Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/827757
Summer 2017 25 Moving to the synthesizer launched Mash's lifelong in- terest in electronic instruments. That instinctive curiosity about new technology has served Mash well; it led him to become one of the original AppleMasters, the select group who used, tested, and generally amplified the proliferation of early Macintosh computers, which remain Berklee's most ubiquitous technological device to this day. It also led him to accept consulting work for leading companies such as Korg, Roland, Yamaha, Kurzweil, and Adobe, among others. Mash attributes his success with technology to being a lifelong student regarding music, education, and technology, as well as to his decades of exposure to a wealth of creative influences at Berklee. "The students and faculty here are amazingly talented, and they're all passionate about creating new work that will inspire all of us," Mash says. "I think that's what makes this place unique on the planet." Leading with Altruism Mash has played an outsized role in making Berklee that unique place on the planet. Among his many accomplishments, Mash developed much of the initial curriculum for the EPD major. He also spearheaded the digitization of Berklee's library and audio resources and was at the forefront of wiring the campus to connect to the Internet. While it may be taken for granted by students born in the Internet era, it was an immense undertaking at the time. Behind the scenes, Mash even wrote code to address Macintosh/PC interoperability issues at Berklee. On a more public stage, he harnessed his knowledge of technology, music, and education to build out the Berklee City Music program from a Boston-based initiative to a net- work of more than 40 community-based organizations across the United States and Canada, providing high-quality contemporary music instruction via the Berklee PULSE music method to youth from underserved communities—in- cluding 60,000 students in New York City alone. In reflecting on his career, Mash says, "That's one of the most gratifying things—when an idea that you had that started small got adopted by enough people to make it be something big." At ease with discussing big ideas, Mash was the nat- ural choice to be the driving force behind Berklee's vision for 2025, which is serving as the North Star in Berklee's current strategic planning process. However, Mash takes less pride in the end result, however, than he does in the process; in this case, that process included a series of town hall meet- ings that brought the full Berklee community together to collaborate on creating the institution's vision. "It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't need to take credit," Mash says, citing a fortune cookie mes- sage he once received that he has since concluded is one of life's great truisms. Its a message that has allowed him to lead from a place of altruism and to inspire those around him to trust him with the freedom to color outside the lines. The House That Mash Built Whether Mash wants the credit or not, Berklee president Roger Brown was quick to dispense it at the farewell soiree for Mash. "We're going to miss you," Brown said. "When I got to Berklee, David was one of the people I learned the most from because he had a unique way of understanding and honoring the history of the place without being trapped by the history." After Brown concluded his remarks, Mash stepped to the stage in the David Friend Recital Hall to share a few words of wisdom gleaned over the course of his four decades at Berklee as his wife, Erica Mash, looked on, accompanied by their children and grandchildren. With an emotional quiver in his usually sturdy bass voice, Mash concluded, "I'm just really happy to have been here." While it felt like a bittersweet ending, for Mash, it is also the beginning of a new chapter—one in which he plans to write and play a lot of music that he hasn't had enough time to finish, write new courses for Berklee Online, and develop an outstanding-sounding MIDI classical guitar effect. After 40 years at Berklee, Mash says, "I've cherished the relationships above everything. I'll miss the interaction with so many great thinkers and artists, and I hope I can maintain those connections." While looking back upon a career well spent comes with a sense of nostalgia, as a futurist, there remains an unmis- takable twinkle in Mash's eye as he contemplates what lies ahead for himself and for Berklee. "There's no limit to the number of great ideas that people could bring forth," Mash says. "The best way to in- vent the future is to build it." Over the decades and in myriad ways, that work—the work of building the future at Berklee—seems sure to be Mash's legacy, and the future looks bright. Mike Keefe-Feldman is a senior writer and editor in Berklee's Strategy and Communications Department David Mash onstage in the Berklee Performance Center. Mash is looking forward to writing, recording, and performing his music in his retirement. A video interview with David Mash is available via the Stan Getz Library's Berklee Oral History Project initiative. An abridged version of the inter- view is available via the Inside Berklee podcast.