
The morning before performing at Boston Calling with indie supergroup Big Red Machine, trumpeter John Michael Bradford B.M. '19 called trombonist Ethan Santos B.M. '19. We have a rehearsal like, right now, he said. Can you make it?
The band, co-led by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of the National, had reached out to Berklee that week looking for two brass players to join them for a couple songs during their Saturday night festival set. Bradford and Santos said yes to the last-minute opportunity, and by the end of that week they found themselves preparing to perform with a band they were just meeting, on songs they had little time to learn.
At rehearsals, Bradford and Santos were given the freedom and trust to create their own parts. The band played through the two songs the horns would feature in, offering some notes about chords and the general melody, but they left the specifics open. We're pretty loose, they told the recent Berklee graduates. You can play whatever-you sound great.
Preparing for the Unknown So how do you prepare for a gig you had no idea you would be offered, with a band you've never played with, playing songs you haven't had much time to rehearse, at New England's premier popular music festival, with only a couple days' notice?
It's built up over a number of years, says Santos. We both grew up with a lot of jazz. There's a lot of using your ear with that kind of music.
Prepare to Take the Stage
Learn more about honing your performance skills at Berklee.
It's really about reacting and listening, Bradford adds, and being aware of the vibe of the music and the musicians you're playing with.
It also helped that Santos and Bradford were already well acquainted with each other as musicians. They had been playing together since 2015, when they both participated in Grammy in the Schools national honors jazz band before coming to Berklee. During their time as performance majors, they shared the stage on numerous occasions, and plan to continue performing together and collaborating as Berklee alumni.
Nerves Are Natural I wasn't nervous until we got up behind the stage, recalls Bradford. The audience was huge, and they knew all the songs. There were at least a few thousand people.
But nerves, Santos says, are a natural part of the job: I've spent a lot of time as a performer not trying to get rid of the nervousness, but trying to understand how to perform with it and play with it. You'll have these feelings as you're playing, and it's just a matter of not letting it affect your stage presence, not letting it affect your performance.
Listen to the studio version of Big Red Machines Hymnostic, the first of two tracks Bradford and Santos contributed their horns to:
When Dessner introduced Bradford and Santos (with a nod to Berklee) and they joined the band for the song Hymnostic, it was as though the whole performance shifted into a higher gear nobody knew existed. The band was so good, Bradford says. Everyone was so solid, so it just came together. Bradford's New Orleans-tinged trumpet lines over Santos' harmonies brought the song into a celebratory space that carried into the next song, I Won't Run from It, on which they also featured.
And heres the studio recording of Big Red Machines I Wont Run from It:
The two horn players left the stage to loud cheers from the audience, and the energy they brought to the stage had done something to transform the whole performance well after their two songs had ended.
It was easy to sense the crowds appreciation, Bradford says. The music felt great, and the energy from the crowd-they loved it. It seemed like they were super excited when we came out, and that we were a part of it.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
West Coast News Berklee Today
Fall
2018
Volume
30
Number
2
Finding the Groove at DCU Berklee Today
Fall
2018
Volume
30
Number
2
Night School at Wally's Berklee Today
Fall
2018
Volume
30
Number
2
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Meet Seven Students from Berklee's Class of 2019 Berklee will celebrate its newest class of innovative artists and music professionals.
Latest
Berklee Brass Players Take the Stage at Boston Calling Recent alumni John Michael Bradford and Ethan Santos took a last-minute opportunity to perform with members of Bon Iver and the National in the indie supergroup Big Red Machine.
Roger H. Brown Honored by Williams College, Boston Arts Academy Berklee's president was recognized for his contributions to education and the arts.
Billy Childs Named Visiting Scholar at Berklee As the inaugural Ken Pullig Visiting Scholar in Jazz Studies, the five-time Grammy-winner will coach a student ensemble, work with faculty, and present master classes.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...
15/04/2026
VO Integrates Client-Side and Server-Side Ad Technologies with its Secure Video Player and Segmentation Tools, Leveraging Broadpeak's SSAI and BPK SmartLib ...
15/04/2026
TMT Insights, a leader in professional services and software development for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced the launch of TMT AI at...
15/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media, a global leader in managed broadcast and cloud-based media services, today announced an expanded partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastr...
15/04/2026
Middleman Software, a leading provider of signaling and synchronization solutions for broadcast and streaming workflows, today announced it will unveil PhaseLoc...
15/04/2026
Deity Microphones today announced the PR-4, a compact six-track field recorder featuring four inputs, 32-bit float recording, advanced routing, and a workflow-f...
15/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Powerful software-based live audio mixer with support for SMPTE-2110...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Strategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, founder and owner of Riedel Communications and the Riedel Group, has acqui...
15/04/2026
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company's Rally platform has been deployed by Iyuno Media...
15/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the worlds leading streaming television channels, has become the platform of choice for leading U.S. broadcasters bringing ...
15/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliability and Security
SAN JOSE, Calif. April 14, 2026 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) t...
15/04/2026
During the 2025 off-season, VIDI completed a major upgrade of the broadcast infrastructure across all 36 stadiums in Germany's 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. The p...
15/04/2026
Clear-Com announced significant updates to its award-winning Arcadia Central Station as well as enhancements to the Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System now runn...
15/04/2026
Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB SHOW 2026
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
New system removes PTZ pan restric...
15/04/2026
LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB Show, Adding Direct File...
15/04/2026
This 24-Hour Performance Art Piece Needs Your Participation Keefer Glenshaws latest project is about collaborating with the Berklee community and beyond.
Apr...
15/04/2026
Traditional data centers only stored, retrieved and processed data. In the generative and agentic AI era, these facilities have evolved into AI token factories....
15/04/2026
Two Cities Television and Keeper Pictures to produce six-part series in association with Screen Ireland for RT and ITV Studios
RT has commissioned Two Citie...
15/04/2026
RT 100
RT unveils The Signal' a specially commissioned 60-second film
...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show 2026 trade show, running April 18-22 in Las Vegas, is set to showcase a wave of new features and optimizations for top video editing applications. ...
14/04/2026
ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 P...
14/04/2026
Haivision has announced the Falkon X4, a 5G mobile video transmitter for live broadcast and remote production. The device will be showcased at NAB Show 2026.
...
14/04/2026
Founded by veterans of the production-truck world, Stripe TV was born out of a d...
14/04/2026
Grass Valley has expanded its partnership with Studio Berlin, supplying 12 LDX 135 UHD/HDR camera systems and 12 LDX 180 Super 35mm cinematic cameras, including...
14/04/2026
LTN has announced two senior appointments ahead of NAB Show 2026: Mark Romano as Vice President, Multichannel Platforms, and Edward Cox as Vice President, Sales...
14/04/2026
Sennheiser and Italian rental company Agor have begun preparations for their Eu...
14/04/2026
DAZN and ADI Predictstreet have announced a partnership to integrate ADI Predict...
14/04/2026
Deltatre has announced the completion of a direct-to-fan website and app for Leg...