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Your Berkeley Connect in Music Experience
- Small‑group discussions — Recent topics have included: a) What is “good” music and who gets to decide?, b) Can (and should) music be political?, c) What we can hear in the music of the distant past, and d) Music AI: exciting tool or the death of creativity.
- Academic exploration — Creates space to talk about how we listen, analyze, and interpret music; how musical meaning is shaped across cultures and time; and how students can deepen their engagement with performance, composition, and music scholarship.
- Career pathways — Features conversations about the wide range of professions Music students pursue in performance, composition, education, arts administration, sound design, technology, and related creative fields.
- Faculty conversations — Offers sessions where professors discuss their research and creative work, how they approach listening and analysis, and how debates about aesthetics, politics, and technology shape the study of music.
- Field trips & special events — Includes programs such as Meet a Composer, a San Francisco Symphony concert, and an opera performance in San Francisco.
Graduate Mentor Role
At the heart of Berkeley Connect is the relationship between you and your mentor. They:
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Build community by leading small, discussion‑based sessions
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Provide one‑on‑one support with personalized guidance and resources
- Demystify the major by sharing skills, strategies, and tips on research and grad school
About Your Graduate Mentors
Eda Er
Hi! I'm a PhD candidate in Music Composition with a Designated Emphasis in New Media at Berkeley. As a composer and vocalist, I research how technology can reshape an instrument: my dissertation transforms Ebru, the Turkish art of water marbling, into a sensor-based live performance system combining voice, electronics, and video. I enjoy mentoring students through interdisciplinary work, creative risk-taking, and the practical side of building a project from idea to performance. What I wish I'd known as an undergraduate: uncertainty is part of the process, not a sign you're doing it wrong. Outside academia, I love to paint and bake.
Faculty Director
Matthew Evans Taylor
Berkeley Connect Faculty Director, Music
Assistant Professor of Composition, Department of Music
Research Interests