Alum Notes: Spring/Summer 2024

1957

Rik Tinory of Cohasset, MA, is a the CEO of Rik Tinory Productions, with credits including Aerosmith and many more.

1970

Archer A. "Tony" Jordan of Alexandria, VA, began managing the Bob Gibson Big Band, also known as the Thursday Night Sight Reading Band, after Bob Gibson stepped down in 2022.

1974

Jack Jackson B.M. of Anchorage, AK, wrote Jazz Harmony Express, a comprehensive, 196-page, college-level training book published by JacksPress.com.

Jonathan David Seligman of Westminster, MD, released the album Consequential Terrain, which includes a collection of originals, Thelonious Monk tunes, and standards.

1975

Mike Stern of New York City won first prize in the jazz category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

1976

Henry Daniel of Vancouver, Canada, is a cofounder of the SFU Black Caucus, an organization supporting and celebrating the Black community at Simon Fraser University and promoting fairness and inclusivity.

Jack DePietro of Red Hook, NY, released his memoir, Life Behind Bars, about how he became a jazz impresario, club owner, and drummer, and played with some of the legends of the jazz world.

J. Kimo Williams B.M. of Shepherdstown, WV, released the album His Magnus Opus: Red Summer 1919. This progressive-rock jazz opera album features Vinnie Colaiuta ’75 and Mike Stern ’75.

1980

Valerie Stack Dodge B.F.A. of South Dennis, MA, performed in Joseph Vitale’s new play, Sunset Park, at the Theater Project in New Jersey.

1981

Craig Malcor of West Hills, CA, accomplished his dream of discovering the jazz he had always aspired to write and play, and released his debut album, Between Sounds.

Kenny Selcer B.M. of Carlisle, MA, released an eclectic mix of reggae, blues, and roots in his singer-songwriter album,Tears from Stone. It features Steve Gilligan ’77 on bass.

1982

Ethan M. Aneshansley B.M. of North Charleston, SC, has been a full-time educator as well as a GB cover band performer for the past 23 years.

Robert Ross B.M. of Tucson, AZ, shuttered the Auditory Perception Laboratory, a New York recording studio he founded 23 years ago, and relocated to Tucson to focus on playing bass.

Norman "Skip" Spratt of Berlin, NJ, has been an educator and freelance performer (saxophone and woodwinds) for over 30 years, collaborating with artists like Tony Bennett ’74H, Natalie Cole ’95H, and Johnny Mathis.

1983

Lance Bryant of Cedar Grove, NJ, formed the band Lance Bryant & Shout! in 2022. The LB Big Band is in its second year of residency at Clement’s Place, a venue run by Rutgers University’s Institute of Jazz Studies.

Paul Hoyle of Miami, FL, had his songs appear on The Horror of Dolores Roach (Amazon Prime Video), Gordita Chronicles (Max), and BARDO (Netflix).

1984

Daniel Indart B.M. of Los Angeles is the founder and CEO of Indart Music and Latin Music Specialists. He licensed a new version of Rubén Blades’ song “Pedro Navaja” for the film The Flash.

1985

Mark Furst B.M. of Pawcatuck, CT, is a Trusted Partner Network–accredited site assessor, offering security audits and consultancy to the media and entertainment industry. TPN is owned by the Motion Picture Association.

Joe Mardin B.M. of New York City released an album of blues-influenced garage pop originals, Inside Outsider, in April. A month prior, he released the album’s first video music on the birthday of his father, Arif Mardin ’61, ’85H.

Scott Sites B.F.A. of Palm Springs, CA, has been producing television comedies for almost 20 years. He is currently producing the award-winning show Abbott Elementary.

1986

Charles Carlini B.M. of New York City organized two festivals in the city, the New York Jazz Piano Festival in January and the Guitar Masters Festival in April.

Beto Hale of Woodland Hills, CA, won first prize in the Latin category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

John Mailloux B.M. of Westport, MA, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his recording studio, Bongo Beach Productions. Over his career, he has earned two Grammy nominations for engineering and production.

1987

Christian DiGirolamo of Mattituck, NY, is the owner of Two for the Show Media and is the public relations specialist for Cindy Blackman Santana ’80, J.R. Robinson ’75, Sam Newsome B.M. ’89, and others.

Riccardo Perotti of Weston, FL, released the song “Legión contra legión” in honor of those who have given their lives in the war in Ukraine.

Summer Gary Silverman B.M. of Fitzwilliam, NH, is a certified nurse practitioner at Trailside Health and plays horn and viola in the Keene Chamber Orchestra, Fitchburg State University’s Concert Band, and more.

Jonathan Smith B.M. of New York City is wrapping up his second year touring as a music director and conductor for the musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations.

1988

Dawn Carroll of Medford, MA, created a 15-song soundtrack inspired by the story of Mary Cardwell Dawson, a Black cultural hero and founding director of the National Negro Opera Company.

Mike Dobkowski (a.k.a. Karttikeya) B.M. of Princeton, NJ, recorded, mixed, and coproduced the Cold Soil Drifters’ album Shanks Pony.

1989

Kiyo Takiyama of Tokyo, Japan, arranged and recorded instrumentals for a children’s album that includes English and French adaptations of Japanese nursery rhymes.

1990

Amy Engelhardt of Los Angeles premiered her album IMPACT at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. She wrote, produced, and performed the solo storytelling piece featuring her original music.

Troy Richardson B.M. of Encino, CA, released the album Mucho Gusto with his band TruckerBomb. On the release day, TruckerBomb opened for Black Oak Arkansas at the legendary Hollywood nightclub Whisky a Go Go.

Donald Sundal Jr. of Miramar Beach, FL, was nominated for a Grammy as a recording engineer and background vocalist on Sam Bush’s album Radio John: Songs of John Hartford. Sundal has a band, Boukou Groove, and owns Neptone Recording Studio.

1991

Pamela York B.M. of Grayslake, IL, was a producer and pianist on the album Hindsight by the Milwaukee-based group the Affinity Trio.

1993

Anouschka Pearlman of Cambridge, MA, was a finalist in the jazz category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

1994

Theresa Ines Coelho P.D.M. of Lynn, MA, was a finalist in the jazz category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

Lisa S. Donahey Warren P.D.M. of Van Nuys, CA, released her fourth album, Dream Me Home for Christmas, in November.

1995

Steve Taylor B.M. of Lake Orion, MI, won a Detroit Music Award for his song “Raining on Christmas” with his band, the Steve Taylor Three. He also won Teacher of the Year at Everest Collegiate High School & Academy, where he is the band teacher.

Dave Wood B.M. of Sherman Oaks, CA, has played guitar for Andra Day, Dua Lipa, Jessie J, and many other artists. He also coarranged Day’s version of “Come Together” for the Formula 1 opening ceremony in Las Vegas.

1996

Lawrence A. DeLuca Jr. B.M. of Sahuarita, AZ, completed his third musical, Specific Overtures, about the LGBTQ experience during WWII. The musical was selected for the Dramatists Guild’s Southwest Region Footlights Reading Series.

Marta Karassawa of São Paulo, Brazil, released her first single, “Cama de Gato,” which is on her quintet’s album, Tempo Bom.

Steve Taylor of Newton Grove, NC, released his single “Nothing Special,” which spent three weeks on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at no. 23.

1998

Joseph Anthony DeRose B.M. of San Jose, CA, has been an educator for over 25 years, is a drum mentor at the Rhythm Academy, and is a member of the jazz fusion group Joe DeRose and Amici II.

1999

Chris Falskow B.M. of Delta, Canada, played bass on four songs on Donn Garrett’s album Retouched: Classics by the Masters.

2000

Marco Cavina B.M. of Opera, Italy, was commissioned to transcribe the music of world-renowned acoustic guitarist Gilles Le Bigot. The transcriptions were released with Le Bigot’s new album, Bale.

Clem Fung B.M. of Hong Kong, China, cofounded the band RubberBand, which completed its first tour of European, Asian, and American cities. Its album Juntos will be released this spring.

David Lockwood B.M. ’80, M.M. ‘00 of Plymouth, NH, has been traveling with a baby grand piano on a trailer and performing at random venues he finds.

Daniel Zegada Quiroga (a.k.a. Zegadex) B.M. of La Paz, Bolivia, is the leader of the Vacas Jazz Quartet, Kimza Bop, and four jazz trios.

2001 

Matthew Cahoon B.M. of Oceanside, CA, with Ethan Matthews B.M. ’02, released the dark electronic track “Seduce Me” with the group Everpresent. 

Andrew Koss B.M. of Manchester Center, NY, won first prize in the Best Pop category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition. 

Dimitri Landrain B.M. of New York City released a trio album, Astor’s Place, featuring Kim Robertson (bass) and Keith Balla (drums). The project features nine original compositions inspired by various Latin styles. 

Elias Ringquist of Stockholm, Sweden, wrote the song “天から の手紙,” which was featured in the Japanese stage show Johnny’s World Next Stage in Tokyo. 

2002 

Peter Della Croce B.M. of Kula, HI, works at Seabury Hall, a private school in Maui. He is also the principal percussionist with the Maui Pops Orchestra and lead drummer for the Isle of Maui Pipe Band.

Nolan Warden of West Lafayette, IN, is a full-time lecturer at Purdue University with appointments in the Spanish and music departments.

2003

Uziel Colón B.M. of Van Nuys, CA, released the EP The 80’z, featuring a reimagination of popular ’80s songs through Latin jazz.

Marty Silverstone of Studio City, CA, was promoted to president of global sync at Primary Wave Music, overseeing the sync licensing department while driving sync strategy and opportunities for the company’s catalogs.

2004

Aaron Greene B.M. of West Bloomfield, MI, released the debut single “Beast Mode” with the group Beasts & Machines. He also published a guitar practice guide titled Guided Minded: Powerful Habits to Level Up Your Guitar Skills.

Danny Sullivan B.M. of San Francisco, CA, works with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, whose mission is to create change and inspire activism through music. He helps with planning and performs on piano.

2005

Phillip Hill IV B.M. of Alpharetta, GA, is a partner at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, a top law firm with over 1,200 attorneys and offices in all 50 states.

Shantell Ogden B.M. of Nashville, TN, released the new country/Americana EP Love All In and toured the U.K. to support its launch. Ogden also created a boutique music supervision and sync company called SOSync.

2006

Nathan Rosborough B.M. of Beacon, NY, won a Grammy in 2022 as mastering engineer for Viola Davis’s audiobook, Finding Me.

2007

Jacob Hertzog B.M. of Fayetteville, AR, was a recipient of the 2023 Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant from the South Arts Organization, funded by the Carnegie Mellon and Doris Duke Foundation. His project will be recording a concerto.

Aaron Jackson B.F.A. of New York City cowrote and costarred in the musical/comedy film Dicks: The Musical, directed by Larry Charles and featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Megan Mullally, Nathan Lane, and others.

2008

Chelsey Arce B.F.A. of New York City was the associate choreographer for the Broadway productions of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the associate movement director for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Edouard Brenneisen B.M. of Studio City, CA, won a Hollywood Music in Media Award in the Best Score for a Video Game category for his work on New World: Rise of the Angry Earth.

Maximo Flint-Morgan B.M. of Syracuse, NY, was appointed the director of financial aid at Le Moyne College.

Carly Sakolove B.F.A. of Brooklyn, NY, played Rosie in the 25th anniversary North American tour of Mamma Mia! She was also featured on Netflix’s The Watcher.

2009

Kathryn Baar B.M. of West Hollywood, CA, released the debut LP Diving into the Arms of the Divine with the band SPELLES. It features haunting, cinematic, and soulful music.

Aaron Cherof B.M. of Bothell, WA, composed the soundtrack for the 2023 update for Minecraft: Trails & Tales as well as the soundtrack for Cobalt Core.

Istvan Cseh M.M. of Érd, Hungary, composed the ceremonial music for the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the ceremonial music for the 2022 FINA World Championships.

Christian Simonetta (née Eberlein) B.M. of Boston, MA, released his first career retrospective of original indie pop music, Wormholes: 20 Years of Chris Eberlein.

2010

Gabriela Martina B.M. of Amsterdam, Netherlands, was featured in DownBeat in October for her album Homage to Grämlis. She plans to release her next album, STATES, this spring.

Tavonna Miller B.M. of Brooklyn, NY, is teaching a songwriting class that focuses on basic commercial writing skills in the Music Technology and Entrepreneurship program at Long Island University Post.

Rosana "Rosk" Sashida B.M. of Condesa, Mexico, has owned the Rock Lab, a musical instrument boutique in Mexico City, for 10 years. Her 2023 album, Art Collective, has so far received 250,000 plays on Spotify.

Bruno Valverde B.M. of San Ildefonso, Spain, has been a music producer for over a decade for well-known artists such as Ricky Martin, Becky G, C. Tangana, and more. He also cofounded the app The Hit!

Rasa Vitkauskaite B.M. ’08, M.M. ’10 of Acton, MA, released the solo piano album A Concert Piano Christmas at Boston Symphony Hall, recorded by four-time Grammy Award–winner Brad Michel.

2011

Christine Hubbard (a.k.a. Xtine Elise) B.M. of Stamford, CT, released her debut children’s album, Toddler Songs (That Don’t Suck), accompanied by activity packets, video content, and hardcover animated lyric books.

Felicity Mazur-Park B.M. of Euless, TX, won the 2024 American Guild of Organists Student Commissioning Project, along with organist David Preston. She is also a new board member for the International Alliance for Women in Music.

Trevor Walker B.M. of Astoria, NY, recorded drums with glampunk band the Manimals and released two singles, “Detonate” and “Modern Muse.” Matt Graff B.M. ’07 engineered the drums and Benjamin Schrier B.M. ’20 produced, engineered, and mixed the singles.

2012

Emily Arrow B.M. of Los Angeles signed a deal with Platoon Records for the children’s album Sing-Along with Emily Arrow, featuring Eric Leva ’14 on the song “Zoomba Zoo.”

Casey Devine B.M. of Austin, TX, scored the feature film American Spirit, starring Yasmeen Fletcher and Cooper Roth. This is Devine’s second score with director Christopher Yates.

Britt Mahrer B.M. of Denver, CO, created Soapbox Therapy, Denver’s overwhelmingly popular two-hour comedy piano show that combines music and psychology.

Matt Phenix B.M. of Tamworth, NH, is director of audio branding at Elias Audio Branding, a division of Universal Music. He also oversaw production of the 2022 FIFA World Cup theme, the Liberty Mutual audio logo, and more.

2013

Stewart Forgey B.M. of Ventura, CA, recorded his first solo album and self-produced it in Dan Horne’s Los Angeles studio. It combines classic analog recording techniques with modern production.

Hotae Alexander Jang B.M. of Glendale, CA, was an engineer and musician on Beyoncé’s album Renaissance, which was nominated for Album of the Year and won for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album at the 65th Grammy Awards.

Carla Patullo M.M. of Los Angeles released So She Howls in August. It features Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble Tonality, the Scorchio Quartet, and Grammy-winning musician Lili Haydn, and won a Grammy in February for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album.

Justin Schornstein B.M. of Culver City, CA, wrote over 100 minutes of music for the Antarctica realm of SeaWorld’s theme park in Abu Dhabi. He also worked on the film Mass Ave, now on Max.

2014

Serena Eades of Vancouver, Canada, toured internationally until 2020 with the band Delhli2Dublin. She’s also worked on scores for Netflix, Hallmark, and Lifetime networks. In 2019, she opened her own music school.

Eric James Hollander B.M. of Park Ridge, IL, has been accepted into the first stages of the formation program with the Order of St. Augustine after completing a Ph.D. in musicology at Brandeis University.

Marco Perfetti P.D.M. of Brooklyn, NY, was a finalist in the dance/electronica category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

2015

Nelson Bettencourt M.F.A. of London, England, plays Babkak in the British and Irish tour of Disney’s Aladdin. He also retrained as an auxiliary nurse during the pandemic and contributed to the National Health Service at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Nora Alejandra Gonzalez Herrera B.M. of Chihuahua, Mexico, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2021 for Best Mariachi/Ranchero Album and Best Regional Song.

Rose Kanj B.M. of Brooklyn, NY, is pursuing her M.F.A. in acting at the Actors Studio Drama School.

Eric Von Fricken B.M. of Mechanicville, NY, has more than 600,000 followers on his Instagram account and more than 150,000 followers on Spotify. He’s received over 15,000 orders of his sheet music.

2016

Andrés Penella B.M. of Mexico City, Mexico, was an orchestrator on Disney’s The Last Warrior; a music editor on Netflix’s I Am Vanessa Guillén; and an orchestrator, conductor, and additional music composer on BuzzFeed Studio’s The Black Demon.

2017

Ernie Bird B.M. of Astoria, NY, is a composer, writer, and actor who oversees music and materials at Theatrical Rights Worldwide. And he’s a composer/lyricist at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and guest composer at Columbia University.

Clement Duchene of Paris, France, reconnected with several alumni, including Mirella Costa B.M. ’18, and other musicians to arrange and produce a filmed live recording session in one of Paris’s biggest studios.

Stephanie James B.M. of Peabody, MA, released her sophomore EP, Down, in September. Collaborators include several Berklee alumni.

2018

Alan Balandra B.M. of Burbank, CA, released his newest song, “Slipping Away,” in September. This song was born during his time at Berklee.

Marie Martine Bédard B.P.S. of Sainte-Adèle, Canada, created Le Projet Hippocampe (The Hippocampus Project), which combines technological art and popular song and is supported by the Canadian Council for the Arts.

Geoffrey Carter B.M. of Lenox, MA, opened the school BeatNest, a creative space where kids can learn about beat-making, experiment with synths, and gain experience with music technology.

Nadav Hezi B.M. of Glendale, CA, coproduces and performs in Emergence: Things Are Not As They Seem, an off-Broadway performance of music, spoken word, and psychedelia, led by artist Patrick Olson.

Seth D. Mills B.M. of Englewood, NJ, is a music teacher at Bach to Rock in River Edge, NJ.

2019

Aleksi Godard of Paris, France, has two RIAA Gold Certifications for his work on “Wild Side” by Normani and Cardi B, and “City of Gods” by Alicia Keys, Fivio Foreign, and Kanye West. He’s an engineer at N.Y.C.’s Hit Factory.

Sofiko Kereselidze M.A. of Tbilisi, Georgia, is the founder and host of the Creative Minds Speaking podcast.

Bjorn Shen B.M. of Beijing, China, is working on 大风吹, produced by Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). He also composed for 繁城之下 (Ripe Town), a top show in China.

Wenyi Yuan B.M. of Shanghai, China, is the cofounder of Dasheng Entertainment Group.

2020

Songah Chae M.M. of Incheon, South Korea, released the new album In the Beginning with the SongAh Chae Trio featuring Samuel Keri B.M. ’21, M.M. ’22 on bass and Joshua Wheatley B.M. ’16, M.M. ’17 on drums.

Ryan Clure of Woburn, MA, was a finalist in the rock category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

Lina Cooper B.M. (A.K.A. Polina Bondarenko) of Kyiv, Ukraine, was a finalist in the rock category at the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.

Kim Logan B.P.S. of New London, NH, released the single “Evil” on her label, Swamp Thing Records. This is her first release since the 2020 LP Shadow Work, which she made with her band, the Silhouettes.

Andrew Maxfield M.M. of Provo, UT, had his piece What About the Duck, a sequel to Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, premiered at the Utah Symphony. He has been commissioned by Utah Opera and won the King’s Singers New Music Prize.

Robert Scott Wallace B.M. of Los Angeles provided additional music and assisted on the film scores for Landscape with Invisible Hand, The Burial, and Breaking. He is also working on a Disney+ series.

2021

Kwaku Sarpong Adu-Gyamfi M.A. of Los Angeles leads social media and content strategy for Iconic Artists Group’s roster, which includes Cher, the Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, and others.

Ahmad Aljarrah M.M. of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, writes Saudi common rhythms and teaches students how to play Saudi polyrhythms independently on drums.

Sam Ruff M.M. of North Hollywood, CA, is the drummer for the 2024 tour of The Life and Music of George Michael. He is also touring with The Simon & Garfunkel Story.

2022

Chen Liu B.M. of Guangzhou, China, is songwriter and lyricist for the Chinese TV show Love Under the Full Moon.

Brittany McCorriston B.M. of Milwaukee, WI, is a music publication editor. She published her first book of arrangements, Piano Songs for the Very Beginner, available on Amazon and HalLeonard.com.

Dillan Schmitz B.A. of Calgary, Canada, is an award-winning composer and sound designer working on the games Dark Age Dinos, Romanticized Dreams of a Post-Apocalyptic Cowpoke, and Crazy Kung Fu VR, and the film Mixed Signals.

Maya Karli Taylor B.M. of Los Angeles wrote and released the song “Never Get with Them,” produced and arranged by Maxamillion Haunt and Nick Lewert.

Ligia Ngo Van B.M. of Brighton, MA, cofounded the Apollo School of Music and Arts in Boston; over 70 percent of students have earned ABRSM certificates and many compete and perform internationally.

2023

Heng-Yao Cheng B.M. of Redondo Beach, CA, does audio post-production for movies and films, and manages up-and-coming artists.

Zhang Dongliang M.A. of Madrid, Spain, launched Chapter 2 Entertainment, which offers artists market entry strategies and booking services.

Jung Hyun Kim B.M. of Seoul, South Korea, founded the company Artive Sound, which works on music and special effects for games, TV shows, films, escape rooms, and more.