Faculty Notes: Spring 2026

Rhoda Bernard, founding managing director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education and assistant chair of the Music Education Department, was a scholar in residence at Loyola University in New Orleans and the University of Southern Maine. She recently gave keynote addresses at conferences in Madeira, Portugal, and Ipswich, Massachusetts, and she presented sessions and workshops at events in Denver; Kansas City, Missouri; Chicago; Rochester, New York; Washington, DC; and Worcester, Massachusetts.

Debo Ray, assistant professor of voice, released the debut single Going Down from her upcoming alternative contemporary R&B EP, Echoes and Embers, produced and co-written by Prince Charles Alexander along with Berklee alumnus Jerry Velona. The EP releases on May 22, 2026. Debo and her band will perform the music at The Fallout Shelter on May 23, 2026. 

Nancy Zeltsman, a professor specializing in marimba performance and chamber music, released her fifth solo album drinking water in 2025 (available on Bandcamp/streaming). Her duo Marimolin with faculty violinist Sharan Leventhal—which has commissioned 85 works—celebrated their 40-year collaboration with performances at 2026’s Berklee Teachers on Teaching (BTOT) keynote and a Boston Conservatory at Berklee recital on January 29, 2026.

Submit your faculty notes here for the Summer 2026 edition.