Guitar Faculty

David Tronzo

Associate Professor, Guitar | 617 747-2858

"I started playing gigs even before I felt I was ready. But that's the beauty of the music business—there's so much on-the-job development. The constant discomfort from taking on things before you're ready can be corrosive, though—you need to be able to manage it. The balancing factor is when the task itself is exciting and inspiring, and you know it's right. Then it just becomes a question of how much approval you need, and in what form."

Guy Van Duser

Professor, Guitar | 617 747-6052


Jon Wheatley

Associate Professor, Guitar | 617 747-8115


Mark White

Professor, Guitar | 617 747-8398

"Berklee is the best school in the world for its kind. The musicians here sum up such a wide spectrum of the industry, from performance to writing to MP&E. They're the best of the best. These are people who are proficient in their business because they've been in the business. There's not another conglomeration of such talented faculty anywhere in the world! You combine that with excellent course structure and continuing efforts to improve the educational aspects of the system, and you get a real win-win situation here. You add to that state-of-the-art facilities and you can't do any better anywhere else."

John Wilkins

Associate Professor, Guitar | 617 747-8400

"Good musicianship is about the fundamentals; it doesn't have to be intricate to be good. Technique is fine, but it's not everything. I stress accompaniment skills and time feel a lot. For most players, time feel is probably the most important skill, because you're usually part of a rhythm section. Your job a lot of times is to complement what's going on, so you have to be really good at listening to and interacting with other musicians. That's what makes great players great."

Michael Williams

Professor, Guitar
Also affiliated with: Berklee Online | 617 747-8227


Bret Willmott

Professor, Guitar | 617 747-8229

"The joy of the guitar is that it has so many different sounds and stylistic approaches. It has a harmonic sound unique to itself, and it can closely simulate the sound of a horn or voice through various techniques like string bending, hammer-ons, and tapping. I think many other instruments have greater difficulty accomplishing the versatile sounds that a guitar can make. Piano is ultimately the best instrument harmonically, no question, but I still believe the guitar is a more versatile instrument in terms of varied sounds and styles."

Norman Zocher

Professor, Guitar
Also affiliated with: Berklee Online | 617 747-8221
