GRAMMY-WINNING SINGER AND PRODUCERS

Boston, September 15, 2005 – Two-time Grammy-winning country music star Kathy Mattea, five-time Grammy-winning record producer/engineer and 5.1 Surround Sound pioneer Elliot Scheiner, three-time Grammy-winning producer/sound designer George Massenburg, and a soon-to-be-named Berklee student songwriter will collaborate to produce an exclusive new song September 26, 29 - 30 at Berklee College of Music. Coincidental, overlapping visits/residencies from Mattea, Scheiner, and Massenburg have created a one-of-a-kind educational experience unique to Berklee and its far-ranging musical curriculum.

Monday, September 26 – Kathy Mattea, who is Berklee’s Songwriting department artist-in-residence from September 26 – 30, will host a pitch session from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., in Room 511, 921 Boylston Street, and choose a student song to record on Friday of that week.

Thursday, September 29 – Mattea will hold an open rehearsal for the Friday recording session from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. in Ensemble Room B16, 150 Mass. Ave.

Friday, September 30 – Mattea will spend all day recording the student composition in Berklee’s Studio A, 150 Mass. Ave. Music Production & Engineering department visiting artist Elliot Scheiner and Herb Alpert Visiting Professor George Massenburg will work as a team to produce and record the track, while demonstrating their methods and procedures for students.

Kathy Mattea, whose new album, Right Out of Nowhere, will be released on September 27, 2005, is one of the most respected country artists and commercially successful hit-makers of her era. In 1983 she landed a deal with Mercury and released her self-titled debut in 1984. Mattea's third effort, 1986's folksy Walk the Way the Wind Blows, was a critical and commercial hit. 1989's Willow in the Wind boasted an even stronger folk influence, and it became her first album to go gold on the strength of the number-one hits "Burnin' Old Memories" and "Come From the Heart," and the number two "She Came From Fort Worth." Additionally, the album's Top Ten hit "Where've You Been," which Mattea co-wrote with her new husband Jon Vezner, won her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal. She added another Grammy in 1993 for the gospel-oriented Christmas record Good News.

In 1967, Elliot Scheiner started working as legendary producer Phil Ramone’s assistant at A&R Recording in New York, where he quickly advanced to an engineer. Since then he has produced and engineered an eclectic plethora of talented artists such as Steely Dan, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Sting, Bruce Hornsby, The Eagles, B.B. King, Aerosmith, and many others. His talents have been recognized with 16 Grammy nominations, five of which he took home, two Emmy nominations, and three TEC award nominations. Scheiner, who has worked on recent CD releases by Faith Hill, Beck, and R.E.M., continues to be one of the most sought after producers and engineers in the industry. He is also one of the world’s leading authorities on 5.1 Surround Sound mixing and DVD audio.

Legendary producer and sound engineer, George Massenburg has an impressive list of recording credits, which includes Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Little Feat, Lyle Lovett, Toto, The Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Randy Newman, and many others. He won Grammy Awards in 1990 for Ronstadt's Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind; and in 1996 as producer for her Dedicated to the One I Love. In 1998, he received the Grammy for Technical Achievement. Massenburg started his own electronics company, GML, Inc, in 1982, which has manufactured a number of devices crucial to the development of modern recording studios. He has also designed, and managed several recording studios, notably ITI Studios in Maryland and The Complex in Los Angeles.

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and non-performance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing 70-plus countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.