Equity Centered Musical Practice | 10/7, 7:00-8:00PM EST
Danielle Scott, Assistant Chair of Berklee’s Ensemble Department (moderator)
Whether as an MC, vocalist, songwriter, producer, director, arranger, educator, or activist, Danielle “Queen D.” Scott is sure to come correct. At a young age, Scott discovered her true creative identity in the expression of hip-hop. Between classical piano lessons and dreams of being an author of fiction, hip-hop became the perfect genre to blend her passion for music and storytelling. Although the music of Queen Latifah and Notorious B.I.G. were her initial teachers, Scott took her first formal hip-hop class at Berklee College of Music as part of its pioneer Hip-Hop Jazz Ensemble, making her the campus’ first female MC. She went on to teach that class, along with Hip-Hop Writing and Production.
Although Scott always recognized the power of words and music, it was through her students that she saw their true impact. This inspired her to use hip-hop as social commentary, volunteer, teach media literacy workshops, and seek performance opportunities with various nonprofits. In addition to teaching, she is in the studio working on a new project as she continues her mission to change the world through hip-hop.
Ty-Juana Flores, Berklee Summer Initiative (BSI) (panelist)
Ty-Juana Flores is an arts administrator based in Boston, MA, who’s dedicated to supporting performing artists, leaders, non-profits, and institutions as they design processes and programs that align with their vision and values.
She is an experienced human-centered program design and development professional with a proven track record of building community and driving successful outcomes that benefit both artists and arts organizations. She currently works in the Office of Student Advising and Success at Berklee College of Music, where she manages success initiatives geared towards self-identified Black/African American students enrolled at the College and Conservatory. She is passionate about amplifying the voices of Black students, along with community building and effective advocacy through diversity and inclusion.
Additionally, she is a board member and the leadership council chair for The Record Co., a 501c3 nonprofit fighting for music makers in Boston. During her free time she enjoys bringing people together over wine and spirits, so she created TFLUXÈ, a remote experience centered around wine education for the Black community.
Nedelka Prescod, NEC & Berklee Faculty (panelist)
NEDELKA F. PRESCOD walks life as a singer/songwriter, arranger and teacher. NEDELKA released her first recording project, “Manifest” in May 2008. After moving to Boston from Brooklyn (2013), she released her single, “The Light” (2018) and her EP “The Un-Silenced Voice” (2020), both found on Bandcamp.
NEDELKA has performed domestically and internationally in various genres. Her preference is the art of beautifully singing any song. As a young adult NEDELKA founded the Progression Community Youth Choir in Brooklyn, desiring to create space for youth in her communities to explore and further their musical interests as they enjoyed sharing space and time together. Currently, NEDELKA thoroughly enjoys creating curated live and virtual performances and community conversations, believing that artists have the ability to infinitely color and help transform the issues and wonders of their times.
A mother and the daughter of proud Panamanians, NEDELKA is a student of Yale Divinity School working towards an MDiv, and is a virtual community builder and speaker. NEDELKA is independently interested in the unique expressions of sacred music, dance, and spirituality (culture) within the African Diaspora. A self-taught artisan of beaded and natural materials jewelry, she is also a bibliophile. NEDELKA is currently on faculty at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory in Boston, offering virtual ensemble coaching and private instrument lessons. Most recently NEDELKA is the visionary for “The Un-Silenced Voice Project”, an endeavor that seeks “to empower the feminine voice (actual and artistic) affected by trauma to help bring necessary balance into our shared spaces.”
André De Quadros, Boston University faculty/Voices 21C (panelist)
André de Quadros is a conductor, ethnomusicologist, music educator, writer, and human rights activist. His professional work has taken him to the most diverse settings, spanning professional ensembles, and projects with prisons, psychosocial rehabilitation, refugees and asylum-seekers, poverty locations, and victims of torture and trauma in more than 40 countries. He is a professor of music at Boston University and directs the Manado State University Choir (Indonesia), Common Ground Voices (Jerusalem), Common Ground Voices / La Frontera (Tijuana/San Diego), SCO Countries Youth Choir (Shanghai), VOICES 21C (Boston), and the Muslim Choral Ensemble (Sri Lanka). He is co-founder and creative director of The Choral Commons.
Tyrone Sutton, Boston Arts Academy (panelist)
Tyrone Sutton is the Dean of Arts at Boston Arts Academy where he has worked since 2008 in various teaching and leadership roles. He has worked as the chair of the Humanities department, as the co-chair of the music department, and the coordinator for vocal music. At the Boston Arts Academy, Tyrone has taught freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors in various courses including writing seminar, humanities, chorus, vocal technique, vocal jazz, music theory, musical theater, and music history. He is also the founder of the award winning Boston Arts Academy Spirituals Ensemble, which has performed at several major venues across Massachusetts and with leading artists including Grammy-awarding winning jazz saxophonist, Don Byron. The ensemble has won gold medals at the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association's annual concert festival and was the 2015 winners of the WGBH, Sing That Thing choir competition. In addition to his work at the Boston Arts Academy, he currently serves as the principal organist at the Historic Charles Street A.M.E. church in Boston, Massachusetts and is a board member for the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Dorchester and the Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts Academy in Roxbury. He has also served as a teaching fellow with the Boston Children’s Chorus and vocal ensemble director for Berklee City Music, Boston. Prior to his work at the Boston Arts Academy, he worked in arts education policy and advocacy with the Arts Education Partnership in Washington, D.C. and as an assistant for the coordinator for visual and performing arts in Cambridge Public Schools in Cambridge, MA. Tyrone is a Rockefeller Brothers Fund fellow. He attended Texas State University-San Marcos where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music education; is a graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education where he received his master's degree in education, concentrating in arts education; and received a graduate certificate from Boston University’s Creative Educational Leadership Institute.