Ensemble
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Nedelka Prescod, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"Your art and your talent are what you see life through, and are ultimately how you feel life. The most important thing is self-acceptance and ownership of that life, acknowledging the blessings along the way."
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John Paul, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"Keeping my students interested, informed, and inspired is key. In turn, I expect students to contribute stylistically, to be organized, enthusiastic, and responsible. It is my hope that their experience with me helps to provide them with the necessary tools for a rich and spirited musical life after college. One of my favorite quotes is, 'You can’t create a career for someone without talent and you can’t stop a career for someone who has it.'"
Chantel Hampton, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"As soon as I became a true student of music, I began to teach. I grew up in a family of musicians so it was somewhat inevitable that I would follow in their footsteps, regardless of how many times I said I was going to be an entertainment attorney! At the age of 14, I knew in my heart that life as a musician was the course for me. I asked my father to be my coach, and that's when my intense training began. Hard work, patience, faith, persistence, and pass-it-on are a few of the many character traits instilled into me as a young musician and that I try to practice to this day."
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Robert Gallegos, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department- B.M., Berklee College of Music
- Trumpeter
- Freelance musician
- Performances with Ray Charles, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the O'Jays, the Sam Rivers Orchestra, Mariachi Cobre with the Jacksonville Symphony, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ray Barretto, the Eguie Castrillo Latin Big Band, the Kenny Hadley Big Band, the Boston Pops, the U.S. Air Force Liberty Band, and others
- Recordings with the Eguie Castrillo Latin Big Band
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Paul Elmen, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"Some students have never played in a band before, and that can be difficult. That's why I always use a recording of the songs that we're playing, to give them an idea of what it is to play together if they haven't done that in the past. You listen to how it all works together. We listen to the drums, we listen to the bass, we listen to the accompanying instruments. That helps them get towards that goal of playing together. And sometimes it'll take a few weeks before it starts sounding musical. I always tell them, our goal is for a concert at the end of the semester. We're working towards that—it's a little carrot out there for them, so that they have something to really think about achieving."
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Jason Palmer, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I'm really into serial composition, improvisation based on numbers. We play songs based on sudoku games, just to get students to be able to recognize a chord structure. If they see a seven, then that means it's a seven in the scale. So it kind of connects their minds. The rules are, you can play one note, let's say the nine, as many times as you want, but you can't go to any other note except for, say, the six. So then they have to figure out what kind of rhythm they can add to the notes in order to make them sound like music instead of a robot. I did a commission about four or five years ago in New York, and I wrote a suite—two hours' worth of music-based on a sudoku game. It was great! It's fun. It's another way of thinking about music."
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Darren Barrett, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"My time at Berklee was extremely nurturing. The atmosphere was so inspiring, everyone working so hard to really be able to play at the highest level possible. Antonio Hart and I were roommates for a period, and did a lot of playing together, and grew together. In 1988, my curiosity was piqued by electronic music, programming, and synthesis. I dedicated time learning how to program drum machines and synthesizers, and started learning how to produce popular music."
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Alain Mallet, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department- Performances with Phil Woods, Paul Simon, Paquito D'Rivera, Marc Johnson, and Madeleine Peyroux
- Critically acclaimed producer for his work with Jonatha Brooke
- Original compositions have been recorded by jazz greats such as Gary Burton, Dave Samuels and Paquito D'Rivera
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Alonzo Harris, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I'm there to help my students become what they want to be, whatever that is. I think it's our job as teachers to try to provide options as much as we can, because you don't know what's out there. You like to sing, but don't really like to perform? Well, you could be a session singer. You like to write songs? You don't have to sing your own songs; you can write songs for other people and get a publishing deal. There are all kinds of things you can do to be a successful musician."
Read MoreMark Copeland, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department- B.M., Contemporary Writing and Production, Berklee College of Music
- Pianist, organist, and keyboardist
- Producer, composer, arranger, songwriter, and educator
- Performances with Al Jarreau, Kirk Whalum, Marcus Miller, George Duke, Bobby Lyle, Walter Beasley, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green, Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams, and more