Composition
 |
James Ricci, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"The beauty of composition is that you can essentially slow down time; you can focus all your energy and attention on a microsecond of music. In a sense, that gives you an equal playing field with some incredibly brilliant improvisers."
Read More |
Jeffrey Means, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"The technical situation in the classrooms is pretty remarkable. There’s not a live ensemble in most of the beginning classes that I teach, but there is a computer software program. The students tap along with the computer in a way that simulates performing on instruments, but it’s realistic enough that the student who’s conducting gets an experience that is relatively close to actual conducting without having the pressure of having a real ensemble there. And they can go on to conduct a live orchestra every week, which is not the case in a number of major conducting programs across the country. It’s really special. And the faculty is very strong, and they’re all active professionals. Berklee is really a very cool place to learn how to conduct."
Read More |
Eric Stern, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"In the classroom we try to explore leadership issues in conducting, as well as technical issues: the intangible qualities that allow an individual to convey his or her ideas to a group. Paramount are musical preparedness, physical practice, and expressive skills. We try to get everyone up on their feet every week, conducting me at the piano, as well as the NOTION playback software. It is particularly exciting when a student conductor takes a musical idea in a direction no one expected, choosing a different tempo or a different way of feeling a phrase. These moments bring together the elements of musicality and leadership with a satisfying clarity."
Read MoreDerek Hurst, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"My experience as a self-taught rock guitarist has undoubtedly influenced my work as a composer. I came to music through popular and rock avenues, and sidled into formal classical studies after seeing a performance of a Bach Lute Suite on guitar. I'd never seen a guitar do that, and my fate was sealed."
Read More |
Gregory Fritze, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"Students who get a composition degree learn how to write their music so that other people can perform it. Very often students have ideas and they don't know how to put them down. Sometimes they don't have the experience to connect their ideas. Or in many cases, they have too many topics. Most beginning students do overwrite. We teach the students how to develop an idea completely and how to trim away the excess. And the main thing is that the students do hear their work performed. Most of what they write can be performed right here at the college."
Read More |
Arnold Friedman, Chair
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"I want to open up more possibilities for my students, more doors for their creativity. The first few weeks of counterpoint seems totally the opposite of that. It's very typical to hear complaints about how there are too many rules. But the result of experiencing that kind of discipline while creating music—having to be creative within a very narrow set of parameters—is that later on when you're free to do whatever you want, you still have this very disciplined method to apply to it."
Read More |
Clyde Witmyer, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"As I reflect on my own educational experiences, the most important realization I came to as a student is that I am responsible for my education more so than my teachers, my school, my parents, or society. I learned that being a student is a proactive experience and that you only get out of it as much as you are willing to put in. Students who are proactive regarding their education will not only gain the respect of their teachers but their teachers will be more willing to go that 'extra mile' for them. Ultimately, your educational experience will be much more rewarding."
 |
Valerie Taylor, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"Even if a person never conducts any kind of ensemble after this, the whole notion of getting music incorporated into the body is just so vital. It's gaining that sense of how your body conveys, and not just simply responds to, music. As a result of my vocal training, I try to get people to sing things, because that is the clearest and simplest road to incorporating the music into their own bodies. If they treat it gingerly at finger's length, their musical mojo is not going to be involved. If they sing while they conduct, they can use their body to teach their body."
Read More |
"When I was about four or five years old, growing up in the Soviet Union, I remember my parents listening to Enrico Caruso and Mario Lanza in one room, and at the same time my older brother listening to Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Chicago, and the Beatles in another room. I really had this kind of double music world from the very beginning, but it was so natural to me. And I think this was a really great thing—it opened my ears to every type of music."
Read More |
Beth Denisch, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Composition Department"My job as a faculty member is to teach students new skills and how to access resources that will help them find their own voices. Through exposure to new musics, and through modeling and experimentation, students experience which materials, styles, and techniques resonate within them and they then 'make it their own.' I think Berklee students have more of an opportunity to do that than students of other schools where they may be exposed to less varied styles of music."
Read More