Livingston Taylor at Berklee College


Livingston Taylor has been teaching at the Berklee College of Music now for nearly two decades. 
His course “Stage Performance Techniques” focuses on how to be on stage in front of an audience. 
It’s a pretty hands-on approach, with each student climbing up on stage to perform each week for 
Taylor’s thoughts. The class covers issues ranging from stage fright to life on the road, 
and reflects Livingston’s nearly four decades as a traveling troubadour.

At the core of the class is Taylor’s constant reminder that the real job of anyone in front of 
an audience is to pay attention to that audience. It is key, he believes, to open a conversation 
with the audience while you are on stage. So, for example, if you listen, you might hear people 
shifting in their chairs, coughing or whispering. Any of these is an indication that you have 
lost the thread of the conversation; you have lost the attention of the audience. 

From this core flow many other lessons. If you are nervous and focused on your fright, you will 
not be able to engage in conversation, and your nervousness will grow. The corollary is also 
true: if you are in the midst of a conversation with the audience, then you won’t be focused 
on your nervousness, and it will dissipate. All of these lessons have been gathered by Livingston 
into a book “Stage Performance,” currently being edited for its second printing.

In addition to his own insights, Livingston has, over the years, enlisted the help of some of 
his friends from the music industry to join him in helping the next generation of musicians 
develop. He has brought the likes of Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor to his classes to talk about 
their experiences in the business as well as their approaches to songwriting and performing. 
And when Steve Tyler from Aerosmith wanted to come to Berklee to speak, he requested that 
Livingston be on stage with him to monitor the discussion with students.

In 2002, he became part of the administration at Berklee, becoming as well a goodwill ambassador 
for the school. He travels widely throughout the country speaking to groups of parents and 
students, raising both awareness and money. As one might expect, Livingston has an unusual 
approach to student admissions. 
  
During the inauguration speech of Berkelee’s president Roger Brown, Livingston was quoted about 
the passion of the students who attend: “Livingston Taylor, one of our most colorful faculty 
members, loves to explain that when a student goes to Harvard, it is a result of an 18-year 
concerted effort on the part of the entire extended family to get that young person admitted. 
When a student comes to Berklee, it is often despite a concerted effort on the part of the 
entire extended family to talk her out of it. As Liv says, students don’t choose to come to 
Berklee, they are compelled to come to Berklee.”

It is this level of student commitment that allows Berklee to provide a consistently 
high level of musicians and technicians to the industry today.

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