Culminating Experience in Songwriting 1

Instructor

Bonnie Hayes has more than 35 years of experience as an educator, songwriter, producer, performer, and recording artist. During her career, she has been signed to five record deals and five writing deals, and toured as a side musician with Billy Idol and Cris Williamson. She has written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Bette Midler, David Crosby, Robert Cray, Adam Ant, and Booker T. & the MG’s, and produced more than 40 records. She designed and implemented the youth program for the Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco, and has taught piano, guitar, theory, songwriting, and composition to thousands of students at institutions throughout the US.

Instructor

Michael Sempert’s music is equal parts heart and craft, lifeblood and elegant design. He has composed original scores for award-winning indie films including Love in Dangerous Times, Roads to Olympia, and Sex Weather. His collaboration with Austin, Texas–based filmmakers on the indie feature films A Room Full of Nothing and Homestate yielded original film scores rooted in cosmic American music. His scoring work with auteur filmmaker Jon Garcia draws from analog, synth-based ambient music.

Instructor

Sean Peter Hagon (he/him) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and orchestrator for the film, television, and advertisement industries, and the chief creative officer and managing partner of Raging Cloud Studios. As dean of pre-college, online, and professional programs at Berklee Online, Hagon oversees Berklee Online's academic and registrar areas as well as Summer Programs. He previously served as associate dean of career education and services and as chair of the Professional Music Department at Berklee. Prior to his appointment at Berklee, he was the director of continuing education at New England Conservatory. He's also a visiting professor at the Universidad Panamericana School of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, Mexico. An active film and television composer, he has a number of TV and film composing credits to his name, including the History Channel's hit show American Pickers, PBS's Genealogy Roadshow, and the independent films Ride the Wave and Seduction and Snacks.

Instructor

Scarlet Keys has been a professor in the Songwriting Department at Berklee College of Music for the past 15 years, holds a bachelor's in Music from Berklee and is a former staff writer for Warner Chappell. She has taught students like Laufey, Lizzy McAlpine, Charlie Puth, Amy Allen, and many more. Highlights of her songwriting career include topping the charts in Britain, earning a gold record in Sweden, and working as a staff writer for Warner Chappell. She has collaborated with Chris Stapleton and Golden Globe writer Monty Powell, and her compositions have been recorded by award-winning artists in the US, spanning genres such as jazz, country, folk, and pop. She is also a TEDx speaker, the host of the What’s in a Song podcast, and the author of the books, The Craft of Songwriting: Music, Meaning and Emotion and What if it All Goes Right: Practicing Hope in the Hardest Times.

Instructor

Eric Leva is a songwriter, singer, producer, and classically trained pianist from Massachusetts. Leva has studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music. Following his studies, Leva spent time in New York City to hone his craft and develop his writing. A songwriting award from the ASCAP Foundation eventually sparked a move to Los Angeles to pursue more collaborations. His recent releases include Kesha, DNCE, Wes Period, and Rozzi.

Instructor

In his 30+ year career, Rodney has become recognized as a protean polymath within the entertainment industry. In his most recent rock ‘n’ roll chapter, he was a performing member of the international pop band the Script. As the keyboardist/music director, he was responsible for arranging and weaving the group's hit songs into an unforgettable concert experience. Before his tenure with the Script, Rodney built a career as a consummate professional behind the scenes. 

Instructor

Valerie Orth is a music producer, songwriter, and activist. Self possessed and fierce, Valerie’s path is multi-faceted and spans across many genres. Finding home on stage at age 5, Valerie performed consistently for 15 years in musical theater. While attending Tufts University, she hung around the radio station, improvising over DJ’s beats. Wanting to accompany herself, she picked up guitar. She moved to San Francisco, became a righteous singer/songwriter, independently released 4 albums, and toured with her rock band. Valerie found home again when she moved to NYC and rooted herself in the female beatmaking scene, where she learned, performed, and eventually started teaching electronic music production. She also wrote and produced for Warner Chappell Music Publishing and other music houses.

Instructor

Susan Cattaneo is one of Boston’s most respected singer-songwriters, blending rock and folk with a healthy dose of country. Susan won the CT Folk Festival and has been a finalist or winner at some of the country’s most prestigious songwriting and music contests including: Kerrville New Folk, Emerging Artist Falcon Ridge, the International Acoustic Music Awards, the Independent Music Awards and the USA Songwriting Competition. Her latest album The Hammer and The Heart charted #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and yielded a folk radio #1 single and top 10 album. In her 20 years teaching Songwriting at Berklee College of Music, Susan helped students work on over 15,000 songs in all musical genres and styles and mentored over 2,000 artists. She’s taught master clinics at the International Folk Conference and at regional Folk conferences (NERFA, SWRFA and SERFA). Her Songwriting Lessons has been featured in a series in American Songwriter and Guitar Magazine and her lyric writing has been featured in Pat Pattison’s award-winning books Writing Better Lyrics and Writing Beyond Boundaries.