In what spare time remained, Rose continued to produce and engineer recordings, write jingles, and lead his own band (“If you were paying, we were playing,” he explains when asked about preferred repertoire). Yet as he turns 69, Rose has chosen to step back and enjoy time with Jodie, their five children, nine grandchildren, family, and numerous friends. Looking back on his Berklee experience, Rose insists, “| feel like I've never worked a day in my life. You have to keep evolving to maintain a career at Berklee, so you never stagnate. | simply took my cue from Larry and Lee Berk and Roger Brown and devoted myself to the students.” While it would be a cliché to say that Berklee will not be the same without Rob Rose, it is more accurate to acknowledge that Berklee would not be the international model for music education that it is but for his inestimable contribution. m