Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration)

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  SPACE SONGS

  Michael Shanks
  2020

  Space Songs is a musically cosmic voyage consisting of a three-song space rock EP and release strategy that will launch myself as an imaginative artist with a cohesive sound and identity. The goal of the project is to create songs that conjure up stories and images of other worlds which will in turn showcase my skills as a musician, songwriter, composer and producer. Being from “Space City” Houston, Texas, home to NASA, I’ve had a lifelong fascination with the cosmos and wish to express that in music. Through the process of executing this project, I greatly expanded my knowledge in all the aforementioned fields using many advanced techniques (new and old!) to create a coherent sonic and lyrical space that transports the listener to distant colorful worlds. I’ve also created a 12-week release schedule and marketing plan consisting of a cohesively branded social media strategy designed to identify my audience and direct their attention to my upcoming EP. My hope is for Space Songs to inspire other artists to follow in my footsteps and craft their very own musical universes where they can take their audiences on emotional journeys through space and time.

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  Atravesando Mares

  Katiana Maria Somer
  2020

  “Atravesando Mares” explores how heritage and identity can be the innate drive of creativity and shape the way one can express themselves artistically. I speak of how I found a community of like-minded musicians and I was able to grow as an artist in that safe space. The importance of my family and the way I came into my identity as an adult and through the medium of music is a big reason for this project. My main objective with this project was to create an artistic identity of someone who possesses a unique knowledge of Latin American and Spanish Traditional music and applies that knowledge and experience to create original and reinterpreted works. My research consisted of exploring the Latino experience in America and how it relates to my personal experience. For this I often refer to the book “Oye Como Va: Hybridity and Identity in Latino Popular Music” by Deborah Pacini Hernandez. I also wanted to go into more depth in my creative choices and so I decided to research the broader idea of remixed art and how it relates to my process and the current music trends for the genre of music that I am create. I explore the execution of the 4 songs I chose to record while at Berklee Valencia and my professional plans for the future of my artistic career and highlight the skills and experience gained from this unique and cutting-edge program.

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  LIFE, LOVE, & LIBERTY

  Jawren Walton
  2020

  The goal of this project is to create an EP or album of honest, thought-provoking, and soulful songs that challenge the negative stereotypes perceived of people coming from the city I was raised in, Jacksonville, Fl. Also to use this recording project to advance my career as a musician, songwriter, producer, and artist. To achieve this I have composed three songs with lyrics and storytelling to reflect the basic emotions that I believe all humans, no matter the nationality, possess. This will include topics on love, anger, happiness, fear, sadness, joy, and self worth. The sonic landscape of this project will be centered in Soul/R&B with strong influences of jazz, hip-hop, and gospel. After creating the recording I want to connect with other people by sharing this project through live performance and videos. The ability to be able to think, feel, speak, and express yourself freely is the ultimate human common denominator we all seek in life. This led me to the theme of my culminating experience. Life, Love, and Liberty. All of these elements are concepts that the artists that have influenced me spent their careers exploring and expanding on.

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  The time capsule

  Rebal Alkhodari
  2019

  The main purpose of my CE project is to compose songs about these stories which are normal stories that can be happening anywhere. The only difference is: they happened in the wartime and war zones!

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  Jiwamu Jawabanmu : Finding Artistic Identity Through Compositions

  Kezia Angkadjaja
  2019

  The purpose of this project was to find artistic identity through compositions. Because of my background as a classical musician growing up in a non-musical family, composing had been a foreign subject. I believe that artistic identity is closely tied to compositions and the sonic atmosphere they create. In this project, I created nine compositions, through which, I discovered my artistic identity: Organic Electronic Indonesian Indie Music. I combine the elements of Indonesian Indie chords and melody, lyrics, acoustic instruments, combination of vocal and violin, electronic instruments, and electronic processing. The purpose of combining acoustic and electronic elements is to preserve and augment the natural element of the acoustic sound. This combination of genre created a new color that will contribute to the Indonesian music scene.

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  The saxophone: The wind that moves the life in the Valle del Mantaro, Perú

  Carolina Araoz
  2019

  The main purpose of my work has been to put in value the tradition of the Valle del Mantaro and the essential role of the saxophone on the Orquesta Típica that accompanies all their festivities. To do this, I have investigated, document and recreate the music of the Valle del Mantaro, as a way of example so it can inspire other musical forms and give it a global reach. The focus of the investigation has been Jauja, very representative of the music of Valle del Mantaro (Peru). And the work was limited to three musical genres: huaylijía, jija and tunantada, from among many other existing genres. This project is the first step that is being made to make the world know about the Valle del Mantaro tradition. Taking the music around the world and letting musicians play it, will help to universalize this special language and way of expressing with the saxophone. The hope is that it inspires saxophone players and musicians to travel to Peru and go to the Valle del Mantaro to experience the immense power of the saxophone and it ́s dances surrounded by astonishing nature. This project will contribute to my professional career as an educator, performer, and consolidate my image as a Peruvian Cultural Ambassador.

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  Flor de Canela: finding our identity as a band

  Marta Bautista Serrano
  2019

  My objective with this CE is show a way to find the identity of a band or an individual artist. I’m using the experience of my band because is where I learned all this and the point from I have examples to show it. I’m electric and upright bass player and I have background in classical, jazz and modern music. I was born in Canary Island and I obtained my degree in jazz and modern music (upright bass specialty) at ESMUC, Barcelona (Spain). I lived there during four years, and one year after finish it, my band Flor de Canela started and with it my learning about find the identity. I’m going to focus in the work that we did in the music with the producer because is the point that we are and because I realized that for me is a strong and important point to start to build the identity.

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  Sound Sensation: A Multisensorial Expansion of the Aural Experience

  Luca Bordonaro
  2019

  Sound Sensation is the concept created by Luca Bordonaro in which the musician, after crafting the musical work, expand the aural experience by conveying the same message with different stimuli directed to all the other senses, and not necessarily connected among them. This concept takes place in the deliverable Il Fanciullino (The Little Child): a conceptual art, multisensorial exposition where the audience is introduced to four different "emotional environments" related to the artist’s inner child. Each of these environments is represented by an immersive experience that gives the audience the possibility to look within and try to connect with their inner child. At the end of the exposition the spectator will have objective elements that can serve as a starting point for an interior research about how they relate to themselves and to the external world. The exposition uses Virtual Reality headset, 360° panned music through headphones, combination of taste, scents and touch stimuli. The four "emotional environments" explored are: Relaxation, Awkwardness, Cheerfulness and Surrealism.

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  Fusion Explorations from a Jazz Perspective

  Michael Casey
  2019

  In my efforts to be progressive for myself as an artist (compared to my past work), and to not simply settle for my previous experiences playing jazz fusion, I set out to challenge myself (in most cases) by fusing more styles per song (or elements from a style) than just one with jazz concept, and additionally to keep the jazz foundation an integral part. I believe that often “jazz fusion” of the last 10 or so years (especially the more “popular” the artist) seems to lacks the spontaneity, freedom, deep group communication/call and response, sense of urgency, edge, looseness of beat, relaxed delivery, swagger, and fearless risk-taking/experimentation that jazz (and older forms of jazz fusion) is built on. I searched for a way, both in composition design and concept, to truly balance the “jazz” part with elements of more than 1 style, often taking cues from outside the USA.

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  Sound and Vision: Developing a Method of Audiovisual Composition and Improvisation for Drum Set

  Patrick Cleland
  2019

  The drum set is not typically seen as an instrument that can emote or entertain on the same level as an instrument with a melodic or harmonic voice. However, advancements in AI-powered acoustic drum mapping--namely Sensory Percussion software—have created a way around these limitations, allowing the drums to trigger any combination of sounds in an unprecedentedly responsive and dynamic way. This project uses these sensors as a compositional tool with the drum set as the focus. Furthermore, it takes the tools beyond their out-of-box capabilities by routing data from Sensory Percussion and using it to control effects in Ableton, Max/MSP, and Resolume in order to create a cohesive audiovisual experience.

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  The Journey

  Travis Collins
  2019

  This project is focused on discovering my artist identity through creating compositions and experimenting with methods of communication with the audience through that music. Instrumental music is how I have been expressing those ideas and with that I have been able to discover unique ways to tell stories through my compositions. One of the best ways I went about sharing these stories is through melody. The melody is meant to be sing able so that the listener can easily grasp on to it and internalize it. It is one of the best ways for individuals to retain music and resonate with it. I want it to be easy for people to understand my music even if they aren’t musically inclined.

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  Aliya & the New Andalus

  Aliya Cycon
  2019

  The purpose of my project was to create a band and a collection of compositions to serve as a vehicle for accomplishing my musical career goals. The challenge for composing the four original pieces was to successfully and authentically fuse Arabic, Flamenco, Sefardic and North African musical styles, thereby emulating and modernizing the sounds of al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia in the Medieval ages). The project features me playing the Arabic Oud as well as singing in Arabic, Spanish, Ladino and English to represent the languages spoken in this period, as well as my own language. The outcome of the project was a professionally recorded audio track and music video for each of the four songs, and a concrete dissemination plan for the music, including a PDF sheet with info about the band to submit to music festivals, artistic photos and a band logo. The band is called Aliya and the New Andalus and the compositions are entitled “Come to Me,” “Monte de Sinai,” “My Name” and “La Convivencia.”

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  Illusion of Destiny: Songs of Identity and Appropriation

  Upatyaka Dutta
  2019

  The present Culminating Experience “Illusion of Destiny” is a song writing project which deals with composing, writing lyrics, arranging and producing four songs to be released as an Extended Play (EP) in the future. The lyrics of the songs are predominantly about various issues of human rights around the world, namely, women’s rights, child rights and religious polarisation. Through this effort of writing socially conscious lyrics, there is an attempt to enhance discussion and dialogue about these various socio-political matters. The lyrics of these songs are in three different languages, namely, Assamese, Hindi and English, depending on the relevance of the issue in the lives of the people speaking each of these languages. The project also includes the conceptualisation and production of a music video of one of the four songs. The music is experimental with multiple genres including Indian folk and classical, rock, pop and funk.

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  Human Ties - Connecting Deprived Talents with the International Community through Music

  Luis Flores Villalobos
  2019

  The purpose of Human Ties is to take the first step in connecting artists with underprivileged talents, thus contributing towards a world in which consciousness flourishes and art is valued as a human necessity, not a luxury. To accomplish this, I decided to donate the profit that ensues from the music I composed and recorded at Berklee, to impoverished young people in rural Mexico. While the composing and recording of the five pieces that form this work are the obvious outcome, the essence of this thesis is about taking responsibility as a human being. Philanthropy cannot be relegated to an activity of the super wealthy but must become an integral act of sacrifice that defines the very essence of a contemporary artist. By making a small but very tangible contribution towards the proliferation of art, I hope not only to help the beneficiaries of this project to stay on the path of artistic life, but also to inspire my peers to embrace a more compassionate motivation for their creative work, other than fame, profit, and success.

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  The Nature of a Contemporary Percussionist

  Patrick Graney
  2019

  My goal for this year at Berklee Valencia as a percussionist, was to collaborate with musicians from around the world. I wanted to perform, record and research many different styles thus increasing my awareness of music and culture, as well as be able to cultivate a tangible body of work for my portfolio.

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  THE CHANGING SAME: LATIN- AMERICAN JAZZ

  Zule Guerra
  2019

  This project aims at investigating the different styles of jazz that have evolved in diverse Latin American regions, influenced by the cultural background of its performers and the fusion that they have achieved with contemporary jazz. At the same time, it delivers a creative work accompanied by a studio DEMO composed of 5 songs, each of which is committed to a different fusion representing the selected countries. The findings of this work can be summarized as follows: theoretically: the concept known as Latin Jazz responds to a marketing solution and much of the time does not reflect the different variants that have evolved and are present in the contemporary jazz scene in Latin America; practically: the skills acquired during this course, together with what I have learned through this work, offer me the tools to project myself with an innovative proposal in the international market as a singer of New Latin American Jazz.

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  Cello Immersion: Surrounded by Visuals, Music and Whales

  Aaron Hauser
  2019

  The purpose of my culminating experience is to further understand the process of immersion through the symbiosis of visual media and musical content. What makes a great music video? What makes a great concert experience that combines visuals with the music being presented? How can visuals enhance a musical performance instead of be a distraction? My project revolves heavily around the cello and surround sound and animation. The cello is an immersive instrument and being an orchestral musician is an immersive experience. However, the audience never gets to feel this. What if we pump surround sound in a performance environment? What if jellyfish emerge from the ocean as soon as they hear pizzicato? What if every aspect of the music was tied to a visual component? I set out to create an eight minute animated short that uses 3D projection mapping, a 5.1 surround sound design, live cello playing, and three visuals panels. The goal was to create an immersive concert experience.

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  Iranian Fusion Music

  Mohammad Keivan
  2019

  Following my musical background and my proposal, I’ve done my best to record some of my compositions in order to show my goals in fusion music style. In fact, I’ve managed to write my pieces showing some details, such as Iranian scales, folk melodies, and microtones. Having said that, these pieces are the keys for me to reach the new colors in my composition and in this style. Namely, Iranian Fusion Music. In fact, Iranian music, especially folk music in my country, is monotone and without harmony. That is to say, when we listen to Iranian music we can realize that there is not reharmonization for melodies and these themes play just simple bass lines or some of the music ranges like alto or soprano. According to this background of Iranian music I’ve managed to create a new vision to recompose folk themes, Iranian scales, and rhythms. For this, I used contemporary harmony like jazz voicing in my composition to reharmonize of Iranian melodies. I should mention that I used some Iranian scales in order to create new pieces in fusion music styles like CHARGAH and HOMAYOUN. I also tried to use some contemporary music styles in my composition.

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  SANYOG

  Apoorva Krishna
  2019

  As the name implies concomitance and connection through taking chances, my project ‘SANYOG’ focusses on exploring the global possibilities of collaborative creativity through the genre of music I have been trained in for over 15 years, Indian Carnatic Music. Having inculcated several instruments that I have never extensively performed with before such as piano, harp, drums, bass guitar, as well as concepts of music that were entirely new to me be it harmony, grooves, arranging, song forms, western notation, compositional techniques or even world rhythms into my music, it has given me an incredible amount of exposure as well as a completely fresh perspective of combining Indian Classical microtones, scales, melodies, rhythms, and improvisation each time within a different context of the numerous inspiring worlds of music, traditions and cultures. My belief in the creation of a new identity and body of work not just by integrating various styles of music but instead the musicians themselves as a whole, has given rise to the development and discovery of both myself as well as my music. Constant inquisitiveness, listening, ear training, analyzations of compositions, learning from expert teachers, keen observation, practice, performances, and openness has drastically helped me broaden my knowledge and expand my creativity by bringing about cross-cultural oneness showing how music can speak of its exclusivity and inclusivity while simultaneously playing together holistically. A total of 6 songs were composed and recorded incorporating creative violin- based collaborations of Indian Classical with influences of various styles of music from all around the world including Latin, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Western Classical and Flamenco.

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  Groove Cello Project

  Yihwan (Lisa) Lim
  2019

  The purpose of this Culminating Experience is to discover my artistic identity and create music by adding my artistic color. I want to give my instrument – cello – a new color for Groove to show the string players in Korea that “classical” instruments can be played differently. During the process, it was a real challenge to arrange music for a band, to learn new music technologies (e.g., Ableton Live and Pro Tools), and to cooperate and communicate with a bunch of talented musicians to make this happen. Finally, four original songs with the different groove of the cello were created. On May 9, 2019, all my compositions were presented in a solo performance for a 35- minute set at Digital Jove 2019 in Valencia, Spain, and all the music will be ready to release as my first EP album. I hope that my work will inspire many other string players in Korea.

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  Italian Mystery (Ballads): Reminiscences of Italian ballads in American culture

  David Lo Cascio
  2019

  This project is dedicated to the courage it takes to be able to look back at your past finding your true self. I chose to record a song from the English repertoire that is dear to me and resembled of an Italian ballad melody and two very old Italian songs dear to my family. Exploring this took me to understanding why I am here today and specifically why I chose music to be my main focus in life. I re- arranged and worked with the songs in a style that reflects contemporary American music and Jazz which is what I analyzed more in depth during my studies in the USA, and currently in Spain. I modified its shape trying to leave intact the beauty of their innate long and romantic melodies. During this year and process I’ve learned a lot of techniques in terms of production of a musical work and established wonderful musical collaborations that I’m proud of. I’ve finally presented my project during my showcases with an Italian opera singer, an American rhythm section, a piano player from India and a local bass player from Valencia, trying to incorporate as many influences I could and absorb them into my musical final result.

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  Debut Album

  Jerzy Maczynski
  2019

  I wanted to focus on the first proof of my artistic achievements, which is the debut album. I wanted to devote this year to make an album that will help me enter the higher level of my music career. My album was released in the legendary series PolishJazz which is a great honor but also a great responsibility. I wanted to understand why my music could be called PolishJazz. I analyzed the music of outstanding Polish jazz musicians and I connected their music with mine. In my presentation and in the reflection paper I also explain a process of making my debut album. Work on this CE helped me to understand who I am as an artist.

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  Loving & Leaving: the Development of an Artist through the Making of an EP

  Malena Marcase
  2019

  The purpose of my project is to develop my identity as an artist through the writing and recording of my first EP. Through the songwriting, arranging, recording, and production process, I have begun to hone in on a sound and identity. The outcomes of these processes have provided me with the necessary means to now establish myself as an artist in the music industry. My methodology was self-ethnographic and performative. I conducted research on my own songwriting and musicianship, as well as research on artists who have inspired me and who I would like to emulate. My deliverables include an original four-track EP, a release plan, and an updated portfolio of my music, artist photos, artist bio, website, and social media. From the making of this project, I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge about what it takes to record and produce an original, creative project. Challenges arose in the recording process with ProTools, instrumentation, and artistic vision – to name a few. I know now that this project will be a huge asset to me as I continue to create music, and I hope it will inspire other artists as well in their creative endeavors.

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  Harp and Friends

  Eve Matin
  2019

  This CE is about placing the harp in new music styles, showing that this ancient instrument can be also played as a contemporary instrument in any music ensemble. For this, I had to learn and play with diverse musicians from different backgrounds, countries, traditions and music styles. The journey was challenging and invited me to open new perspectives and discover new ways of playing the harp, among this exploration I develop new techniques in the harp and write notation for them, this knowledge is useful for any harpist and composer, doesn’t matter the style or music backgrounds, some of the traditions I explore as a Persian and Peruvian artist are the traditional music from northern India, Iran, Spain and develop knowledge in extended techniques and jazz.

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  There is Also Risk: Exploring Vulnerability in Songwriting Through the Making of a Record

  Genevieve Matthew
  2019

  My culminating experience project was to create a body of work that would help me establish myself as a skilled, versatile and authentic singer-songwriter. For this project, I wrote, arranged and produced a five-song EP, created promotional materials, improved my online artist presence, and researched release strategies. I expanded my study of songwriting through classes, workshops, writing practices and research. Throughout this project, I had a particular interest in exploring the role of vulnerability in songwriting and how this can strengthen a song’s ability to connect with listeners. I learned a great deal about myself as an artist, about working with other musicians and seeing the potential for a song beyond my own voice and guitar, and identified strengths and habits in my songwriting. In producing the EP, I learned to have a hands-on approach in the studio, but also found how much I value having partners to collaborate with on production. Principally, I found that taking risks and being vulnerable in art can open space for creativity and connection.