"The Contemporary Writing and Production Department gives you the chance to be involved in a lot of different aspects of music. You write, you arrange, there's a lot of production, so it covers a lot. CWP will prepare you for a variety of different directions. As a guitarist who plays a variety of musical styles, I draw on my experience to teach real-life situations in my classes."
"Berklee is cutting edge. The students are just over the top in regards to their thoughts on production and music. They're just more contemporary, more apt to blend things that might not typically go together—they push the borders."
"I've been coproducing the CWP Student Concert for the last four years. Last night we had an hour meeting to talk about stage presence and rehearsal techniques. The thing I kept going back to is don't be afraid to talk in the rehearsal. Before you start conducting, discuss where the tough parts are going to be. Conducting a rehearsal, there's a technique to it, going in and being assertive, but being a director, not a dictator. You want to make the players comfortable. For several students, it's their last semester, and I think the concert is a nice last event to be involved in, representing their department. The whole experience of putting this concert together as a director is rewarding; it really lets you get to know the students at a different level."