Phil Farnsworth

Alum

Linda J. Chase

Professor
Affiliated Departments
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Faculty Bio E-Mail
lchase@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-8372
Personal Websites
Linda J. Chase's website

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Linda J. Chase is a composer, ecophilosopher, and flutist. Her music weaves elements of chamber music, jazz, and contemporary improvisation with spoken word and interdisciplinary arts. She has received composition awards from places including the Japan Foundation, Grand Canyon National Park, Kaji Aso Studio, the Morris Graves Institute, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, among other places. She is an active member of the Landscape Music Composers Network. In 2016 and 2017, Chase served as composer in residence at the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, where she collaborated with Reverend Dr. Harvey G. Cox to create "The City Is Burning", a multimedia oratorio based on multifaith sacred texts. This work contemplates how the arts can build community, nurture compassion, and deepen awareness that inspires action.

Career Highlights
  • Teachers include Ran Blake, Michael Gandolfi, and Peter Row
  • Teaching assistant, Harvard University and New England Conservatory of Music
  • Composer/performer for the score for Tartuffe, American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Publications include the review "Betty Carter: 'She Could Be Painting Sound'" in Sojourner: The Women's Forum
  • Concert producer/manager for Sheila Jordan, Illinois Jacquet, and Steve Swallow, and copyist for Steve Lacy and J.J. Johnson premier scores
  • Band leader of Wild Garden Chamber Ensemble and performer with Jane Hirshfield (poet), Ray Santisi, Klezmer Conservatory, and Itzhak Perlman
  • Preconcert lectures for Wynton Marsalis and Dave Brubeck
  • Recordings include Hope Is the Hardest Love We Carry, Presences Inside Poems, Another Realm, The Blue Inside My Head, and Speaking with Angels
  • Recipient of a Japan Foundation Fellowship and an American Association of University Women grant
  • Artist in residence at the Grand Canyon, summer 2012
  • Instruments include flute, alto flute, bass clarinet, and guitar
Awards
  • Winner of Composers Prize for "Tanabata Star Festival," based on the poetry of Japanese poet and artist Kaji Aso
Education
  • Ph.D., Prescott College, sustainability education
  • M.A., New England Conservatory, contemporary improvisation
  • Artist Diploma, Berklee College of Music, jazz composition
  • B.A., The Evergreen State College, expressive arts
In Their Own Words

"My teaching style is interactive. I believe in education that goes beyond collecting information to engagement, experimentation, and acknowledging intuitive ways of knowing. My approach to teaching is based on creative learning designs and explorations considering the importance of context, analysis, and reflection in order to ask difficult questions about artistic intent, purpose, and social responsibility. I explore educating with the intention of nurturing compassion and ask how artists can promote an understanding of critical issues that inspires action."

"As a composer, I strive to create socially engaged art that invites fertile conversations. I keep exploring how music can make a difference. My process of improvisation and composition informs my teaching in finding ways to cultivate an artistically educational approach to participate in environmental, peace, and social justice issues in a way that is relevant to emerging artists."

Additional Related Links
Concert Review: Linda J. Chase - "The City Is Burning"