Faculty Notes: Spring 2023

Berklee Boston

Assistant Professor Vivienne Aerts' new album, Typuhthâng, was released March 3 for Women’s History Month. Featuring 100 female musicians, and made in collaboration with Original Beans Chocolate, Typuhthâng aims to empower the female cacao farmers of Virunga State Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Visit vivienneaerts.nl.

Esin Aydingoz, assistant chair of the Screen Scoring Department, was an arranger on the Netflix series Wednesday and wrote music for Netflix’s series Princess Power. She was also a fellow at the Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive and was nominated for a Society of Composers & Lyricists’ award.

Professor John Baboian performed Christmas and holiday concerts with the Boston Pops’ traveling orchestra throughout New England in December.

Associate Professor Sergio Bellotti recorded percussion on the latest Pat Petrillo Big Rhythm Band album, Power Station Sessions, which also features Nile Rodgers ’18H and Associate Professor Oz Noy. It was recorded at the Power Station at Berklee NYC studios.

Rhoda Bernard, assistant chair of the Music Education Department, is giving in-person and online professional development workshops, consultations, and minicourses on accessible arts education pedagogy at numerous school districts, arts organizations, and conferences in Massachusetts, around the country, and internationally.

Professor Freddie Bryant will release a song cycle of 16 movements, Upper West Side Love Story, this summer. The album was commissioned by a CMA Foundation grant. Bryant wrote its music and lyrics, which were performed three times by an all-star nonet in 2022. Visit upperwestsidelovestory.com.

Assistant Professor Cristi Catt toured with Tapestry in Milwaukee, WI; Kalamazoo, FL; Scripps College in Claremont, CA; and in the greater Boston area. The group focused on women-identifying composers from Juana Inés de la Cruz to Ella Jenkins, Lili Boulanger to Florence Price, to composers of today. Visit tapestryboston.com.

Assistant Professor Davide Cerreta is using his platform as a singer, pianist, composer, and educator to bring awareness to pollution, global warming, and climate change through his original compositions and local activism. Cerreta will be performing coast to coast this spring, collaborating with musicians based in New York and California.

Music from Associate Professor Ady Cohen's score for the animated feature film The Legend of King Solomon was performed in January by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Tel Aviv Collegium Singers, at a sold-out concert in the largest hall for music in Tel Aviv.

Professor Beth Denisch's composition “Star V” for primary duo (Sarah Bob, piano; Aaron Trant, percussion) was commissioned by the New Gallery Concert Series and premiered in April at Longy School of Music. In addition to traditional notation, “Star V” uses various levels of improvisation and aleatoric techniques. Visit newgalleryconcertseries.org/begin-anywhere.

Professor Laszlo Gardony's new trio album, Close Connection (Sunnyside Records), received a four-star review in DownBeat magazine. His trio includes Associate Professor John Lockwood and Yoron Israel, chair of the Percussion Department. They celebrated the album with a sold-out concert at the Birdland Theater in New York in December.

Professor Jerry Gates has been busy writing chamber orchestra works for the Boston group the Orchestra on the Hill. He also wrote string arrangements for producer Hassan El Shafei and for Assistant Professor Olivia Collellmir as well as orchestral treatments for the jazz quartet Poetic Jazz.

Professor Bruce Gertz was a finalist in the 2022 USA Songwriting Competition for his composition “Snowfall.” He collaborated with fellow bassist Claus Freudenstein in Germany to record and publish it on streaming platforms. He’s also a finalist for a 19th International Acoustic Music Awards for his song “For Burt.”

Assistant Professor Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin's solo piano album, Permutations, was released on Ravello Records, through PARMA Recordings, in February and is available on all major platforms. 

Professor Rich Greenblatt and Associate Professor Mark Shilansky have a new album, Green Sky. They performed it at Scullers Jazz Club in February with collaborators Professor Peter Kenagy, Associate Professor Nick Grondin, and Greg Toro ’06.

Assistant Professor Benny Grotto produced, engineered, and mixed a full-length record for Boston-based Ghanaian instrumental group Kotoko Brass, and is producing a concept album project by progressive metal band Questing Beast, featuring Warbringer’s Chase Bryant on bass.

Professor Jon Hazilla offers inspiration from the Covid lockdown with his fourth book, Haiku—Images and Words. In it, he imports the outside world inside using photomontage and haiku.

Professor Michael Heyman composed and performed the sound poetry/throat-singing piece “A Conversation with Spákonufell” in Skagaströnd, Iceland, while on a NES Artist Residency.

Professor George Howard did a TEDx talk this winter. Visit youtu.be/x_kjKZDH4J4.

Associate Professor Hey Rim Jeon's album Groovitude, featuring several Berklee faculty members, was released in October. It was in the top 20 albums on the JazzWeek Radio Chart for several consecutive weeks. She had a sold-out album release concert at Scullers Jazz Club in February. Visit heyrimjeon.com.

Associate Professor Patrice Jégou-Oyelese was selected as a spring 2023 mentor by the Recording Academy for the GRAMMY U program. This is her fourth semester serving as a mentor.

Associate Professor Peter Jonatan released an orchestral arrangement of the Christmas classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” He arranged, orchestrated, produced, and performed the song together with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Visit peterjonatan.com.

Professor Sheila Katz is teaching meditation online, as well as in person in Mexico, focusing on weekly sessions, weeklong silent retreats, and one-on-one support with her yearlong series Deepening Concentration Practice Intensive. She also teaches Jewish meditation, holds women’s meditation retreats, and offers heart-opening chant practices.

Professor Teodros Kiros wrote Rationality of the Human Heart, his 21st book, as well as a series of articles on Ethiopia in Aiga Forum. He also has an interview with Noam Chomsky published in African Ascent International. His novel A Passionate Man is circulating among publishers.

Assistant Professor Claire Marie Lim was featured in an article on the music technology website Create Digital Music. The article, in which Lim spoke about vocals in live electronic performance, covered her solo artist project, dolltr!ck, as well as the material she teaches under her educational moniker, the smol prof.

Michael C. Mason, inaugural chair of the Africana Studies Department, gave a presentation, “A Few Best Practices in Antiracism Education,” at Arcadia University. He also served on the committee to welcome Taneshia Nash Laird as inaugural CEO and president of the Greater Roxbury Arts and Cultural Center.

Assistant Professor Yoshie Nakayama released an a cappella arrangement for “Ichigetsu Ichijitsu” that was covered by Japanese media and Reuters. In January, she presented an a cappella workshop in Tokyo using this song as well as her arrangement for “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.”

Associate Professor Francisco Noya conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Youth and Family Concerts this spring. Visit bso.org/events/bso-youth-and-family-concerts.

Professor Lauren Passarelli performed and recorded a new full-length release at home, Just Like Earth. It features Kate Chadbourne, Mike Bishop, and Mary Douyard.

Anne Peckham, chair of the Voice Department, released a new book, Vocal Studies for the Contemporary Singer, the third in her Contemporary Singer series (Berklee Press). Her publications have been adopted by vocal programs around the world and translated into several languages. 

Professor Alison Plante scored the documentary Turkey Town, which premiered on PBS on Thanksgiving. Visit wgbh.org/turkey-town.

Professor Mimi Rabson wrote a new piece for the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra. “Construction” was inspired by the Center for Computing & Data Sciences, known as the Jenga building, on the Boston University campus. The piece was performed at the Berklee Performance Center in March.

Professor Tim Ray finished his tenure as pianist and music director for the legendary Tony Bennett with the singer’s retirement last year. This spring, Ray released Fire & Rain, his third album on the Whaling City Sound label, and performed at Scullers Jazz Club to celebrate this event.

Associate Professor Justin Rhodes directs and stars in the film King of Dallas and is also in House of Beats, a reality television show about music producers. The second season airs this spring. Visit youtu.be/ADPj9pckO3o.

Professor John Roberts was the director of the nearly sold-out show the Janet Jackson Experience on February 3 at the Berklee Performance Center. The show honored Jackson’s legacy for the past 30-plus years, 25 of which Roberts worked as her drummer. Professor Tia Fuller was the show’s assistant director.

Professor Steven Kowalczyk Santoro mixed and mastered a studio recording with the famed Turtle Island Quartet. The project is a song cycle for voice and string quartet on the subject of mortality, and consists of contemporary pieces in multiple genres with sections of improvisation. It is tentatively titled Here. Gone.

Assistant Professor Gretchen Shae's band, Gretchen Shae & the Middle Eight, released a music video in October for its single “Skeleton Closet (Living with Secrets).” Visit youtu.be/DWlNIapHrSQ. The band has also been asked to participate in the Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble. Visit linktr.ee/gsm8_official.

Walter Smith III, chair of the Woodwind Department, released an album, Return to Casual (Blue Note Records), in April. Visit bluenote.com/artist/walter-smith-iii. He also performed with his band for a week this winter at the Village Vanguard in New York City.

Assistant Professor Ryan Suleiman is a member of the Coastal Climate for Change Research Group; was a guest speaker at Boston University’s Composers’ Forum series; had his symphonic puppet show for children, Red Velvet Violin, performed by the Davis High Symphony Orchestra; and premiered two chamber works.

Associate Professor Jeri Sykes will orchestrate an original rock musical, Born to Do This, based on the life of Joan of Arc. It will premiere at the Company Theatre in July. Visit companytheatre.com/the-joan-of-arc-rock-musical.

Associate Professor Nicholas Urie released Two Songs, featuring Instructor Aubrey Johnson. He also contributed a chart for the double-bass virtuoso James Oesi’s upcoming recording as well as orchestrations for a concert in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with Steve Vai ’79 ‘00H and the Metropole Orkest.

Professor Mark Walker is recording his original big band suite, Spirit in Rhythm, and presenting original projects at several music venues. He also joined Arturo Sandoval’s band, touring Europe, South America, and the U.S., and began working as an extra with the Boston Pops.

Assistant Professor Joe Walsh released a solo album, If Not Now, Who?, on Adhyâropa Records in January. The instrumental acoustic string-band record features several alumni and debuted at no. 7 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts.

Associate Professor Jon Wheatley’s jazz guitar duo with Sheryl Bailey, assistant chair of the Guitar Department, performed at Mezzrow in N.Y.C. for the Mandorla Concert Series; in Jamaica Plain, MA; for Lexington Community Education (with Howard Alden); and at the Arlington Jazz Festival. Visit youtu.be/rMAjHsSKlBc.

Associate Professor Elizabeth Wong wrote Space Nunz of the Rescue Mainframe, which was commissioned and produced by Hook & Eye Theater in N.Y.C. last fall.

Professor Jonathan Wyner delivered a keynote talk, “A.I. and Creativity,” to the Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists (NOPA) at its annual gathering in Oslo, Norway, in January.

Associate Professor Mark Zaleski performed May 5–6 at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Portland, OR; June 22 at the Loft at Hermit Woods in Meredith, NH; July 20 at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City; and September 2 at Rudy’s Jazz Room in Nashville. Visit markzaleski.com.

Boston Conservatory at Berklee 

Assistant Professor Janelle Gilchrist recently received her M.A. in teaching with a focus on dance. She’s also a full-time  dance instructor for the Boston Public Schools and runs her own dance company, Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, which has performances in May. Visit janellegilchrist.com.

Assistant Professor Jennie Israel performed the role of Volumnia in Coriolanus by William Shakespeare at the Plaza Theaters for Boston Center for the Arts this spring. Visit actorsshakespeareproject.org/plays-events/coriolanus.

Associate Professor Paul Laraia recently joined the Conservatory’s Instrumental Studies Department, teaching viola. His quartet released a new album, Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker. The album is on Spotify.

Associate Professor Doug Lockwood appears as Touchstone from June 2 to 25 in the Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of As You Like It, in association with the Theater Offensive, at Tufts University’s Balch Arena Theater. Visit actorsshakespeareproject.org/plays-events/as-you-like-it.

Berklee Valencia

Associate Professor Marta Verde Baqueiro is on the Max/MSP Certified Trainers team. She’s the only woman in Spain, and one of the few in Europe, on the team.

Assistant Professor Viktorija Pilatovic released her album Skybridges in March. Visit lnk.to/Skybridges and viktorijapilatovic.com.

Instructor Joshua Wheatley released the album Drumless Tracks along with a digital sheet music book. The album is available at joshuawheatley.bandcamp.com. He also performed with Song Ah Chae Trio live at Fifty-Fifty Jazz and Poetry Festival 2022. Visit youtu.be/qZ_gttwzTDE.

This article appeared in the spring/summer 2023 issue of Berklee Today.