Schillinger House: When Berklee Built a Bridge to the Russian Avant-Garde

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Event Dates
Immersive Technology Lab
150 Massachusetts Avenue, Library (1st Floor)
Boston
MA
02115
United States

Join us for a presentation on Russian American composer Joseph Schillinger, whose methods were taught at Berklee College of Music in its early years. When the college opened in 1945, it was called Schillinger House.

Schillinger, who taught George Gershwin, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Lawrence Berk, and many others, had a musical background in the Russian avant-garde. This makes his influence on American popular music intriguing. How did he bridge the gap between two types of music that often are seen as opposed to each other? How did he use his methods to teach students the creation of popular melodies? And did Miller’s signature tune, “Moonlight Serenade,” really emerge as a result of Schillinger’s mentoring?

Nikita Braguinski, a visiting postdoctoral fellow of the Music Department at Harvard University, will answer these questions and demonstrate a Schillinger method that Quincy Jones learned when he was a student at Berklee.

Coffee, tea, and snacks will be served. If you have questions, contact facultydevelopment@berklee.edu.

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