Berklee Today
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| Professor Emeritus John Bavicchi celebrated his 80th birthday in April with a concert of his music and some cake | |
Assistant Professor Apostolos Paraskevas played June 11 at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall. Paraskevas presented his third and fourth guitar concertos and premiered works by Anthony Paul De Ritis with Lukas Foss conducting.
Professional Writing Division Dean Joseph Smith wrote vocal and string arrangements for alumna Leni Stern's new CD titled Finally the Rain Has Come. Guest artists on the disc include Bill Frisell, Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, and Michael Brecker.
Associate Professor and saxophonist Walter Beasley performed the national anthem at the second Boston Celtics NBA playoff game at Boston's Fleet Center.
Professor Wendy Rolfe played flute with New York's Concert Royal in J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion for the 25th anniversary of the New York Baroque Dance Company, and in the Boston premiere of C.P.E. Bach's St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Sir Christopher Hogwood.
Songs by Associate Professor Jimmy Kachulis have been included on such television shows as The Sopranos, Touched by an Angel, JAG, and All My Children, and several Showtime movies. MP&E Assistant Chair Dan Thompson produced tracks for Kachulis and Associate Professor Jon Aldrich contributed guitars and vocals.
Professor Greg Hopkins has released three CDs. Okavongo, on the Summit Records label, featurers his jazz orchestra. He also released a quintet CD in April and recorded the third CD with pianist Tim Ray's trio Tre Corda in May.
Songwriting Chair Jack Perricone, Associate Professor Henry Gaffney, and Assistant Professor John Stevens each made presentations at the College Music Society's annual East Coast meeting held at Berklee in April.
Woodwind Assistant Professor Jeff Harrington's book Blues Improvisation Complete, published by Berklee Press, is available in B-flat, E-flat, C, and bass clef editions.
Associate Professor Wayne Wild M.D. presented a paper at Harvard University titled, "Medicine-by-Post and Medical Ethics in Eighteenth-Century Private Practice."
A spring tour by Associate Professor and vocalist Lisa Thorson and her quartet included appearances at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and a residency at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas.
Associate Professor Chris Noyes, composer and theatrical sound designer, worked on Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine with director Patricia Sankus at Stonehill College. The production was a semifinalist in the American College Theater Festival this year.
Associate Professor Armsted Christian wrote two songs for Will Downing's new CD Sensual Journey. Last year he wrote songs for Downing's Grammy-nominated CD All the Man You Need. Christian also cowrote and sang the song "You Are Not Alone" for the AIDS documentary House on Fire.
Associate Professors Oscar Stagnaro and Mark Walker, along with Berklee alumni Pernell Saturnino '95, Dario Eskenazi '88, and Diego Urcola '90, all members of Paquito D'Rivera's quintet, earned Latin Grammy Awards for their work on D'Rivera's Live at the Blue Note CD.
Voice Professor Mili Bermejo's latest sextet CD Píenso el Sur, previously released in Mexico, is now available for purchase in the United States at www.milibermejo.com.
Associate Professor Dave Samuels released a new CD titled The Gathering for the Concord Picante label. He toured Europe, Istanbul, and Moscow with his group Caribbean Jazz Project.
Assistant Chair of Percussion Yoron Israel performed and presented a workshop for students in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in February. He plays around the country with the groups Organic and High Standards, and with various jazz artists.
Professor Pat Pattison is presenting songwriting seminars across the United States and Canada and once again spearheaded the annual Nashville trip for students in March.
Associate Professor Rod Morgenstein, drummer for Winger, is touring this summer on a bill with Poison, Cinderella, and Faster Pussycat. The Jelly Jam, a new Morgenstein CD project, features bassist John Myung (Dream Theater) and guitarist Ty Tabor (King's X). Morgenstein's book Drum Set Warm-Ups placed second in the 2002 Modern Drummer Readers Poll.
Associate Professor Michael Bierylo was interviewed in a February Mix magazine article about software synthesis.
Professor Peter Cokkinias played woodwinds in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Children's Corner Concert and for Fiddler on the Roof at Boston's Colonial Theater. He is also music director and conductor for the Greater Marlborough Symphony Orchestra.
In March, Professor Joe Coroniti traveled to China for lectures, faculty seminars at Dalian Maritime University, and workshops on English translations of the poetry of Po Chü-i.
Assistant Professor Mikael Ringquist is musical director and advisor to the composer for Orquesta la Pasion, the rhythm section for La Pasion Según San Marco written by Osvaldo Golijov.
Assistant Professor Harry Skoler penned an article to be included in a 10-volume book on the art of the clarinet by Gianluca Campagnolo and Rose Sperrazza.
Assistant Professor Sky Trauber joined the board of directors for the Mount Vernon [New York] Arts Initiative/Hip Hop Culture Gallery. He is also working with the Recording Artists Project at Harvard Law School to provide free and reasonably priced legal services to local artists.
Guitar Professor Charles Chapman was interviewed in the May issue of Just Jazz Guitar magazine and is writing an article on Canadian luthier Linda Manzer for Nuvo magazine.
Professor and conductor Julius P. Williams's composition Midnight Tolls: In Memoriam September 11, 2001 was heard at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Emerging Composers Readings in March. He is touring Europe conducting Verdi's Requiem in Venice, Vienna, Madrid, and Dubrovnik.
Associate Professor and guitarist Richie Hart released a CD entitled Timeless with his trio featuring drummer Joseph Corsello '64 and bassist Rick Petrone '69. George Benson and Michael Cuscuna produced the trio's next CD project.
Associate Professor Dr. Thomas L. Rhea produced 11 DVDs of film clips entitled "Electronics in the Film Score." Rhea digitized and edited material from 200 film clips in his collection.
Voice Associate Professor Kathryn Wright sang in Dora, a contemporary chamber opera written by Melissa Shiflett and Nancy Fales Garrett, in New York in April.
Professor and trumpeter Wayne Naus released Hidden from View, a new CD by his group Moksha. It features fellow faculty members Michael Farquharson (bass), Joe Mulholland (synth), Bob Schlink (Viatar), John DiSanto (drums), Dino Govoni (saxophone), and alumnus Berke McKelvey (atmospheres). MP&E staff member Vasshua Vassyuk produced it.
Associate Professor and jazz journalist Fred Bouchard went to Cape Town, South Africa, to write reviews for Down Beat and Bar and Beverage Business magazines. Bouchard also penned liner notes for CDs by Jay Clayton, George Shearing, and Assistant Professor Eduardo Tancredi.
Associate Professor Marc Rossi recently gave a performance and lecture on Miles Davis at Universita della Musica in Rome. Essex Chamber Music Players performed his his work A Dance to the Music of Being for flute, cello, piano, contrabass, and hand percussion in Essex, Natick, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.