NEWS ARTICLES | PRESS RELEASES | PRESS HITS

John Blackwell's Labor of Love
Alumnus John Blackwell, drummer in Prince's band, brings together a band of talented musicians in a concert honoring his daughter, Jia, who drowned last summer. Read the Boston Globe's feature story and accompanying Q&A with the performers. Read more about the concert, 4 Ever in Our Hearts: A Tribute to Jia Kennie Blackwell, which will be held December 11, 2004. (December 2004)

The Music Man
Just prior to his inauguration, President Roger Brown discusses the experiences that led him to Berklee, how music can change the world, and Ashlee Simpson's lip-synching. Read Tamara Wieder's interview in the Boston Phoenix. (November 26, 2004)

Taking Music Technology to the Masses
Turkey-born alumnus Doruk Somunkiran studied jazz and arranging at Berklee a few years ago, but he's making a name for himself these days with a software program that gives all music lovers chances to create their own musical arrangements. Read a lengthy story in the Boston Phoenix. (November 5, 2004)

Out of Ethiopia
Alumnus Mulato Astatke traveled from Ethiopia to study at Berklee in the late 1950s and returns this week to perform with the innovative Boston jazz ensemble, Either/Orchestra. Read a concert preview in the Boston Globe. (November 5, 2004)

The Big Guitar Sound of Rick Peckham
Berklee's assistant chair of guitar is getting rave reviews for his new CD, Left End, an electrifying set of instrumental rock that fuses Zeppelin and Monk, among other influences. Listen to a review and profile that ran on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday. (October 24, 2004) NPR requires that you listen to its audio archives with either RealPlayer or WindowsMedia Player. Go to NPR's audio help page if you have questions.

Mentoring the Young Ones
Success stories abound in Berklee's mentoring program. Just a few days before the Encore Gala, which benefits such programs, read more about mentoring and City Music in the Boston Globe. (October 24, 2004)

Big Band Rebel
Jazz composition professor Greg Hopkins and his concert jazz orchestra kick off the 2004 Song's Nothing Conservatory About It Concert series. Read about Hopkins in the Boston Globe. (October 2004)

On a Stage of Her Own
Performing songwriter Melissa Ferrick came to Berklee with a trumpet but her fiery guitar style and independent approach are her calling cards now. Read about Ferrick and her new record in the Boston Globe. (October 16, 2004)

BT Goes Back to School
Brian Transeau (BT), who enjoyed refashioning synthesizers and computers when he was a Berklee student, visits the college for a week of master classes that run the gamut from D.J. technique to record production. The Boston Globe reports on his visit. (October 2, 2004). Read more in our press room...

Revival to Arrival: Gillian Welch '92 and David Rawlings '92
Two musicians who found each other at Berklee have been together ever since, creating music that bridges old time and new world. Read profiles of them in the New Yorker. (September 20, 2004)

Pride of Puerto Rico
Saxophonist Miguel Zenon, who graduated from Berklee in 1998, is one of New York's fastest rising jazz musicians. Read a profile in the Boston Globe. (September 3, 2004)

Berklee Great Gary Burton Retires
Grammy award-winning vibraphonist and retiring executive vice president Gary Burton leaves the college and begins the next chapter in his music career. Read a front-page profile in the Living/Arts section of the Boston Globe. (September 1, 2004)

Olympic Light Artist is a Berklee Professor
Music Production and Engineering faculty member Mitch Benoff put his visual and technical skills to use when he designed an award-winning light scuplture to brighten the sky during the just-completed Athens Olympics. Learn more about it by watching a story by New England Cable News (scroll down to headline, "High Tech Talent at Olympic Games," August 20, 2004) and reading a print piece in Mass High Tech (August 23, 2004).

Young Musicians Vie for Berklee Scholarships
We're near the end of the summer semester, and that means it's time for Berklee's annual City Music Blowout Concert, when students give a public concert and six of them learn they have won full-tuition scholarships to the college. Read a front-page Living/Arts story in the Boston Globe, (August 10, 2004)

Read a brief story listing the winners in the Boston Globe (August 11, 2004)

Father and Daughter Alumni Talk Technology
Frank Leva attended Berklee in the 1960s and his daughter Kerry is a current student, but they find common ground across music's technological divide. Read their story, and about Berklee's participation in MacWorld Boston in the MetroWest Daily News. (August 1, 2004)

Pianist and Former Faculty Member James Williams Passes Away
Jazz pianist and educator James Williams, who taught at Berklee in the 1970s and was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, dies at 53. Read an obituary in the New York Times, (free subscription) (July 21, 2004)

At Berklee, It's a Mac World
While students and faculty take center stage at this week's MacWorld Boston, students talk about how they use Macintosh-based products to make music. (July 12, 2004)

Guitarist Steps to Mic
Jazz guitarist Leni Stern comes to town with her latest songs, the product her recent evolution from instrumentalist to singer/songwriter. Read stories about this 1970s era alumna in the Boston Globe. (July 9, 2004)

Speaking through her Saxophone
Alumna Mindy Abair talks about her burgeoning career and learning by osmosis at Berklee. (July 7, 2004)

Berklee Group at Kennedy Center
A student jazz quartet performs at the Kennedy Center. Follow the link above to watch and listen to the set. (May 25, 2004)

Remembering John LaPorta
John LaPorta, modern jazz pioneer and longtime Berklee chair and faculty member, passed away on May 12. Read obituaries from the New York Times, (free subscription) the Boston Globe, and at All About Jazz. (May 15, 2004)

An Eye for Music
In an article on the Rule Broadcast Systems web site, Reggie Lofton, Berklee's associate director of video services, talks about the demands of chronicling Berklee's busy calendar of concerts and events. (May 14, 2004)

Berklee Scores Again
For the sixth straight year, Berklee students took home top honors in the John Lennon Scholarship Competition, sponsored by the BMI Foundation. (May 13, 2004)

Graduates Profiled
A story in the MetroWest Daily News (May 16, 2004) demonstrates the diversity and dedication of Berklee students.

A Different Drummer
Roger H. Brown, Berklee's president-elect, defies convention, follows his bliss, and finds himself the surprise choice to be the college's third executive leader in its history. Read an in-depth profile in the Boston Globe (March 10, 2004) You can also read about the challenge to raise money that Roger Brown and other newly hired college presidents face these days. In the Boston Business Journal (April 2, 2004).

Berklee Scratches into New Territory
Breaking new ground in music education once again, Berklee becomes the first music college in the world to incorporate the study of turntablism into its curriculum. Watch a CBS Sunday Morning feature, listen to a story that aired on NPR's All Things Considered and read stories in the New York Times (You can access the article for free after signing up for a password), Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and on the CNN website. (February and March 2004)

Berklee Introduces New President
A 16-month search for a new president ends as Berklee reveals its new leader: early childhood educator and entrepreneur Roger H. Brown. Read news coverage of Berklee's decision to name Brown, the founder of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, as its third president. In the Boston Globe and Boston Herald. (February 7, 2004)

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