“Fill the world with music, love, and pride.”
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
Composer, arranger, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist Calder Adkins has never been one to settle for focusing on only one aspect of music. A 2023 graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Calder has a wealth of experience as a music director, music supervisor, arranger, composer, transcriber, copyist, and/or performer for various projects, concerts, and events at Berklee and around Boston.
Since coming to Berklee in 2019, Calder has been fortunate to learn from the industry’s best. He has studied saxophone with Jackie Beard and Edmar Colón, composition with Brian Buch, arranging with Jeri Sykes and Tsunenori “Lee” Abe, piano with Ben Cook (The Boston Pops), and conducting with fifty-year veteran of Broadway pits Eric Stern.
Calder currently works as a Music Director for Celebrity Cruises all over the globe, and is available for remote session work as well as arranging, composing, transcribing, and score preparation.
Selected Experience
Education
Berklee College of Music | Boston, MA
September 2019 - May 2023
B.M. summa cum laude, Professional Music; concentrations in Contemporary Writing and Production, Composition, Jazz Composition and Musical Theater Conducting
Professional Experience
Music Director/Bassist | Celebrity Cruises, Miami, FL - 2023-present
Music Supervisor | Berklee Broadway Band, Boston, MA - Spring 2023 (seasonal)
Music Director, 13th Annual Curtain Up! | Berklee Theater Arts Collaborative, Boston, MA - Spring 2023 (seasonal)
Accompanist | Berklee College of Music Voice Department, Boston, MA - August 2022 - May 2023
Associate Music Director | Berklee Broadway Band, Boston, MA - Fall 2022 (seasonal)
Arranger/Copyist | Berklee Broadway Band, Boston, MA - Seasonal
Core Music Tutor | Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA - January 2021 - May 2023
Arranger/Copyist/Conductor | Berklee Signature Series, Boston, MA - Seasonal
Performance Experience
CONCERTS/CABARETS
Curtain Up! (Music Director) | Berklee Performance Center, 2023
Things I Tell My Therapist (Associate MD) | Berklee Broadway Band, 2022
Great American Songbook: The 50th Anniversary of Tapestry | Berklee College of Music (virtual), 2021
ENSEMBLES
Original Fusion Ensemble dir. Barbara LaFitte (Alto Sax, Composer), 2022
Latin Jazz Recording Ensemble dir. Dan Moretti (Alto Sax, Bass), 2020