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Nichelle Mungo

Associate Professor
Affiliated Departments
Ensemble
Voice
njmungo@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-8957
Personal Websites
Nichelle Mungo's Website

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Nichelle J. Mungo is a multi-year Grammy Music Educator nominee, three-time winner of Showtime at the Apollo, multi-year recipient of Best Artist Award (Gospel and R&B) by New England Urban Music Awards, and recipient of the Berklee Urban Service Award. 

Representative of true artistry, contemporary enough for the masses, and prodigious enough for the most discriminating musical ear, Mungo inspires, engages, captivates, and spiritually radiates her audiences. 

In addition to her own internationally acclaimed artistry, Mungo is a recording artist, professor, songwriter, choral master, and multifaceted freelance musician. 

Career highlights include work with Harry Connick Jr., Phil Perry, Kirk Whalum, Sinbad, Doobie Powell, and Shaquille O'Neal, among others, and performances at the Chick Singer Tour, the Newport Folk Festival, the Annapolis Choral Festival, The Lord of the Rings Symphony, the Final Fantasy Symphony, and All Star Comedy Jam, among others. Mungo has been the guest music director for Stax Records Music Academy and done commercial work for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She's had a featured spotlight on Shine Boston and done vocal work for VH1 Divas Live winner Tarralyn Ramsey. She sang the national anthem for the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, and New England Revolution, and served as guest clinician for Chatting with the Masters with Grammy Award–winner Dorinda Clark Cole.

Mungo's background also includes fashion modeling, acting, and poetry. She has starred in hit plays, such as Cinderella, Sista Girl, Another Moment in Black History, and Hallelujah in A Flat. 

Mungo released her own Christmas single, and she is featured on the 2017 release of "Again" by the Jeremy Turgeon Quintet. She has also recorded various releases with Doobie Powell, Indie Soul United I and II, on which her single "Not Gonna Run Away" topped the UK Soul chart and MRF (Michael Flanagan)'s debut release of Elevator Music, and multiple releases with the Glory Gospel Singers, among many others.

Career Highlights
  • Singer-songwriter, choral director, performer, and certified music educator
  • Recordings include Indie Soul United II, Indie Soul United I, Doobie Powell's The Time Is Now, Natalie Wilson's Good Life, MRF's Elevator Music, Harry Connick Jr.'s Love Wins, Glory Gospel Singers Anime, and Glory Gospel Singers A Capella
  • Vocal director for Tarralyn Ramsey
  • Featured on a comedy tour with Talent, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bro-Man
  • Commercials for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health
  • Performed the national anthem for the opening of the Reebok World Headquarters, the New England Patriots, and the New England Revolution
  • Guest music director for the world-renowned Stax Records Music Academy 
  • Background vocalist for the legendary Doobie Powell
  • Featured vocalist for the Jeremy Turgeon Quintet
  • Guest clinician for Chatting with the Masters with Grammy Award–winner Dorinda Clark Cole
  • Performances with Kirk Whalum, Phil Perry, Shaquille O'Neal, All Star Comedy Jam, Amel Larrieux, and Natalie Cole, among many more
  • Choir master for the Lord of the Rings Symphony and Final Fantasy Symphony
  • Vocal coordinator for Justin Timberlake and Alex Lacamoire for their Berklee honorary doctorate concert
Awards
  • Recipient of the 2007 Best Female R&B Artist New England Urban Music Award
  • Three-time recipient of the Best Gospel and R&B Artist from the New England Urban Music Awards
  • Three-time winner of Showtime at the Apollo
  • Three-time Grammy Music Educator Award nominee
In Their Own Words

"I teach lessons for the Voice Department where I focus on vocal technique, assuring that students are singing in a healthy manner. The students are aware of my philosophy for warm-ups: the more relaxed and flexible your vocal mechanisms are inwardly, the better your voice will produce outwardly. If you maintain your voice, keeping it warmed up using proper technique, your voice will be one of great longevity. I tell the students to treat their voices just as an athlete would treat their bodies before a game or a race. You wouldn't just wake up one day and say, 'I want to run a 26-mile marathon!' You have to properly prepare for it."

"I love the Voice Department. My colleagues are just incredible. Everyone is widely diverse, and we respect each other for what we have to offer. These are important attributes to have when teaching students from varied cultures. At other places I've been, the focus would be on one genre. Our Voice Department is quite eclectic. Our variety ranges from ambient to hip-hop to R&B to jazz to classical to musical theater and more. We are the epitome of a well-rounded vocal education."

"I think it's important for students to be well educated in their whole artistry—particularly the vocalist, as we tend to have a negative rep for lacking theoretical knowledge. I encourage vocalists to learn another instrument to gain this knowledge. Not only will they become artists in high demand, but the education behind this demand makes for a great ease in musical communication with others. Most importantly, I feel vocalists should stop at nothing to properly cultivate their craft, as well as prove to instrumentalists that we too are musicians, not just dumb singers."

"If you were accepted to Berklee, know something unique was noticed about you, so take full trust in the gifts and talents you've been given! It is my duty as your professor to meet you where you are and cultivate you forward. The only requirement you have in life is to simply "be," to hone in on and perfect your giftedness, and share it. In my classrooms and lessons, you will find a safe and nurturing atmosphere for you to do so."

Additional Related Links
Nichelle Mungo on Instagram