Alum

Erin Barra

Associate Professor

Affiliated Departments

Berklee Online

ebarra@berklee.edu

617-747-6913

Erin Barra's website

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An authoritative voice in music technology education, Erin Barra is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music and Berklee Online. Specializing in composition, performance, and creative music technology application, she has worked with and represented companies such as Ableton, ROLI, MusicTech, Moog, and iZotope. A fierce gender equity activist, she runs Beats by Girlz, is on the board of Women in Music, and is spearheading research regarding women in the music industry in partnership with Berklee’s Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship.

Check out Barra’s work as an artist on all platforms, and catch her live electronic performances on YouTube.

Career Highlights

Wrote/produced records for or with Kathy Mattea (Sugar Hill Records), Res (EOne), Jeremiah Abiah (Universal Republic), Elephant Wrecking Ball (Ropeadope), and Rita Boudreau (independent), among others
Collaborators include Miles Robertson (Adele, Alicia Keys, Yamaha artist), John Oates (Hall & Oates), Niclas Lundin (Scandinavian Songs, Imagem), Ari Raskin (Wyclef Jean, Kanye West, Whitney Houston), and Paul Wilson (SZA, Lauryn Hill, Outasight), among others
Has presented at Loop 2015 and 2019, Moogfest 2019, Future of Music Coalition 2011, South by Southwest 2012 and 2019, and Gearfest 2013–2018, among others
Creator and executive director of Beats by Girlz, an organization whose chapters empower young women to engage with music technology by providing them with the guidance, access, tools, and support to develop their interests and ability to pursue career opportunities in music production, composition, and engineering
Writer/blogger for several publications including MusicTech Magazine, iZotope, SonicScoop, American Songwriter, and Brooklyn Bodega, among others

In Their Own Words

"My teaching style is engaging. I like to make things fun and get everyone involved in the learning experience. One of my top priorities is making sure I give my students everything I can to prepare them for working in the current state of the music industry. I want students to leave my class feeling like they've learned useful new skills, which they are inspired to use in their writing and creative process. Additionally, I want to give them perspective and guidance in regards to their post-Berklee careers."

"Besides being one of the only songwriting programs in the world, Berklee's program provides its students not only with a fantastic curriculum and educators but with real-world opportunities. My career, and those of many of my peers, is true testimony to its success. I've been working in the industry since the day I left Berklee in 2006, and besides having the experience of 'been there, done that' as a songwriter/producer/engineer, I've been teaching and collaborating all over the United States and writing curriculum since 2011. I believe my ability to focus on education while maintaining a vibrant career is rare, and the two paradigms support each other rather than detracting from each other."