Berklee today

JUN 2017

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

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faculty profile During the summer, Liberal Arts Department assistant professor Jennifer Andrews will take the lead in developing a writing program at Port Townsend School of the Arts in Washington State. Associate professor Natalie Haas re- leased an album with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser, titled Ports of Call. It fea- tures original compositions and dance tunes from around the North Atlantic. Assistant professor Renato Milone is helping to develop the new ma- jor Writing and Producing Music for BerkleeOnline. Milone created classes titled "Practical Production" and "Remote Production." Piano professor Joanne Brackeen has upcoming performances at jazz festi- vals in Hartford, CT, Newport, RI, New York City, and Monterey, CA. Associate professor Annette Whitehead-Pleaux received the Presidential Service Award from the American Music Therapy Association. She recently co-edited the textbook Cultural Competence in Music Therapy: Music, Health, and the Individual. Assistant chair of composition Greg Glancey was ranked in College Magazine among the top 10 most in- spiring music professors. In April, his composition Effervesce was premiered at the Adams International Flute Festival in Ittervoort, the Netherlands. In June, guitar professor Sheryl Bailey released Departure, a duo album with bassist Harvie S '70. Assistant professor of piano Chihiro Yamanaka released the album Monk Studies on Blue Note Records in June. It features Mark Kelley '02, Deantoni Parks '02, and music by Thelonious Monk. Professor Felice Pomeranz performed and gave harp workshops in Paris, Oslo, and Athens in April and will be a clini- cian and performer in San Francisco this summer. Assistant professor of guitar Amanda Monaco released Glitter on Posi-Tone Records in April. Visit www.amandamonaco.com. Assistant professor Alonzo Harris was the musical director for an off-Broad- way concert review of the life and music of singer Phyllis Hyman in New York City. Retired professor John Stevens was a semi-finalist in the Ravel International Composition for his piece Paris Quintet, Op. 909. After more than four decades of guiding Berklee students toward their artistic goals, piano professor Stephany Tiernan '74 is now concen- trating on her own personal musical journey in earnest. She spent 26 years in leadership roles in Berklee's piano department, 10 as assistant chair to Paul Schmeling, and another 16 as chair. Tiernan became chair emerita in September of 2016. These days she teaches just two days a week and spends the rest of her time organizing her studio, cataloging her original works and recordings, composing, and plan- ning future performances. "The reason I cut back was because I wasn't doing enough perform- ing and writing," Tiernan says. "I am dying to have the space to see what will come out. I'm writing a new woodwind quintet and I don't know why! I don't know who is going to play it, but I am having a great time." During a recent conversation in her Berklee teaching studio, Tiernan revealed that music was actually a fallback for her. "As a child, I loved dancing," she says. "I did ballet, tap, and acrobatics, but I got very sick when I was seven. The doctor said I shouldn't dance for quite a while. I hated to give up dancing, but I had no strength." Both of her parents played piano, and soon Stephany— almost reluctantly—began to play. "Soon I found piano playing to be like dancing on the keys, so it became the next place to go with dance." Her piano teacher provided proper classical training in technique but also worked with her on jazz and popular music. By the time Tiernan contem- plated college, she was a single mother of a 10-month-old son fol- lowing the end her first marriage. As a Berklee student in the early 1970s, Tiernan was interested in a performing career, but she changed directions. "I started pursuing a performance degree," she recalls. "But when I found out that you needed to be a writing major to take Herb Pomeroy's classes, I switched to composition. I took all of Herb's courses, line writing, jazz composi- tion, and his Duke Ellington class. It was wonderful. Given my classi- cal background, I was also writing things that weren't jazz. My writing took me to different places." Concurrently, Tiernan studied piano with Margaret Chaloff, one of the most influential teachers in Boston during the 1970s. (Chaloff's students also included Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, and Kenny Werner among others.) Tiernan spent six years absorbing Chaloff's thoughts on technique, creativity, spiritual- ity in the arts, and ideas on where music comes from. "She took me under her wing and was extremely important to me," Tiernan says. "Toward the end, she told me I could teach her method. I don't know of anyone else she gave that license to. She laid the foundation for everything I taught. It had worked for me and trans- formed my technique. Her concept was revolutionary and I saw results in my teaching." To repay the debt, Tiernan codified Chaloff's teachings in the 2011 Berklee Press book and DVD Contemporary Piano Technique. "She gave me six years of lessons and never charged me," Tiernan says. "Because she gave me all that, I wanted to document it for others." In 1975, Tiernan joined the Berklee faculty, following a conver- sation with Bill Maloof, founding chair of the composition depart- ment, at a long-gone Berklee hang, Mike's drugstore at the corner of Hemenway and Boylston streets. "I was a single mother scuffling to make money as an accompa- nist and composer and I realized I needed more work. I asked him if he needed a teacher for the fall semes- ter. He said, 'Sure, come to my office and fill out the paperwork.'" Tiernan signed on for a 30-hour weekly schedule teaching piano lessons, ensembles, harmony, ear training, and counterpoint classes. It's a point of pride that some of her former students developed great careers. Among them are jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg '97, British composer and pianist Julian Joseph '89, and side- man to the stars Alain Mallet '89, now a Berklee associate professor. Along the way, Tiernan met and married trombonist Tom Plsek, now chair emeritus of the Brass Department. She was also named a Steinway artist. That's an honor initiated by the famed piano com- pany, not an endorsement that can be solicited. Steinway has hosted CD release events and concerts by Tiernan. "I don't know why they asked me, they must have liked my playing and music," she says with characteristic understatement. For the past two decades, a cen- terpiece of the annual piano depart- ment concerts has been the piano duets played by Tiernan and pro- fessor Joanne Brackeen. Wearing whacky matching outfits—blond wigs and sequined miniskirts or long dresses and frilly feathered hats— they play music that falls some- where between free improvisation and performance art. Regarding inspiration for Tiernan's composing, she has been exploring Irish culture for years. "It started as a roots exploration when I went to see family in Ireland," she says. "Once I was there, I started lis- tening to Irish music and that led me to the Irish language and an ancient style of singing called sean-nós. I wanted to understand that music and that led me deeper into the lan- guage. I started singing sean-nós. Places I have visited have influenced my music and musical quotations find their way into my compositions too, but I can't say my music really sounds Irish." Asked about her future, Tiernan answers with a wry grin, "I've decid- ed that every 25 years I'm going to do something different. So for the next 25 years I'll be a composer— and I'm accepting commissions." Stephany Tiernan '74 by Mark Small Stephany Tiernan '74 Every 25 Years Summer 2017 9 Phil Farnsworth

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