BOSTON, December 9, 2002 — Berklee alumni David Van Slyke '82 and Gavin Lurssen '91 were honored at a reception on October 7, 2002, hosted by Berklee's Southern California Alumni Chapter in conjunction with the 113th Audio Engineering Society Convention in Los Angeles. The Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented by Rob Jaczko, acting chair, Music Production and Engineering Department. The event was produced by Peter Gordon, director, Berklee Center L.A

David Van Slyke graduated from Berklee in 1982, and soon joined the college's original Music Production and Editing department in 1983. He remained at the college until 1989, when he relocated to Los Angeles to further his professional sound design and editing career.

Leanne Summers, David Van Slyke, Peter Gordon, Gavin Lurssen, and Rob Jaczko.

Van Slyke's prolific career includes work with a number of high profile companies such as Sony, Paramount, and Post Logic. His film credits include Rob Roy, Coyote Ugly, My Best Friend's Wedding, Star Trek VIII: First Contact, and The Net. In 1992, Van Slyke collected an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, as a member of the sound editing team for the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula.

He has also amassed an impressive list of television credits including Nash Bridges, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and The X-files, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1996. The Golden Reel Awards, which are the highest measure of acclaim within the editing community, have also recognized Van Slyke's work. So far, he has received one award as well as nine nominations.

Gavin Lurssen, the son of a political journalist, moved from South Africa to the Washington, D.C., area, at age sixteen. An early interest in music led him to Berklee, where he received an education in both film scoring and music technology. Following graduation in 1991, Lurssen moved to Los Angeles to begin his career.

Before long, Lurssen was hired at The Mastering Lab, where he worked as a mastering engineer. During this time he worked on recordings with such notable artists as Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Leo Kottke, Bad Religion, P.O.D., and Blink 182. His latest mastering credits are Tom Waits' Blood Money, Ben Harper's Diamonds On The Inside, and the Soundtrack to the movie The Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

He has also remastered various albums and classic compilations including Marvin Gaye's box set The Master, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, Stevie Ray Vaughan's Couldn't Stand The Weather, and the entire Jackson Browne catalog re-issue series.

In February 2002, Lurssen was honored at the Grammys for his work on the Album Of The Year-winning soundtrack to the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. In addition, the multi-talented Lurssen has a recording contract with Zebra Records, which released his debut album of acoustic guitar instrumental music in May 1998.

About the Audio Engineering Society

The Audio Engineering Society, now in its fifth decade, is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology. Its membership of leading engineers, scientists, and other authorities has increased dramatically throughout the world, greatly boosting the society's stature and that of its members in a truly symbiotic relationship.

The AES serves its members, the industry, and the public by stimulating and facilitating advances in the constantly changing field of audio. It encourages and disseminates new developments through annual technical meetings and exhibitions of professional equipment, and through the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, the professional archival publication in the audio industry.

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:

Nicholas Balkin
Public Information Coordinator
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2750 or nbalkin@berklee.edu