Faculty Notes: Spring 2022

Berklee Boston

Professor Kris Adams recorded an album of guitarist Mike O’Neil’s music. It was recorded in Basel, Switzerland, at the Bird’s Eye Jazz Club, with alumni pianist Bob Degen, bassist André Buser, and drummer Peter Perfido.

Associate Professor Janie Barnett completed her album Re-Imagining Cole Porter, which features intricate Americana arrangements and taps stellar musicians from the Americana and the jazz worlds. The album will be released in 2022. She is also at work on a new album of original tunes. Visit janiebarnett.com.

Assistant Professor Peter Bell released his first solo album, Just Sayin’, in September. It was produced with David Mash B.M. ’76 and features Bruce Nifong ’81, Professor Mark Walker, Instructor Lydia Harrell, other alumni, and students. It is available on most digital music distribution sites. Visit peterbellmusic.com.  

Assistant Professor Amy Bellamy and her husband, bassist Aaron Bellamy, lead the power funk collective the A-Beez, which released its third studio album, Reclamation. The band will conduct a live in-studio performance May 14 at the Fallout Shelter. Visit linktr.ee/theABeez.

Associate Professor Sergio Bellotti and Enrico Santarelli ’03 teamed up with world-renowned composer Vince Tempera, the conductor for many editions of the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, for a full-length album. It was released on MAP records and is available on all digital platforms. Visit sergiobellotti.com.

In January, Assistant Professor Cristi Catt performed at Jordan Hall. Catt also released the single “Little Cabbage” with Hui Weng, recorded in the Shames Family Scoring Stage, by Mark Wessel, weeks before the shutdown. Visit youtube.com/watch?v=ks_UoalUOhs.

Associate Professor Ady Cohen composed additional music for the animated feature film Across the Wall, out next summer. In January, he was selected, for the second time, by Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Music Department as a finalist for the Kaplan Commission for a new concert band composition.

Assistant Professor Mark Copeland wrote and produced “Never Give Up” for recording artist and The Voice finalist Michelle Brooks-Thompson. Assistant Professor Ted Paduck (recording and mix engineer), Acting Assistant Chair Tyrone Chase (guitar), and Samantha McGrady also contributed.

Assistant Professor Steven Feifke was featured in DownBeat magazine, and is releasing his debut trio record, The Role of the Rhythm Section, this spring on La Reserve Records. This is a follow-up on his three big-band releases from last year, KINETIC, Prologue, and Season’s Swingin’ Greetings.

Assistant Professor Claire Marie Lim's new album of electronic music, Destiny: Songs of Sisterhood, was created with female-identifying and nonbinary youth of Asian descent in Queens, New York, and released under the artist project dolltr!ck. It was made possible by a Queens Art Fund grant. 

Associate Professor Maria Finkelmeier released DESCENDED, an album of electro-acoustic works based on the life and writings of Lafcadio Hearn and featuring Jean Laurenz on trumpet and vocals. The music also scores an award-winning art film of the same name.

Professor Ellen Francese received a spring 2021 Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship grant for her project Creating Responsible Artists as Human Rights Activists: Full Participation in Artistic Representation. Her students practice prison abolition work.

Professor Laszlo Gardony recorded his 14th album as a leader, with Yoron Israel, chair of the Percussion Department, and Associate Professor John Lockwood at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio. Sunnyside Records will release it this summer.

Professor Bruce Gertz, along with Raleigh Green ’02, created a hybrid app/Apple book, which is available for guitar and bass, called Music Sight Reader. It’s the first set of 20 e-books with duets, trios, and quartets in the classical genre. In February, his composition “Snowfall,” a collaboration with Claus Freudenstein, was released.

Assistant Professor Eva Gertz took a five-month road trip across the United States. While traveling, she filmed, produced, and edited her video and original song “Little Know It All,” which conveys an uplifting message about nurturing one’s inner child and finding joy. Visit youtube.com/watch?v=4b-SsM-34KlI&t=7s.

Darla S. Hanley, dean of the Professional Education Division, wrote, along with Allison P. Kipp, a book for music teachers, parents, and caregivers called Jazz Is Elementary: Creativity Development Through Music Activities, Movement Games, and Dances for K-5 (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard). The foreword was written by Victor Wooten.

Assistant Professor Michael Hendrix's book, Two Beats Ahead, What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation, coauthored with Panos Panay ’94, copresident of the Recording Academy, was translated and published in Japan in September by Toyo Keizai.

Associate Professor Matt Jenson became a full member of the band Groundation. He cowrote and arranged most of the music, and played keyboard, on its upcoming album, One Rock. He also launched an online reggae educational platform, Art of Reggae, seeded by Berklee’s Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship grant. Visit artofreggae.com.

Associate Professor Hey Rim Jeon became a listee in Marquis Who’s Who in America. It selects individuals based on position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field. Visit marquisbiographiesonline.com.

Associate Professor Luis Perdomo, an award-winning pianist, joined the Ensemble Department. Perdomo is a touring artist who has participated in over 250 recordings. His most recent album, El Arte del Bolero, a duo with Miguel Zenón B.M. ’98, is nominated for a 2022 Grammy. 

Professor Darrell Katz released the album Galeanthropology in October with OddSong, which is composed of four saxes, voice, violin, and marimba, and includes associate professors Rebecca Shrimpton, Helen Sherrah-Davies, and Vessela Stoyanova; Assistant Professor Lihi Haruvi; and Professor Mimi Rabson.

Associate Professor Scarlet Keys has a new weekly podcast for songwriters on songwriting, What’s in a Song. In it, she takes a deep dive into the craft and process of songwriting in conversations with eminent songwriters, producers, and creatives, asking them questions that only a songwriting professor would ask.

Julie Kinscheck became an assistant professor in the Voice Department in the fall. In December, she released her first book, Vocal Training for Praise Singers! Visit julieksings.com/vocaltrainingforpraisesingers.

Professor Teodros Kiros interviewed Terri Lyne Carrington in African Ascent International, and interviewed Noam Chomsky for the second time. He also wrote an article on Charles Mills for The CLR James Journal and published two books, Self-Definition: A Philosophical Inquiry from the Global North and Global South and Conversations with Cornel West.

Mark Kohler accepted the position of assistant chair of the Percussion Department in July.

Professor Rosey Lee was one of the chosen composers for the Daffodil Perspective 4th Annual Winter Wonderland Spectacular in December. The songs “Great Snow” and “Winter Solstice” were performed by the pianist Lauren Schack Clark.

Professor Lauren Passarelli wrote, performed, mixed, and released the EP Mystery (Feather Records).

Assistant Professor Jozef Nadj, a violinist, released his third record, Twenty Twenty One, under the Serbian label Multimedia Music, recorded mostly online in 2020. The album features professors Bruce Gertz (bass) and John Baboian (guitar), Associate Professor Vladan Milenkovic (keys), and Michael Clarke (drums). Visit jozefnadj.com/download.

Assistant Professor Jason Palmer is releasing a new album on Giant Step Arts that was recorded live in Central Park in the spring of 2021. Palmer also played trumpet on the PBS Frontline podcast Un(re)solved.

Assistant Professor Patricia Zarate Perez received the Brother Thomas Fund and Fellows Program, as well as the keys to Panama City. Her work was featured on the Panamanian TV show Brilliant Minds. And her all-female group from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute was featured at the Panama Jazz Festival 2022.

Professor Alison Plante scored the upcoming feature documentary As Prescribed. Visit asprescribedfilm.com.

Professor Felice Pomeranz will present master classes at the American Harp Society National Conference and the World Harp Congress. Her newest Berklee Press book, Contemporary Etudes for Harp, will be released  this summer. She will tour several European cities to promote the book. 

Professor Steve Rochinski's memoir, A Man of His Time: Secrets from a Halfway World (Mascot Books), was awarded 1st Place/Best In Category awards for Narrative Non-Fiction at the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Associate Professor Ned Rosenblatt, of the Voice Department, is now a published arranger with Anchor Music.

Assistant Professor Alper Tuzcu's latest EP, Raíz, was selected as one of the top 10 EPs of 2021 by Latin Alt 88.5 HD 3. “Afortunado,” from this EP, was featured on NPR World Cafe’s Best of 2021 LatinX Playlist.

Assistant Professor Shea Rose presents The Identity Project Vol. 1, Berklee’s first hip-hop compilation. Rose, a recording artist and voice coach, draws inspiration from themes in hip-hop lyrics for the project, identity, and origin story. The compilation features music from 15 current and former students.

Walter Smith III, chair of the Woodwind Department, released the album In Common III, featuring Matt Stevens (guitar), Dave Holland (bass), and faculty members Kris Davis (piano) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums).

Assistant Professor Ryan Suleiman's work “Piece of Mind,” commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, was premiered by Juventas Ensemble in Cambridge. Also, an excerpt from Suleiman’s opera The School for Girls Who Lost Everything in the Fire was performed by West Edge Opera in San Francisco.

Professor Francesca Tanksley, a jazz pianist and composer, participated in a composers’ cohort, organized by M3 (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians). Her work was streamed live through the National Jazz Museum of Harlem in March. Visit mutualmentorshipformusicians.org.

Assistant Professor Mark Zaleski's group, the Mark Zaleski Band, released its third album on Origin Record, Our Time: Reimagining Dave Brubeck, featuring Michael Mayo, Glenn Zaleski, Assistant Professor Jon Bean, and Oscar Suchanek B.M. ’14. Visit markzaleski.com.

Assistant Professor Erini Tornesaki received the Traditional Arts Fellowship from the Mass Cultural Council for the singing of Greek traditional songs from Asia Minor. This grant is given to three to four traditional musical artists every two years in Massachusetts.

Professor Francine Trester's composed “A Walk in Her Shoes,” which was premiered by Boston Landmarks Orchestra at the Hatch Shell in September. The composition honored the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment and several women who lived along the Dorchester Women’s Heritage Trail.

Professor Bob Pilkington released Counterpoint in Jazz Arranging (Berklee Press). It covers what the title says while also addressing fundamental concepts in a practical application. It is the first book ever published on jazz counterpoint, which was only previously covered in chapters of more general arranging books.

Boston Conservatory at Berklee 

Assistant Professor Lillian Carter created the short film WOMAN, which began as a modern dance piece while she was a Conservatory student. It was recognized in 13 countries, has won 29 awards, and debuted on public television in Northern Ireland and in the United Kingdom. Visit filmfreeway.com/WOMAN835.

Tony Award–winning Assistant Professor Eric Cornell is executive-producing a new theatrical project based on the life of rock ’n’ roll pioneer Lloyd Price (“Stagger Lee,” “Personality,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”). A developmental production opens this spring at People’s Light theater in Pennsylvania, ahead of a commercial run.

Associate Professor Saul Bitran just released an album with his group, Latin Grammy Award–winning Latin American Quartet, of which he is the first violinist. The album, Ruperto Chapí String Quartets 3 & 4 (Sono Luminus), covers music by the Spanish composer.

Assistant Professor Brian Dillon has returned to the Broadway company of Aladdin for a short time after touring with the show for two years.

Assistant Professor Mischa Salkind-Pearl traveled to Atlanta in February for a performance on the Bent Frequency series, and is developing the composition of a second opera, collaborating with author Franny Zhang. Visit guerillaopera.org/a-dead-body.

Berklee Online

After 20 years of teaching ear training, piano, bass, and ensembles on the Boston campus, Professor John Funkhouser has moved to Albuquerque, NM. He is still teaching one or two classes per quarter on Berklee Online, as well as teaching privately and keeping a busy performing schedule.

Berklee Valencia

Associate Professor Enrique Hernandis composed a requiem for choir and orchestra, dedicated to all COVID victims, including his father. He also received an honorable mention in the Classic Pure Vienna international music competition in November.