BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, Boston, Massachusetts

FACULTY PROFILES

Good profiles start with good research. The CV of Associate Professor Peter Alhadeff revealed an intriguing international background that set up my interview with him.

My research on Associate Professor Donna McElroy revealed an illustrious career. But it was seeing the teacher and mentor in action in one of her voice labs that pointed me in the direction her profile should take.

Professor Eric Reasoner spent much of our interview entertaining me with stories from the professional trenches. But what struck gold was when I probed him for a little-known fact about himself. The answer, a vivid Meredith Willson-esque picture of his youth, became my lead.

These interviews have led to an ongoing project to conduct phone interviews with 25 to 30 faculty members per semester and craft three or more extended quotes from their answers for their online biographies. These include Mick Goodrick, Mili Bermejo-Greenspan, Joe Lovano, Andy McGhee, Danilo Pérez, Daniel Ian Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Livingston Taylor, and Phil Wilson—an eclectic line-up of performers that has kept me thinking, “I love my work.”