Don Puluse, 2012 May 23
Don Puluse, former dean of the Music Technology Division at Berklee College of Music, discusses the Music Technology Division and his role as an administrator; the establishment of the Music Production and Engineering department; Berklee’s Visiting Artist Series and past guests; the history of the Strings department and the addition of dual majors; and his memories of Berklee colleagues. Puluse also describes his approach to administration and teaching, his advocacy for hearing protection, and his work with various industry professionals.
Recording engineer and educational administrator Don Puluse, from Paterson, New Jersey, received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, playing clarinet in the United States Marine Band for four years between degrees. Puluse worked as a studio recording engineer at Columbia/CBS Records in New York City for almost twenty years; in 1971 he received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Classical Music Recording for his recording of the Leonard Bernstein Mass. Puluse served as Dean of the Music Technology Division at Berklee College of Music from 1983 to 2000. During his seventeen years at the college, Puluse launched and developed the college’s Music Production and Engineering (MP&E) department, which he oversaw alongside the Music Synthesis (later Electronic Production and Design) department. After retiring from Berklee in 2000, Puluse went on to teach at the New England Institute of Art and serve as President of the Audio Engineering Society’s Educational Foundation.
