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“Portraits de mon chez moi”: My Compositional Journey Through Quebec’s Musical History
No full textWith my project “Portraits de mon chez-moi”, or “Portraits of my home” in English, I embarked on a compositional journey focused on exploring my cultural and musical heritage, aiming to help me find and develop my own artistic voice. As a Québécois, I feel a strong connection to culture and its preservation, a sentiment I embraced from a young age. I created this project to deepen my understanding of my culture and its roots, allowing me to incorporate it authentically into my music and preserve it in the process. Through detailed case studies, transcriptions, and practice of the music, I was able to connect with it on a profound level, gaining the musical tools and inspiration needed to compose a personal and culturally authentic album. This project will return to Quebec, where it will be presented not only as a show and musical performance but also as a cultural and historical exploration of Quebec’s musical tradition. I mention “a part” here because this is only the beginning of something much larger, as I have opened a door to endless possibilities by exploring different styles, each of which could form different theses. I will continue researching and composing, extending my project into new musical directions and locations around the world, all while sharing my story and preserving the essence of my identity and voice that I discovered during the creation of this project.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-contemporary-performance/1325/thumbnail.jp
A Blur of Color: One Violist\u27s Redevelopment of the American Idiom
No full text“A Blur of Color” discusses and illustrates a creation of new American music, its process, and my personal artistic refinement in parallel. As a classically trained violist, I reflect upon and develop musical ideas derived from the people, stories, and landscapes of the American West, while applying concepts that emulate and celebrate a variety of American musical styles. Genres of interest include jazz, modern bluegrass, old-time, funk, prog rock, chamber music, and American music informed by 20th-century theories of the harmonic series. Throughout, I illustrate the use of composition strategies that integrate these genres into my unique sound, while creating a cohesive and compelling EP. An intensive study of jazz performance and transcription supports these new compositions for the viola and an unorthodox string band. This study addresses challenges specific to the viola, and my approach to adapt to a variety of contexts. Further exploration includes the entire production process: pre-production planning, recording, editing, and mixing. The resultant music is highly innovative, and embodies the resilience, unity, and diversity of the American people in the face of current adversity.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-contemporary-performance/1328/thumbnail.jp
The Power of Silence
No full textThe purpose of this project is to find my artistic voice and fine-tune my creative process. Similarly, this project also aims to deliver a unique experience and sound for the listener. The challenge and goal of the project is to write, experiment, and combine as many different styles of music as possible, inspired by a Spiritually and Philosophically provocative text—an internal and external search for my own sound identity. Through experimentation and the combination of otherwise unrelated music styles, both the audience member and the artist will collectively redefine how to approach music as entertainment and as a catalyst for spiritual and philosophical introspection. Can two or more popular music trends and grooves blend as music entertainment for the listener? Can this same music blend with Spiritual and Philosophical Reflection?https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-contemporary-performance/1341/thumbnail.jp
The Fire Within: Navigating Identity, Emotion, and Sound Through a Cross-Cultural EP
No full textThis Culminating Experience project, titled KOR: The Fire Within, explores the transformation of emotional rupture into creative expression through the composition and production of a four-track original EP. Rooted in themes of cultural hybridity, vulnerability, burnout, and self-reclamation, the project reflects the artist’s journey as a Turkish interdisciplinary performer navigating between tradition and innovation. Each song—“Neden,” “Kalsan,” “Yoruldum,” and “Patliycam”—emerged from distinct phases of emotional upheaval, later shaped into sonic expressions of resilience, grief, irony, exhaustion, and creative rebellion. Using a hybrid methodology of creative research, autoethnography, and model observation, the project evolved from a solitary, loopstation-based plan to a collaborative and genre-fluid process involving live instrumentation and multi-layered production. While initially envisioned as a cohesive EP, the final decision to release the songs as individual singles reflects the emotional uniqueness and non-linear nature of the project. KOR ultimately serves as a sonic journal—an archive of self-inquiry, creative failure, and redefinition—that reclaims voice and artistic authorship through emotional honesty and cross-cultural identity.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-contemporary-performance/1343/thumbnail.jp
Haku from the Heart
No full textThis creative project, Haku from the Heart, explores to combine the elements of folk and modern pop. I always loved the honest reflections and stories folk music tells. It is often presented in a most vulnerable arrangement—a simple acoustic guitar with voice. As it centers the emotions carried in the lyrics, folk music creates this intimate connection. However, folk songs often fail to appeal to the larger audience with the lack of interest generated through the simple arrangement and demanding lyrics. As a folk singer/songwriter with an aim to reach a large audience, I wanted to write folk music that can appeal to the mass, just as done by Lizzy McAlpine, Noah Kahan and many other modern Indie/folk artists. The way I approached was by keeping the candid storytelling and the arrangements of folk and adding the modern aspects of Pop—the song structure, melodic shape, the use of the bright and clean vocal treatment, vocal pads and synthesizers. Altogether, I have created my own version of folk/pop through this project, Haku from the Heart.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-cmat/1145/thumbnail.jp
sleepover @ mine?
No full textHemans Chan - artistically known as Hemans Erilia - is an Australian born Chinese artist who coined her unique cohesive sound as Bubblegum Diva Pop. Seeking to blend her bicultural upbringings together into her music, her sonic identity is a fusion of Asian and Western sounds, mixing Commercial Pop, Cantopop, Kpop, Disco, and slight RnB and Electronic Pop elements together. In her journey at Berklee, Hemans experienced countless merits and successes, trials and tribulations. In the midst of it all, it was her new-found friendships and connections that kept her grounded and inspired. Thus, it is befitting that her EP “sleepover @ mine?” centers on the celebration of friendship and community; a nostalgic party anthem that seeks to replicate a night spent with close friends filled with fun anecdotes and emotional rants.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-cmat/1114/thumbnail.jp
The Last House in Wyoming
No full texthttps://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-cmat/1192/thumbnail.jp
A focus on the need for an export office in Nigeria
No full textMy journey to this point of deduction and conclusion has been an interesting one. You have all these hopes and dreams about your country being great, properly run, and efficient, but as you grow, some realities change your perspective. Nigeria is an interesting country. We are a nation of over 235 million people, filled with diverse talents and ambitions. One of the biggest ones was parents making you be a lawyer, doctor, engineer or an architect, but few have the passion for music. We begin the journey from theory to playing our first instruments and we realize that music is spiritual and it can change people\u27s moods and thought process, then we see there’s more to music than playing and singing. The NIMREO project is one of a long-term, always fine-tuning plan and I look forward to executing this project shortly. There have been ups and downs, pivoting and declaring the core values and pathway for the future. Artists have told them our needs, we know the business needs and how we can combine both to have a global representation of the culture and music.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-global-entertainment-business/1396/thumbnail.jp
Head of Social Media and TikTok Optimization at Disrupcion Records
No full textFor my Culminating Experience, I served as the Head of Social Media and TikTok Optimization at Disrupción Records, Berklee’s student-run record label. My project focused on revitalizing the label’s digital presence—particularly on TikTok and Instagram—by creating engaging, community-focused content that spotlighted artists, imprints, and behind-the-scenes moments. I collaborated closely with Disrupción’s eight imprints to establish social media pages, define brand identities, and support their marketing strategies. Throughout the semester, I launched digital campaigns, organized artist interviews, developed two rounds of merchandise, and led the promotion of events such as our Open Mic Night and Signing Party. I also worked one-on-one with artists to help them articulate and grow their online presence. This experience allowed me to apply my coursework in digital marketing, branding, and artist development in a real-world context. It also directly contributed to my professional growth and led to my current internship in Artist Strategy at Sony Music.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-global-entertainment-business/1408/thumbnail.jp
Label Manager - Disrupción Records
No full textFor my Culminating Experience project, I took on the operational role of Label Manager/CEO of Disrupción Records. I chose this project because I want to build a career leading global music businesses, and I saw this as an entry-level opportunity of working with diverse genres in a real world setting. This role was important for me in understanding the moving parts of an independent record label. In this role, I was responsible for the affairs of the label, managing internal activities of its executive team, and the imprints. I was equally focused on developing external sustainable strategies that would be important for the long-term growth of the label. This role required project management, planning, research, and practical execution of ideas. Through this project, I learned how to balance creative ideas with business realities and how to lead a team effectively. Some challenges were expected, like time management, while others, like navigating limited resources, were surprising yet exciting. Overall, this experience has prepared me for future leadership roles as well as provided me with insights on the nuances of diverse genres.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-global-entertainment-business/1402/thumbnail.jp