Ensemble
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Bruno Raberg, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"The hallmark of a good bassist is knowing the foundation of both your own instrument and the music—understanding your own playing but also the role of your instrument within a group, how to interact and listen. In my teaching I make sure to cover all those aspects."
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Winston Maccow, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"What I try to get out my class is leaders. Everyone’s supposed to lead, everyone. I put people on the spot just to see how they’re paying attention to things. I’ll say, 'Okay, next week, I want you to lead.' Or I don’t even say that. I just say, 'You’re going to lead today.' In my class, you’re always on your toes. It’s the only way to develop leadership. You’ve got to be on your toes in the real world."
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Dennis Cecere, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I teach the ensemble that plays for the Song Demo Production class. Their goal for the semester is to sound like a band that's played together their whole life, from the first note to the last, the first time through. I don't allow them to see any of the music until they walk into the studio. I set it up like this: If you're going to become a studio musician, this is how it's going to happen, and this is how you're going to have to deal with it."
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Jetro Da Silva, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"A professional musician must approach gigs in a businesslike way. The thing is not only to get the call, but to get the call back. As a sideman, I am there to follow instructions from the music director and satisfy the artist. If I am the music director, my job is to make the artist comfortable and ensure that my team supports the artist musically and emotionally. I'm not there to jam. I do my job well, regardless of whether I am playing the easiest or the hardest piece of music. A true professional musician has the ability to play a triad, minor seven flat five chord, or even a sus sharp eleven with the same intensity."
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Bob Lada, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I've been teaching the Alexander Technique for the last 20 years. The Alexander Technique concerns itself with how you do what you do. We try to have you move as easily and freely as possible while making your music. We call that difference 'use': how you use yourself as an instrument. My belief is that the more you perform in a healthy manner, the better your sound will be. I've certainly seen it demonstrated."
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Brian "Raydar" Ellis, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"My whole goal with Hip-Hop Ensemble is to blur the line. Right now, the perception of hip-hop is a standoff. It really comes down to a debate over what a musician is. Some people think pushing buttons isn't being a musician, it's production. But there's validity in the music I'm making. I'll have students playing samples live, like an instrument, as if they were playing a piano. For me, a rapper with a DJ is not any different from someone singing and someone else playing a guitar. It's voice and an instrument."
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Kevin Barry, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I teach a contemporary styles ensembles. Over the course of the semester, we play everything from modern pop to straight-ahead jazz and everything in between. In ensemble playing, you need to be generous musically. You need to listen to the other people. You have to play like a team. If you're not playing as much for the other people in the group as for yourself, that's a problem. You have to have musical humility, to think about the song first. The song is the focus, not the guitar solo."
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Marcello Pellitteri, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"What I find exciting about teaching is the challenge of having people in class with different individual cultures, personalities, backgrounds, needs, and aspirations speak the same language in an ensemble. I stress to my students the importance of developing an awareness of their relationship with the rest of the band. I also help them develop strong rhythmic articulation and interpretation, depending on the style of music they are playing. At any level, they should be able to groove just by playing a few notes in the right way and putting them in the right place. My goal is to broaden their knowledge of diverse styles and to enhance their listening skills so that they can adapt their playing and react accordingly to any kind of musical situation."
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George Zonce, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"I play a lot in my ensembles. It teaches them to react to whatever's going on around them. A lot of them close off their ears. They're not really listening; they're just going through the motions. Then there are some kids that you run into that have big ears. We’ve got some really good kids here at Berklee."
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Carolyn Wilkins, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Ensemble Department"In a Berklee ensemble, you get to play with the same group of people for 15 weeks in a guided situation in which you're continually being monitored and mentored. We all go out and play gigs on our own. I do that myself, and that's one level of learning. But the kind of feedback that you get from being in the ensemble can help you see the things that you do well, don't do well, and how you can improve them. It's an educational experience, not just jamming and getting together."
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