Mashine Room Dedicated

On September 8, Berklee honored David Mash B.M. ’76 with the dedication of the Mashine Room in the college’s 150 Massachusetts Avenue building as faculty, administrators, trustees, alumni, staff, friends, children, and grandchildren gathered around the retired senior vice president for innovation, strategy, and technology. Mash served as a Berklee faculty member prior to becoming an administrator, and also enjoyed a long career working with companies such as Moog, who presented a Moog Modular IIIc synthesizer to Berklee for the occasion as a salute to Mash. The instrument was funded through a $20,000 donation in Mash’s name from Chris Halaby, CEO of KVR Audio and a member of Berklee’s Presidential Advisory Council, and an in-kind donation from Moog Music.

Michael Bierylo, chair of the Electronic Production and Design Department that Mash founded, noted that among Mash’s many contributions, “one of the most important is that he got this bright idea in the 1980s that every musician would be using technology and that the synthesizer was an instrument that deserved recognition and study as any other.”

“What a great honor,” Mash told those gathered, as he struggled to hold back emotions built up over four dedicated decades at Berklee. “Thank you very much.”

Since retiring, Mash has been busy composing and recording music, recently releasing a new album, Seasons, under his Mashine Music moniker.