Professorship Established by Generous Support From The Herb Alpert Foundation

BOSTON, December 1, 2002 — This month, jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny, the winner of fourteen Grammy Awards, began his appointment as a Herb Alpert Visiting Professor at Berklee College of Music. Metheny, who was on the Berklee faculty in the mid-1970s and received an honorary doctorate of music from the college in 1996, is the third Herb Alpert Visiting Professor, following the previously appointed pianist/composer Alan Broadbent '69 and bassist Abe Laboriel, Sr. '72, both Berklee alumni.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us. Pat Metheny hosting an improvisation clinic Justin Allardyce Knight Photos

The Alpert Professorship was established in 2000 with the support of the Herb Alpert Foundation, the philanthropic organization launched by A&M Records cofounder and seven-time Grammy-winning recording artist Herb Alpert. Alpert received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee in 2000. The Alpert Visiting Professorship Program brings to Berklee a steady stream of world-class performance and music industry leaders. Each year, a person who has achieved major recognition as a performer or prominent figure in the music industry will be appointed Herb Alpert Visiting Professor, agreeing to a three-year commitment to Berklee, for two weeks each academic year.

As a member of Berklee's board of overseers, Herb Alpert has had an important advisory role with the college and was in a position to recognize the benefits of extending — and deepening — the communication between visiting artists and Berklee. The Alpert Professorship reflects Alpert's view that students will benefit tremendously if given the opportunity to interact with the masters of the music industry.

Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 12, 1954, into a musical family. Starting on trumpet at the age of 8, he switched to guitar at age 12, and by the age of 15, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in Kansas City. Metheny burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year stint with vibraphone great (now Berklee Executive Vice President) Gary Burton, Metheny already displayed his soon-to-become trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation, customarily reserved for horn players, with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility — a way of playing and improvising that was modern in conception but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues. With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life (1975), he reinvented the traditional "jazz guitar" sound for a new generation of players.

During Pat Metheny's concert with College Executive Vice President, Gary Burton, at the Berklee Performance Center Farnsworth Blaylock Photos

Throughout his career, Pat Metheny has continued to re-define the genre by utilizing new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. Years before the invention of MIDI technology, Metheny was using the Synclavier as a composing tool. He also has been instrumental in the development of several new kinds of guitars, such as the soprano acoustic guitar, and a variety of other custom instruments. Over the years, Metheny has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento, and David Bowie, and has been part of a writing team with keyboardist Lyle Mays for more than twenty years. His body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical.

Metheny has also participated in the academic arena. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. At 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where he also received an honorary doctorate more than twenty years later (1996). He has taught music workshops all over the world, from the Dutch Royal Conservatory, to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz, to clinics in Asia and South America.

Pat Metheny meeting with a student after the clinic Justin Allardyce Knight Photos

Metheny has won countless polls as "Best Jazz Guitarist" and awards, including three gold records for (Still Life) Talking, Letter from Home, and Secret Story. He has also won fourteen Grammy Awards spread out over a variety of different categories including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, and Best Instrumental Composition. The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented seven consecutive Grammies for seven consecutive albums.

Herb Alpert

An extraordinary musician, Herb Alpert's trumpet playing has earned him seven Grammy Awards, fifteen gold albums, fourteen platinum albums, and five #1 hits. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass propelled Latino music into the pop music limelight, at one point outselling the Beatles two to one. His recent recording Herb Alpert and Colors, co-produced with Will Calhoun '86 and Doug Wimbish, received a 1999 Grammy nomination.

Through their commitment to artists with personal vision, Alpert and his partner Jerry Moss guided A&M Records from a humble Hollywood garage operation into the largest independently owned record company in the world. Great performers such as Carole King, Cat Stevens, Styx, Supertramp, The Carpenters, Sting, and Janet Jackson were evidence of the consistent quality and diversity of the A&M records roster.

Herb Alpert has utilized his gifts and drive to explore other artistic avenues. During the last two decades, Alpert has emerged as a critically acclaimed abstract expressionist painter and sculptor, exhibiting internationally. He has also chosen to involve himself in the world of Broadway theatre. His producing credits include the Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize winning production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. He has also co-produced Jelly's Last Jam, Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, and August Wilson's Seven Guitars.

Alpert's most serious contribution may yet be his most important. The Herb Alpert Foundation assists educational and arts programs dedicated to the training of young people, helping them to discover their own potential and unique energy. An example of the Foundation's work is the 1998 bequest rededicating Berklee's Stan Getz Media Center and Library to the memory of master saxophonist Getz. Alpert joined the college's Board of Overseers in 1999.

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing 70 plus countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.

For more information, please contact:

Toni Ballard
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2247 or tballard@berklee.edu