Nashville Notes
The start of a new year has brought new faces, opportunities, and reasons to be optimistic for Berklee Nashville-area alumni. Among the fresh faces in our Nashville Alumni Chapter are Ashley Farrell ’05, Will Champlin ’05, Katie Leonard ’05, Rachel Solomon ’05, and Jim Hayden ’83. These motivated alumni have already secured cowriting appointments with established writers, weekly gigs, significant interviews, and internships with high-profile music-publishing companies. The drive and work ethic they have demonstrated make it clear that we have much to anticipate from them.
As the last issue of Berklee today went to press, Nashville alumni were looking forward to the first-ever Nashville alumni showcase at Edgehill Studios and café. The evening proved such a success that we decided to make the showcase a quarterly event. The second showcase was held on Friday, January 6, and featured Jesse Lingo ’03, Jeff Miller ’01, Will Champlin, Dave Petrelli ’05, Ben McKay, and Jesse Terry ’04, who provided us with a night of great music. They raised the bar. Our challenge for the next round will be to find a group that can match the level of talent on display that night.
Singer/songwriter Dave Petrelli ’05 was among those featured at the January 6 Nashville alumni showcase.
Several Nashville alumni closed out 2005 with accomplishments worth mentioning. Andrea Stolpe ’98 had her song “You Stay with Me” recorded by multiple Grammy winner, Faith Hill. Brian Pruitt ’97 kept busy on tour with Katrina Elam and Bobby Pinson and played drums on their debut album. Nick Buda ’96 was on the road playing drums for Mindy Smith and Edwin McCain. The World Wide Songwriters Association chose alum Dianna Gatto ’00 as the featured songwriter for the months of December 2005 and January 2006. Visit www.wwswa.com to read the article. Congratulations to all!
We look forward to the annual Nashville Spring Break trip coming up in March. The trip, led by Professor Pat Pattison and MP&E Professor Stephen Webber, has been important for building Berklee’s visibility here. More than 100 students will have front-row seats to clinics, lectures, performances and studio tours that will include advice from top Nashville artists, producers, songwriters, and other music-industry professionals. Year after year the trip continues to strengthen ties between the college, alumni chapter, and the music industry.
That’s all for now. For further information on the Nashville Alumni Chapter, send me an e-mail at berkleealumni@hotmail.com.
Best regards,
—Megan Kirschbaum ’04
Nashville Chapter President
