L.A. Newsbriefs

Numerous alumni have the dream of coming to Los Angeles and working in the music business. And three Berklee alumni have found a creative outlet working behind the scenes on the NBC show The Voice. Singer Denise Hudson ’06, who has toured as a background singer for such artists as Demi Lovato, Mary J. Blige, Eric Benet, and Usher, is currently a background vocalist for the show’s house band. Providing the beat for the house band is drummer Nate Morton ’94, who previously toured with such artists as Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, and Vanessa Carlton. Rounding out the Berklee contingent is Pablo Munguia ’97, the post-show mixer for the series. Munguia is also a member of the audio team responsible for the music and sound of the Academy Awards, the Grammys, and other awards shows, as well as the halftime show for the Super Bowl.

The piece “Space Mission,” which was composed by Vicente Ortiz Gimeno ’12, was the winner in the contemporary orchestral category at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards on November at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. Recently, Gimeno scored the film Tom’s Dilemma, a psychological thriller feature directed by Michael Gluckstern. Gimeno composed the music, orchestrated and conducted the recording session at the Bridge Sound and Stage in Glendale, with the Hollywood Studio Orchestra contracted by Peter Rotter. Amparo Edo Biol ’12 did orchestrations and music prep for the film. Javier G. F. Escudero ’13 wrote additional music for the project and mixed the score.

Disney’s Legend of the Neverbeast will have songs written and produced by Bleu ’96, including the opening credits song “Float” and end credits song “One Thousand Years” and two other songs in the film. The songs are performed by KT Tunstall. Alongside Joel McNeely’s score, Bleu’s work can be heard all over this movie, which will premiere in late February.

Grammy and Emmy Award–nominated composer Ryan Shore ’96 has signed on to score and write songs for Disney Television Animation’s upcoming series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. The animated comedy adventure series follows Penn Zero, a boy from the suburbs who inherits a job as a part-time hero and leader of a team of good guys who travel to other worlds to save the day, tackling space, the Old West, lands of enchantment, and the ultimate challenge: suburbia. The series will premiere early in 2015. Also coming up for Shore is The List starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), Jennifer Morrison (House M.D.), and the documentary The Millionaires Unit, which is narrated by Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern.

William Goodrum ’84 wrote and performed two songs for the film Dumb and Dumber To. He also scored Voce Umana (Human Voice) starring Sophia Loren, which was featured at the American Film Institute festival. Previously, Goodrum worked on the films There’s Something About Mary and Shallow Hal.

Freelance songwriter/producer Bill Schleifer ’02 cowrote the first single off the most recent Boyz II Men album Better Half. Schleifer works at AlterMedia Inc. as the director of marketing and sales under CEO Joel Stoner ’86.

Thanks to alumna Tina Morris ’97, 2014 ended with an amazing reception for alumni during the weekend of the Audio Engineering Society show at the Village. In a close-out to 2014, the Los Angeles alumni holiday party drew a whopping 250 attendees. Then we got off to a running start in 2015 with annual events surrounding the NAMM show, including a hang at NAMM and the Annual Alumni Brunch. Here’s to another great year ahead.

—Justine Taormino ’06 assistant director, Alumni Affairs, L.A. jtaormino@berklee.edu