Press Releases: Karl Berger named Chairman of UMass/Dartmouth Music Department
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Posted by: Adminon Monday, October 25, 2004 - 09:41 PM |
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(Woodstock, New York) October 25, 2004:
Karl Berger, award-winning musician/composer, director and co-founder of the world-renowned Creative Music Studio, has been named Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth. Ma.
The appointment takes effect starting in the Fall 2004 semester, according to Dr. Berger, who said a major component of the agreement is the incorporation of the CMS-program into the university’s year-round schedule:
"The UMass Dartmouth program is unique in its inclusion of world music, jazz and western classical music in one department, nurturing a global understanding and vision of music reminiscent of the CMS approach," said Berger, a five time Downbeat poll winner with a PhD in Music Esthetics, "I look forward to further developing the CMS concept with the talented professionals at UMASS.
The UMass Dartmouth world music program has been developed by percussionist/composer Royal Hartigan; the jazz studies component has bassist/composer Santi Debriano as a full-time professor; Ken Ueno is the new professor of
electronics / composition; and clarinettist John Laughton is Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the umbrella for the Music Department that also includes Theatre and Fine Arts (Painting, Graphic Design, Electronic Imaging, Photography).
Components of the CMS program that will be incorporated into the Dartmouth curriculum include a Visiting Artist program of composers/performers of world music, jazz and contemporary acoustic/electronic music; the "Basic Practice" component of Elemental Studies that is a signature aspect of CMS; and performance/recording projects of the
participating artists and students. Part-time participation in these programs will be available. Not to be confused with Dartmouth, N.H., the UMass Dartmouth is situated an hour south of Boston between Providence R.I. and New Bedford MA.
During the '70- and '80's, the Woodstock-based Creative Music Studio was considered the premier study center for contemporary creative music. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, CMS brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS was an acknowledged phenomenon in the international music world, providing participants with the rare opportunity to interact personally with the musical giants of improvisation and musical thought on a daily basis.
CMS is credited as the birthplace of Worldjazz - the improvisational and compositional expansion of the world's musical traditions. Now one of the main driving forces in many styles of music, this concept was pioneered very early at CMS, guided by authentic leaders. Hundreds of live concerts were recorded, many heralded as landmark performances. Thousands of workshops, master classes, concerts and colloquia inspired a generation of musicians who took with them the ideas, concepts and practices developed at CMS. The CMS community still exists in a remarkable network of
creative musicians, many of whom came to CMS from Asia, Europe and South America.
Karl Berger is a six time winner of the Downbeat Critics Poll as a jazz soloist, recipient of numerous Composition Awards
(commissions by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, European Radio and Television: WDR, NDR, SWF, Radio France, Rai Italy. SWF-Prize 1994 ). Professor of Composition, Artist-in- Residence at universities, schools and festivals worldwide ; PhD in Music
Esthetics. He has recorded and performed internationally with Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, John McLaughlin, Gunther Schuller, the Mingus Epitaph Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ingrid Sertso, Dave Holland, Ed Blackwell, Ray Anderson, Carlos Ward,
Pharoah Sanders, Blood Ulmer, Hozan Yamamoto and many others. His recordings and arrangements appear on the Blue Note, Milestone, Polygram, EMI, MCA, Island Records, Enja, Vogue, Pye, JVC, Black Saint, In&Out, CBS, Virgin, Sony, Elektra, Capitol and Knitting Factory labels. Karl Berger became noted for his innovative arrangements for recordings by
Jeff Buckley ("Grace"), Natalie Merchant ("Ophelia"), Better Than Ezra, The Cardigans, Jonatha Brooke, Buckethead, Bootsie Collins, The Swans, Sly + Robbie, Angelique Kidjo a.o.; and for his collaborations with producers Bill Laswell, Alan Douglas ("Operazone"), Peter Collins, Andy Wallace, Craig Street, Alain Mallet, Malcolm Burn and many others.
For more information on Karl Berger and the UMass program, contact music@umassd.edu
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