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John Mulroy, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"As a teacher, I always demonstrate the pieces we're working on, and even record my playing in class so students can listen and give a critique. Of course, I have them do the same. I ask them to listen for a singing tone, crisp articulations, dynamic shading, a steady flow—in other words, a musical representation of the piece."
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Vadim Neselovskyi, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"This is not a music school for children. If you came to Berklee you obviously already have something that you want to do, and I'm curious about it. What I really enjoy about all my students is how different they are. I'm teaching the full day, and I get to teach Mozart, and then I get to talk about bebop, and then I get to talk about indie pop tunes. We cover the full body of music."
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Neil Olmstead, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"Musical ideas are nothing without technical ability. I often tell my students 'we play the piano with our entire body, not just our fingers and ears.' Our skeletal, muscular, and tendon structures work together and respond to each other in accord with the laws of nature as we play, regardless of whether it is jazz or classical music. I strive to help the pianist organize how the body moves, from the fingertip to the feet on the floor. This frees up the physical motions for greater facility, more beautiful tone, and deeper expression. It is a joyful moment when a student suddenly discovers how a motion in the forearm or torso will open up the sound or result in a new improvisational idea generated from deep in the subconscious."
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Ross Ramsay, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"Our students run the gamut from a 17-year-old right out of high school who's played in rock bands to someone who already has a master's degree in music and is a tremendous player in one style and comes here to learn another. It's the most extreme place I think that you can teach because of the variety of styles and the variety of students. I had a student who was 65 from Japan who just retired and decided that he wanted to come back to school and learn music."
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Tim Ray, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"One of the things I try to communicate to my students is the idea that when you're in school, you try to absorb as much as you can in terms of music and styles and just open yourself up to as broad a spectrum as you can. Because you never know when an opportunity will come along that's going to take your career in a different direction. That's what happened to me. When I was in college, I thought, 'I'll just be a jazz piano player,' and then all these other things came up. The next thing I know, I'm doing all these great things, traveling all over the world, playing with all these incredible musicians, but not necessarily playing jazz all the time. So I try to open myself up to all these different opportunities."
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Josh Rosen, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I encourage all my piano students to improvise, no matter what their style is. I want my students to develop an awareness and openness to different approaches, gain a better sense of what they want to express and how to do it, and develop 'bigger ears.' It's really important to get back to the essence of listening; it's the number one thing I stress as a player. Good dynamics, expression, and interaction all follow from that."
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Marc Rossi, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"Learning how to learn is very important: learning how to practice, how to be creative, how to organize ideas, how to finish things, how to get from point A to point B, how to take responsibility, and how to be aware of what you're doing. I also want to disabuse students of the notion that it's just about winning or losing. It's about doing something well and the pursuit of excellence."
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Ray Santisi, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"One of the hardest things to learn is to be instantly responsive, to complement what's being played spontaneously by the soloist. I remember learning that lesson early on with Charlie Parker. We were playing a session—the tune was 'I'll Remember April.' Being young, I thought I'd show off and play a lot of chords and stuff. Here I am with an icon, trying to show off, and he stops me cold with, 'Wait a minute. I want to be able to stop anywhere in this tune, and what you're playing should fit,' meaning that the harmony should be there."
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Suzanna Sifter, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"My teaching style is individually based on each student's particular musical needs rather than a one-size-fits-all teaching style. I listen to the student play, and assess his or her musical needs on various levels. Then we set goals at the beginning of the semester and follow through by checking in with those goals throughout the semester. It's really individualized. I think this interpersonal style, which includes talking and getting to know the person as well as the musician, can lead to greater exploration along the path of musical self discovery."
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Helen Sung, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department
"Here at Berklee I teach private lessons to piano majors. I'm very impressed with my students. They're all very gifted and from all over the world: Korea, Cuba, Sri Lanka, Canada, the U.S., etc. They each come from very different backgrounds and training, yet here they all are at Berklee wanting to learn more about jazz. This really speaks to the global impact of this great American art form."
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