Berklee Professor’s Fulbright Project Addresses Suicide Loss Through Art

Ray Haeng Soo Seol, an assistant professor in the Professional Music Department, has been awarded a Fulbright US Scholar Program award in music for the 2025–2026 academic year by the US Department of State and Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Beginning this month, Seol will be hosted by Honam Theological University and Seminary (HTUS) in Gwangju, South Korea, for a three-month project focused on community healing through the arts.

For the project, Seol is composing original music and collecting personal narratives for a music drama titled Another Season, a reality-immersive production centered on suicide loss survivors. The work is directly inspired by authentic stories and reflects the current social climate in Korea. It also draws from Seu Aprendiz, Seol’s artistic collection of short writings, photographs, and music that encourages open dialogue about inner strength and healing. The project is deeply personal, shaped by Seol’s own journey following the devastating loss of his mother, who died by suicide.

Listen to an episode of Sounds of Berklee about Ray Seol’s Seu Aprendiz: 

“We warmly congratulate Dr. Ray Seol on receiving the Fulbright US Scholar award,” said Park Soo Yong, chair of the music department at HTUS. “Honam Theological University and Seminary is honored to host his meaningful project in Korea and in the city of Gwangju, a center of art and creative minds. His work in support of suicide loss survivors will help build bridges between the Korean and US communities.”

Seol is one of over 800 individuals who will teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright US Scholar Program this year. In keeping with the program’s mission to promote cross-cultural exchange, his work on Another Season aims to foster dialogue around suicide loss and prevention through the arts, encouraging both Korean and American communities to support meaningful conversations and prevent future tragedies.

“I am honored to be a 2025–26 Fulbright Scholar for my musical playwright project,” said Seol. “It is based on my family’s tragic story, drawing from my grieving music, suicide prevention campaign, and my mother’s life. My intention is to create an artistic platform to reflect on life and why it is worth living, especially to offer hope to young artists who are struggling with difficult circumstances.”

Berklee has produced several Fulbright Scholars in recent years. Faculty member Stacy Mattingly and alumni Shanelle Villegas BFA ’19 and Lili Chey Warren BM ’23 were Fulbright award recipients during the 2024–2025 academic year. Alumni Michael Doughty BM ’23 and Michael Lucarelli MM ’20 received Fulbright awards in the 2023–2024 academic year, and the college was recognized as a top producer of Fulbright US students in 2021–2022 after alumni Devina Boughton BM ’21 and Andrew Skinner MM ’20 received awards. 

About the Fulbright Program

The Fulbright Program was established over 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. Its primary source of funding is an annual appropriation made by the US Congress to the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

Since Fulbright's inception in 1946, over 400,000 people from all backgrounds—recent university graduates, teachers, scientists, researchers, artists, and more—have participated in the program and returned to their home countries with an expanded worldview, a deep appreciation for their host country and its people, and a new network of colleagues and friends.

Fulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities, sectors, and the world, and have included 40 heads of state or government, 61 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 76 MacArthur Fellows, and countless leaders and changemakers who carry forward the Fulbright mission of enhancing mutual understanding.