Coincidental Visit Creates Innovative Educational Opportunity for College's Songwriting, Music Production & Engineering Students

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	Kathy Mattea

Berklee Songwriting department artist-in-residence Kathy Mattea will host a pitch session on Monday, September 26, and choose a student song, which she'll record Friday, September 30 at Berklee. Music Production & Engineering department visiting artist Elliot Scheiner and Herb Alpert Visiting Professor George Massenburg will work as a team to produce and record the track, while demonstrating their methods and procedures for students.

Kathy Mattea, whose new album, Right Out of Nowhere, will be released on September 27, 2005, is one of the most respected singer-songwriters and commercially successful hit-makers of her era. From her first hit, "Love At The Five And Dime," in 1986, to the emotional resonance of "Where've You Been" and affirmation of "Walking Away A Winner," Mattea has exuded the kind of class and integrity that fans, critics and peers can't help but embrace. Grammy and CMA Awards preceded the unabashed respect shown her more recent folk and Celtic-influenced offerings, giving her career an enviable foundation — a platform stable enough to support the continuing evolution displayed on her new album, which is a mix of original songs and thoughtfully reworked covers. The album only confirms Mattea's place as a true artist — equal parts vocals and voice.

In 1967, Elliot Scheiner started working as legendary producer Phil Ramone's assistant at A&R Recording in New York, where he quickly advanced to an engineer. Since then he has produced and engineered an eclectic plethora of talented artists such as Steely Dan, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Sting, Bruce Hornsby, The Eagles, B.B. King, Aerosmith, and many others. His talents have been recognized with 16 Grammy nominations, five of which he took home, two Emmy nominations, and three TEC award nominations. Scheiner, who has worked on recent CD releases by Faith Hill, Beck, and R.E.M., continues to be one of the most sought after producers and engineers in the industry. He is also one of the world's leading authorities on 5.1 Surround Sound mixing and DVD audio.

Legendary producer and sound engineer, George Massenburg has an impressive list of recording credits, which includes Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Little Feat, Lyle Lovett, Toto, The Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Randy Newman, and many others. He won Grammy Awards in 1990 for Ronstadt's Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind; and in 1996 as producer for her Dedicated to the One I Love. In 1998, he received the Grammy for Technical Achievement. Massenburg started his own electronics company, GML, Inc, in 1982, which has manufactured a number of devices crucial to the development of modern recording studios. He has also designed, and managed several recording studios, notably ITI Studios in Maryland and The Complex in Los Angeles.

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 over 70 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.

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Nick Balkin
Office of Public Information
(617) 747-2247
nbalkin@berklee.edu