Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon

The dual major shares his path from community college to Berklee, and how his heritage influences his work.

April 29, 2026

Andrea Recalde

What’s it like to study at Berklee? Our Student Spotlight series asks current students all about their Berklee experience—what they’re learning in class, what kinds of projects they’re involved in onstage or behind the scenes, how they recharge, and of course, what they’re listening to. In this installment, get to know Matthew Leon, a twelfth-semester student majoring in music production and engineering (MP&E) and contemporary writing and production (CWP) from Miami, Florida.

You can follow him on Instagram.

Tell us about your path to Berklee. What made you decide to come here?

I always wanted to come to Berklee and I always knew I wanted to do something with music, even if I wasn’t sure exactly what. I knew about Berklee from middle school, and in high school, my music professor, a Berklee alum, told me a lot about the school and his experience which really inspired me.

Growing up in public school, it was harder to get hands-on information like that, because it’s easy to look things up online, but harder to get real word-of-mouth insight. When I graduated from high school, I didn’t apply because I didn’t think I was good enough, so I went to community college for about a year. Then COVID hit, and I was doing school online, and I realized that if I was going to study, I might as well try to go to the school I truly wanted. So I took a break, practiced nonstop, auditioned, and got in.

What's been your favorite class so far, and what has it taught you?

My favorite classes have been Mixing Techniques I with Ted Paduck and Multi-Track Recording Techniques with Brian Charles because both professors were incredible. I’m currently in the Advanced Mix Lab with Tony Maserati and learning a lot, though it’s still too early to judge the class's full impact.

Ted’s class made me think more analytically about my mixing choices and forced me to question why I was using certain plugins, EQs, or compression instead of just following habits I saw online. It taught me that not everything in a track needs processing and that intention matters more than routine.

Brian’s class taught me countless recording techniques and showed me that unconventional methods, like his “big space pair,” can sound amazing even if they aren’t traditional. Both classes helped me understand that you don’t have to justify unconventional choices if they serve the music and sound good.

Can you talk about how you got into production and what made you want to pursue it?

I didn’t come to Berklee intending to become a producer, but that changed when I interned in Miami with Berklee alumnus Carlos Perez de Anda at Alacran Studios. I realized how much I enjoyed working in a studio and how naturally I gravitated toward producing, engineering, and mixing. Even though I had always done those things, I never saw them as a possible career until I spent time in that environment.

After a few rounds of interning, I knew it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That’s why I applied to MP&E, even though I was already doing CWP, because it didn’t cover the production and recording side I loved as deeply. That shift made me confident that production was where I truly belonged.

There’s this instinctive feeling of 'Oh, this would sound better if we did it like this,' and that comes directly from how I was raised and the music I grew up around. It influences everything, from phrasing to rhythmic choices to how I hear harmony.
Matthew Leon

What's a project you've worked on since coming to Berklee that you've been especially excited about?

I’d say my current project (which I hope becomes an EP, though even a single would make me happy) is the one I’m most excited about, even though I expect some pushback from the artist because we interpret a producer’s role differently. I am excited to continue working on it.

I’ve learned a lot at Berklee about what a producer really does, especially from teachers like Enrique Gonzalez Müller, who explained how producers shape the music without compromising the artist’s integrity. Working with different artists has shown me how varied their expectations can be, and how a producer’s job is to help the music reach a level the artist may not yet see.

I’ve also worked on classical live recordings, including a four-hands piano piece, a piano-cello session, and an avant-garde Armenian piece for cello, piano, and saxophone, all recorded in the same room. Those projects challenged me with mic placement, bleed, and working in non-studio spaces, and I’m so proud of how they turned out.

Listen to some of Matthew's recent work:

How has your Latin heritage influenced your sound, your approach to improvisation, or the way you blend genres?

It’s interesting because even if it’s not obvious in the music I've been a part of that's out, you can hear it in the accents I use when I play drums or sax, and even in the decisions I make when producing. There’s this instinctive feeling of “Oh, this would sound better if we did it like this,” and that comes directly from how I was raised and the music I grew up around. It influences everything, from phrasing to rhythmic choices to how I hear harmony. Even when I’m not consciously trying to blend genres, my background naturally shapes my musical instincts. It becomes part of the sound without me having to force it.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your high school self?

It’s going to be okay. Life has a million routes for you, so don’t panic if you fall off the one you think you’re supposed to follow. Everything works itself out, whether it seems good or bad in the moment, and every closed door can lead to one you never imagined. Don’t get hung up on the things you didn’t get, because sometimes those moments are meant to push you somewhere better. Everything happens for a reason. So don’t stress the little things.