Music production and engineering professor Stephen Webber is accompanying the Scratch Ambassadors to China, marking the first time a Berklee student ensemble has traveled and performed there. The group, along with other faculty, students, and Office of Admissions staff, will be promoting Berklee’s auditions and interviews in China. Student Aries Deng, who hails from Beijing, is among the students featured in the ensemble. The following is a post penned by Webber.

This morning the Scratch Ambassadors (aka Berklee Turntable Crew) performed for my Intro to MP&E class in recital hall 1W—it should be a good warm up concert for our tour of China! We leave super-early on Friday morning (6:00 a.m. flight).

We’ll be spinning and scratching and blending and bopping our way from Beijing to Shanghai, performing and presenting workshop at two colleges, one university, and what I’m being told is the top conservatory in China!

We’ve got four turntablists, one rapper, and a singer who doubles on sax and Akai EWI (Electroninc Wind Instrument). I wonder what they’ll make of us over there?  As far as I know, Berklee has the only college touring turntable crew in the world!  I can’t wait to meet our audiences, and to play some uniquely American music—fusing hip-hop, jazz, funk, Latin, rock, and spoken word.

I’ll check in later from the road!

Stephen Webber and the Scratch Ambassadors