM of Los Angeles, CA, edited her 1,000th episode of television. She’s worked on The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, Project Runway: Threads, Dancing with the Stars, Living with the Jacksons, and more.

DIMITRIOS PAPAVASILEIOU PDM of Los Angeles CA, is working fulltime as a singer-songwriter and is on his second tour.

2022 NICOLLE HORBATH BM of New York, NY, was nominated for two Latin Grammys, in the Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter Album categories.

MICHAEL AARON SARNA MM of Glendale, IL, established a partnership between the band Grouplove and local coffee roaster Cartel Roasting, utilizing a model taught in a music marketing course at Berklee.

2023 TYLER MATOS of Glen Ridge, NJ, is coordinator of commercial partnerships at Columbia Records.

FELITA KEZIA CHANDRA BM ’21 of Jakarta, Indonesia,

is involved in the musical theater industry and composed a full-scale musical theater production.

LILLIAN MCKENZIE BM of Los An-

geles, CA, had her professional theater debut as part of the cast of What Do I Do with All This Heritage?, a show about Asian Jews, produced by the Braid in collaboration with LUNAR Collective.

DEAN BROWN BM ’77 of San Diego, CA, died January 26. He was 68.

A virtuoso jazz and rock guitarist who enjoyed a five-decade career over which he earned several Grammy nominations, Brown played with Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, and many others. He also released five successful solo albums. He leaves his wife of 40 years, Ruth.

RICHARD ABATH ’89 of Brattleboro, VT, died February 23. He was 57. A teacher’s aide in Vermont, Abath was one of the night watchmen on duty during the 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He leaves his wife, Diana; sister, Kathy; brother, Jim; and two children.

RHETT C. TYLER ’73 of Hudson, NY, died March 12. He was 72. A guitarist, Tyler had independently recorded and released several albums and was part of the band Early Warning. He also performed at many prominent festivals and venues, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Society Blues Fest, Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival, and others.

PAUL ALBERTA B.M. ’63, M.M. ’81 of Medfield, MA, died March 30.

He was 82. Alberta worked in music education at Norwood Public Schools, mostly as direc-

46 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

tor of music and fine arts, from 1963 to 2002. He leaves his wife, Doris; children, Donna, Kathleen, Deborah, Paul, and Kerry; several grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

BOB WINTER ’52 of Chestnut Hill, MA, died May 14. He was 90. A professor emeritus of Berklee’s Piano Department, Winter was a Berklee faculty member for more than 50 years, teaching through last spring. He was also a longtime member of the Boston Pops orchestra under John Williams and others. He leaves his wife, Leah; his son, Paul; and his brother, Jerrold.

DAVE O’BRIEN of Saugus, MA, died June 21. He was 41. A multimedia support consultant in Berklee’s Academic Technology Facilities Department, O’Brien had worked for Berklee since 2016. He leaves his mother, Celia; sisters, Erin and Catherine; and former wife, Melissa.

MICHAEL HESLIN BFA ’11 of West Hol-

lywood, CA, died unexpectedly July 2 after a heart attack. He was 35. A musical theater major, Heslin’s career began with the national tour of War Horse. He also appeared on television shows and was costar of the Amazon Prime’s series The Influencers. He leaves

LAWRENCE MONROE ’69 of Brookline, MA, died July 1. He was 84. Berklee’s former vice president of International Programs, Monroe worked at the college for more than 40 years, until his retirement in 2014, profoundly affecting its development and trajectory during his time as a faculty member, a curriculum developer, and an upper-level administrator.

Monroe first came to Berklee as a student in 1962 and was later instrumental in establishing the college’s second campus in Valencia, Spain, in 2011. He leaves his wife of 58 years, Rita, and son, Joshua.

his husband, Scotty; parents, John and Geriann; and siblings, Andrew, Timmy, and Anna. A brother, Robert, died before him.

ROBERT G. SCOTT BM ’97 of Burlington, Canada, died from a sudden heart attack on July 28. He was 48. Scott performed and collaborated with notable artists, including Michael Bublé. He was also a piano and composition teacher, and taught JP Saxe. He leaves his

wife, Mirela; their son, Ronan; and his parents, Linda and Alan.

PETER YOUNG BM ’92 of Andover, MA, died August 13 after a short illness. He was 61. Young was a flutist and guitarist who studied composition at Berklee and went on to perform improv in Boston and New York City. He leaves his parents, Henry and Christine; sisters, Jennifer, Ellen, and Elizabeth; and a niece.

47 P h o t o g r a p h b y K E L LY D A V I D S O N

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Pulse

Final Cadence

MIKE CASEY MM of Glendale, CA, released Valencia, his ninth album, which he wrote and recorded five years ago while a student at Berklee Valencia. It was inspired by the otherworldly architecture of the City of Arts & Sciences, which houses the Valencia campus.

HILDUR MARAL HAMÍÐSDÓTTIR MM

1 LAWRENCE LAVALE HANCOCK

MM ’22 of Detroit, MI, released his 10th studio album, the gospel record See Me Through.

2019 THORLEIFUR GAUKUR DAVIDSSON PDM of Nashville, TN, released a

record with OPIA Community, a label under Universal led by Ólafur Arnalds in collaboration with three Berklee alumni.

of Copenhagen, Denmark, is managing director of a new venture, OPIA Community, cofounded with Grammy-nominated artist Ólafur Arnalds.

2020 EMILY HESLER BM of Uppsala,

Sweden, is a voiceover designer at MachineGames. She edited, mixed, and implemented the dialogue in its newly released Indiana Jones game.

GRACE LOWE BM of Thurmont, MD,

toured with the Weeknd, Fall Out Boy, Weezer, Suga/Agust D of BTS, and the band Camino as a VIP coordinator. She toured Europe with Smashing Pumpkins in the summer of 2024 and with Green Day in the fall of 2024.

3 KELLY L. RILEY BM of Lynn, MA,

opened for the Steve Miller Band at a sold-out show at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium. Her video for “Let’s Jump in the Grass” has been nominated as Video of the Year by the International Singer-Songwriter Association Awards.

2021 AURORA DE LUCIA BM of Los Angeles, CA, edited her 1,000th episode of television. She’s worked on The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, Project Runway: Threads, Dancing with the Stars, Living with the Jacksons, and more.

DIMITRIOS PAPAVASILEIOU PDM of Los Angeles CA, is working fulltime as a singer-songwriter and is on his second tour.

2022 NICOLLE HORBATH BM of New York, NY, was nominated for two Latin Grammys, in the Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter Album categories.

MICHAEL AARON SARNA MM of Glendale, IL, established a partnership between the band Grouplove and local coffee roaster Cartel Roasting, utilizing a model taught in a music marketing course at Berklee.

2023 TYLER MATOS of Glen Ridge, NJ, is coordinator of commercial partnerships at Columbia Records.

FELITA KEZIA CHANDRA BM ’21 of Jakarta, Indonesia,

is involved in the musical theater industry and composed a full-scale musical theater production.

LILLIAN MCKENZIE BM of Los An-

geles, CA, had her professional theater debut as part of the cast of What Do I Do with All This Heritage?, a show about Asian Jews, produced by the Braid in collaboration with LUNAR Collective.

DEAN BROWN BM ’77 of San Diego, CA, died January 26. He was 68.

A virtuoso jazz and rock guitarist who enjoyed a five-decade career over which he earned several Grammy nominations, Brown played with Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, and many others. He also released five successful solo albums. He leaves his wife of 40 years, Ruth.

RICHARD ABATH ’89 of Brattleboro, VT, died February 23. He was 57. A teacher’s aide in Vermont, Abath was one of the night watchmen on duty during the 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He leaves his wife, Diana; sister, Kathy; brother, Jim; and two children.

RHETT C. TYLER ’73 of Hudson, NY, died March 12. He was 72. A guitarist, Tyler had independently recorded and released several albums and was part of the band Early Warning. He also performed at many prominent festivals and venues, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Society Blues Fest, Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival, and others.

PAUL ALBERTA B.M. ’63, M.M. ’81 of Medfield, MA, died March 30.

He was 82. Alberta worked in music education at Norwood Public Schools, mostly as direc-

46 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

tor of music and fine arts, from 1963 to 2002. He leaves his wife, Doris; children, Donna, Kathleen, Deborah, Paul, and Kerry; several grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

BOB WINTER ’52 of Chestnut Hill, MA, died May 14. He was 90. A professor emeritus of Berklee’s Piano Department, Winter was a Berklee faculty member for more than 50 years, teaching through last spring. He was also a longtime member of the Boston Pops orchestra under John Williams and others. He leaves his wife, Leah; his son, Paul; and his brother, Jerrold.

DAVE O’BRIEN of Saugus, MA, died June 21. He was 41. A multimedia support consultant in Berklee’s Academic Technology Facilities Department, O’Brien had worked for Berklee since 2016. He leaves his mother, Celia; sisters, Erin and Catherine; and former wife, Melissa.

MICHAEL HESLIN BFA ’11 of West Hol-

lywood, CA, died unexpectedly July 2 after a heart attack. He was 35. A musical theater major, Heslin’s career began with the national tour of War Horse. He also appeared on television shows and was costar of the Amazon Prime’s series The Influencers. He leaves

LAWRENCE MONROE ’69 of Brookline, MA, died July 1. He was 84. Berklee’s former vice president of International Programs, Monroe worked at the college for more than 40 years, until his retirement in 2014, profoundly affecting its development and trajectory during his time as a faculty member, a curriculum developer, and an upper-level administrator.

Monroe first came to Berklee as a student in 1962 and was later instrumental in establishing the college’s second campus in Valencia, Spain, in 2011. He leaves his wife of 58 years, Rita, and son, Joshua.

his husband, Scotty; parents, John and Geriann; and siblings, Andrew, Timmy, and Anna. A brother, Robert, died before him.

ROBERT G. SCOTT BM ’97 of Burlington, Canada, died from a sudden heart attack on July 28. He was 48. Scott performed and collaborated with notable artists, including Michael Bublé. He was also a piano and composition teacher, and taught JP Saxe. He leaves his

wife, Mirela; their son, Ronan; and his parents, Linda and Alan.

PETER YOUNG BM ’92 of Andover, MA, died August 13 after a short illness. He was 61. Young was a flutist and guitarist who studied composition at Berklee and went on to perform improv in Boston and New York City. He leaves his parents, Henry and Christine; sisters, Jennifer, Ellen, and Elizabeth; and a niece.

47 P h o t o g r a p h b y K E L LY D A V I D S O N

B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

Finale

Showstopper E V E N T : Le Nit de

Berklee

D AT E : July 8, 2023 L O C AT I O N : Auditori of

the Palau de les Arts in València, Spain T H E S K I N N Y:

Cecilia Barra MM ’23 performs Lianne La Havas’s “Unstoppable” at Berklee Valencia’s commencement concert.

48 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

P h o t o g r a p h b y TAT O B A E Z A

Finale

Showstopper E V E N T : Le Nit de

Berklee

D AT E : July 8, 2023 L O C AT I O N : Auditori of

the Palau de les Arts in València, Spain T H E S K I N N Y:

Cecilia Barra MM ’23 performs Lianne La Havas’s “Unstoppable” at Berklee Valencia’s commencement concert.

48 B E R K L E E TO D AY F/ W 2 4

P h o t o g r a p h b y TAT O B A E Z A

BERKLEE TODAY 1140 BOYLSTON STREET MS-855 EXA BOSTON, MA 02215-3693

“There’s room for everybody in country music.”

SE E PAG E 16

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