Summertime for Berklee Faculty and Students

Summertime is the prime season for musicians to tour as performers and educators. This past summer was no exception as Berklee's top students, faculty members, and alumni traveled the world to share their knowledge and musical talents.
September 1, 2014

Berklee student Felix Peikli led a top student group in summer concert appearances in Norway. From the left: Adam Arruda, Christian Li, Justin Richey, and Felix Peikli.

Alexandria Pierre-Etienne

Professor Greg Hopkins (second from left) performed with the Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra.

Courtesy of the Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra

From left: Saxophonist Mike Tucker, drummer Mark Walker, vocalist and pianist Daniela Schächter, trumpeter Tiger Okoshi, and bassist Bruno Råberg pictured in a flyer for their clinic hosted by Instituto de Música Contemporánea (IMC) in Cumbaya, Ecuador.

Drummer Cindy Gould ’11, keyboardist Ruby Biloskirka-Conley ’09, and bassist C.J. DeAngelus ’01 accompanied students in their final program performances at the August Berklee in Los Angeles program.

Tom Griesgraber

Summertime is the prime season for musicians to tour as performers and educators. This past summer was no exception as Berklee's top students, faculty members, and alumni traveled the world to share their knowledge and musical talents.

In June, Berklee student clarinetist Felix Peikli led an all-star group that included pianist Christian Li, bassist Justin Richey, and drummer Adam Arruda in shows at a number of venues in Olso, Norway. The group also played on Norwegian national television and represented the college as artists-in-residence at Valdres Sommersymfoni, one of Europe's largest summer camps. For more information on the group, visit http://www.kingclarinet.com/.

In July, Professor Greg Hopkins was the featured artist and composer with the Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra. Led by Susumu Watanabe '01, this contemporary jazz orchestra (packed with alumni) played a number of shows in the Tokyo area, including Yamaha Hall, Himawarinosato Hall, and at our Berklee International Network partner institution Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Kanagawa. To see a video of the group playing music by Hopkins, visitwww.tokyobrass.seesaa.net.

Professor Tiger Okoshi led an all-star group of Berklee faculty members in a performance at the 2011 Quito International Jazz Festival in Quito, Ecuador. Esteban Molina '93, the director of the Instituto de Música Contemporánea in Cumbaya, Ecuador, also hosted the group for a series of clinics and master classes held during the festival. Okoshi's quartet featured faculty members Daniela Schächter (piano), Michael Tucker (tenor saxophone), Bruno Råberg (bass), and Mark Walker (drums).

Berklee in Los Angeles Breaks Camp

For several years, Berklee has conducted a Los Angeles summer-education program at various locations near the city. For 2011, we made some significant changes to the program by moving from a "camp" model, which included housing, to a commuter program. This summer, Berklee partnered successfully with the prestigious Academy of Music at Hamilton High School in the Culver City section of Los Angeles.

Alumus Named Artistic Director at Nakas Conservatory

Kostas Konstantinou started as a student in the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, and upon his graduation in 1993, he continued his studies as a scholarship student at Berklee. After graduating in 1997, he returned to Athens and started teaching bass, music theory, harmony, and jazz analysis at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. Soon afterward he was charged with overseeing student ensembles at the conservatory. Most recently, Konstantinou was appointed as the artistic director of the Modern Music Department of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. Congratulations, Kostas!

This article appeared in our alumni magazine, Berklee Today Fall 2011. Learn more about Berklee Today.
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