Headshot of Alper Tuzcu

Alper Tuzcu

Assistant Professor
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Alper Tuzcu's website

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Alper Tuzcu is a composer, producer, and educator. He has collaborated and recorded songs with Grammy-winning musicians such as Marcelo Woloski (Snarky Puppy), Ganavya (Esperanza Spalding, Residente), and Javier Limón (Paco de Lucía, Wynton Marsalis).

His music has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio, RTVé, and many other media channels. His 2021 EP, Raíz, was selected as one of the Top 10 EPs of 2021 by NPR affiliate the Latin Alt HD3, and one of the songs on this EP, "Afortunado," was selected for the NPR show World Cafe’s Best of 2021 LatinX playlist. His bossa nova composition "Felicidade" has over a million streams on Spotify, and his lo-fi track “Uzaklarda” was featured on Spotify's editorial playlists.

Tuzcu has performed at prestigious festivals and venues including the Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Shapeshifter Lab (New York), youbloomLA Festival (Los Angeles), Sofar Sounds Washington D.C., and Sofar Sounds Boston, among many others. His full catalog has reached 5 million streams and more than 1.5 million listeners globally. In 2016, he was selected to become a voting member for the Grammy Awards. He graduated from Berklee College of Music magna cum laude in 2015 after winning a scholarship at the Umbria Jazz Festival.

Career Highlights
  • Collaborations and recordings with Grammy-winning musicians such as Marcelo Woloski (Snarky Puppy), Ganavya (Esperanza Spalding, Residente), and Javier Limón (Paco de Lucía, Wynton Marsalis)
  • Songs featured on NPR, BBC Radio, RTVé, and many other media channels worldwide
  • Previous work on music education projects at Harvard University, iZotope, and Digital Media Academy
  • Past guest lecturer at Berklee Valencia and Yamaha Music School in Valencia
  • Recorded and produced three internationally acclaimed albums, four EPs, 10 singles, and one audiobook with a reach of over 5 million streams and over 1.5 million listeners globally since 2016
  • Author of over 100 articles for music publications and companies such as Universal Music Group (Spinnup), Berklee Online, Tunecore, Sonicbids, and Reverbnation, among others
  • Single "Afortunado" selected for NPR's World Cafe's Best of 2021 LatinX playlist
  • EP Raíz selected as one of the Top 10 EPs of 2021 by NPR affiliate radio the Latin Alt HD3
  • Performances at the Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Shapeshifter Lab (New York), Bossa (Washington, D.C.), Kallasch & Moabiter (Berlin), and Gran Bodega Salto (Barcelona), among other festivals
  • Grammy Awards voting member since 2016
Awards
  • Recipient of the Umbria Jazz Festival's Berklee on the Road Scholarship to study full time at Berklee College of Music
  • Recipient of the Founders Scholarship, Denison University
In Their Own Words

"I want my students to be able to walk away from my lessons with the technical skills and the artistic vision to be able to produce and release their own music. Moreover, I want them to have an understanding of how foundational concepts in music technology work so that they can quickly adapt to the newest technological developments. I believe that having these skills should help them establish their autonomy in today’s music industry, even if they do not always participate in every step of the song creation process."

"I try to encourage them to get their music out there and unlearn any perfectionist inhibitions they may have so that their creative output can only grow in the long term."

As an active composer and producer, I am in tune with the song creation process in the contemporary music world, staying up to date with music technologies and new developments in the industry. This allows me to present fresh knowledge in my classes and keep my curricula current and relevant."

"I regularly compose and produce my own songs, which end up being released independently. This is a process where I take on the roles of being the composer, producer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, guitarist, and sometimes even the singer. The way to manage this many responsibilities is by refining the songs through constant feedback and working towards making them better over time. As an extension of this, I love teaching in a feedback-based environment where I can help students unlock their creativity and mentor them. I think Berklee is a great place for this with its approach that music education is possible through the study of contemporary musical styles."