The Hidden Impact of Music Leaders on GRAMMY-Winning Albums

When a GRAMMY-winning album is released, the spotlight usually lands on the artist whose name is on the cover or the producer whose sound defines the record. Rarely mentioned are the music leaders who helped shape those artists years before they ever stepped into a world-class studio.

For the past 18 years, Dean Shelton G. Berg has been one of those quiet forces. As dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Berg has helped transform the school into an ecosystem that consistently feeds talent into award-winning and GRAMMY-caliber projects across the industry.

“Hiring decisions are one of the most important parts of strategic leadership,” Berg says. “The culture that we, as faculty and administrators, cultivate at the Frost School of Music encourages our students to pursue a multi-disciplinary approach to their career, thus who we choose to hire must align with this methodology, ultimately shaping the future of the music industry that our students are entering.”

That culture is rooted in Frost’s “THIS AND” philosophy, which blends classical training with cutting-edge programs in technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

“Students who attend the Frost School benefit from our ‘THIS AND’ approach to education thanks to the priority we place on combining traditional concentrations with cutting-edge programs that equip students with the artistic, technological, and entrepreneurial skills needed for success in today's world,” Berg says.

Berg says long-term success is rarely about one class or one breakthrough moment. “Perhaps my biggest legacy as dean, long-term, is that I never wanted to keep people in a box,” he says. “This lesson is like going into a clothing store. Try on this coat… But you can't make that decision intelligently until you've at least tried it on.”

By encouraging students to explore widely, Frost graduates leave with what Berg calls a “wardrobe” of skills.

“When the phone rings and a music executive says, ‘Can you do this gig?,’ if those skills are in their ‘wardrobe,’ they say, ‘Yes, I can.’ That’s the benefit of having a lot of skills to bring to the table - and to know how to use them.”

One of Berg’s most influential decisions was establishing a no-silos ethos across the school and bringing the Henry Mancini Institute to Frost.

“Students come to the Frost School and they know that they are going to dip their toe in many different waters – they're going to play across genres, the classical students are going to play on film scores and rock music projects, and, conversely, the rock music students are going to work with classical students.”

That environment mirrors the real music industry, where collaboration is essential. “The educational ecosystem at the Frost School of Music plays a huge role in turning potential into GRAMMY-level excellence,” Berg says. “The educational ecosystem at the Frost School helps people understand how to thrive in a collaborative environment, because that’s what the music industry looks like.”

Looking ahead, Berg sees artificial intelligence as a tool that must be balanced with human artistry.

“Music has an irreplaceable, irreducible power to change everything including how people feel and how they feel about each other. That's the essence of what music is, and the essence of the human experience,” he says.

That philosophy is now reflected in Frost’s current GRAMMY nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores by the Kenny Wheeler Legacy, featuring the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra and the Frost Jazz Orchestra under the direction of John Daversa.

“He had the vision and foresight that it could be a GRAMMY-caliber project, and knew that the participating students would rise to the occasion,” Berg says. “The combination of the unique musical talent he possesses, coupled with his vision and drive, resulted in this GRAMMY nomination – and there's not a more worthy project in the category.”

Behind many GRAMMY-winning performances is a long chain of leadership decisions about culture, opportunity, and belief in what young artists can become.