“Music is a way to convey emotions and feelings that are completely impossible to describe with words, and to feel some way and be able to convey that to somebody else,” Levi Freedman, a Berkeley High School senior said.
For Freedman, this means mastering playing both upright and electric bass. Freedman plans to be a professional bassist. While this can include any genre, Freedman desires to play upright jazz bass. As a member of BHS Jazz Ensemble, he gets opportunities to learn and perform in ways that are very unique to Berkeley. “Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble is awesome. It's one of the best high school jazz bands out there. There's such great opportunities. Ms. Cline is a wonderful, not just a wonderful band director, but a very, very great mentor,” Freedman stated.
Freedman takes it upon himself to learn as many genres and styles of music as possible. He is currently learning both electric and upright bass, plays guitar in a band, and is preparing himself for a music school after high school. Freedman talked about his top pick for music school, which is the New School in New York City. “It's a great place to kind of be able to get the authentic experience of learning jazz the way the greats did it,” Freedman said. The New School’s School of Jazz was founded in 1986 as an opportunity for students to learn to play jazz from professionals. Notable alumni from the School of Jazz include professional music artist and Grammy winner Robert Glasper and producer Greg Kurstin.
BHS sophomore Smith Foreman takes a different approach to music. Foreman is interested in taking a few separate paths in the music industry. He expressed his interest in being a recording and mixing artist, but also continue making his own music through song writing and playing guitar. “Before, I was really set on, ‘I'm gonna go to college for music production and learn all this stuff,’ and then after college go out and get into that world. But now I'm kind of getting into writing my own music and being in a band,” Foreman said.
Recording and mixing artists are the people who work behind the scenes on all of your favorite songs. They help record artists and mix the instruments into the songs you know and love. Foreman hopes to become involved with the underground Chicago music scene known as Hallogallo. This scene is primarily based on independent music and “DIY-ing” using analog methods like cassette tapes.
Foreman is unsure what path his music will take him. He ponders higher education and balancing that with his band and original music. Most of all, Foreman enjoys playing music on his own schedule. “It is a lot more freeing because I get to work in a way where I feel like I can do my best work; because I can work on stuff when I'm motivated, rather than having a specific thing that I have to do,” Foreman said.
Keenan Cion, another BHS sophomore, shares similar interests with Foreman with the two currently being in a band together. While Cion does hope to continue to perform, he wishes to become an audio engineer. Cion started learning guitar by taking lessons at Guitar Center when he was seven years old. He continued to play through lessons at School of Rock and recently joined Bandworks, a program dedicated to creating opportunities for musicians to play in bands and perform.
Cion also noted that the music industry is a lot more accessible in the digital age. “I like how easy it is to become a musician nowadays because with YouTube, and other stuff like that. It's becoming ever more accessible to pursue music,” Cion stated. Many artists learn their first instruments online or through schools. Whether it’s studying the traditional way or experimenting with the sound you like, music is special to every single musician.