After five years of being the program director of Mercy University’s Music Production and Recording Arts program, Stephen Ward is passing down the torch to Emmy Award-winning producer, Justin Kessler.

Kessler has served Mercy University for twelve years, starting as an adjunct faculty member before transitioning to full-time. Like most individuals experience when starting their career, accepting the first position at Mercy was just a job, until it became something more special.

Wanting to get into the academic side of talking about the music business was something that gave him the potential to free him in becoming an artist while also being able to stick to his sense of self.

“I felt that I was on a team of talented and smart people, so I didn’t have to necessarily be any one thing or another, I could just sort of be myself. I have great facilities and passionate students. Together I can continue doing the thing I love,” Kessler mentioned.

He takes pride in every experience he has when influencing others and meeting new people regularly while also leading him back to the heart of the matter each day, which is making art with others as well.

The feedback from students plays a huge role in what Kessler prioritizes as a professor and will take into his role as a director. He strives to take the students through a journey of putting themselves out there and making their voices heard through any path they choose to go down. Kessler also plans on tying his exceptional experience with the practice of mindfulness into all students’ journeys.

With the combination of mindfulness and his passion for music, he hopes to continue encouraging students to establish connections, create art, and pass on the knowledge they gain to others as well.

As the new program director, Kessler has a major outreach mission and that is to increase the program’s numbers and outreach through new marketing tactics. “Going door to door to high schools involved in the music world letting them know who we are and what we have here is the start of the process.”

Soon enough, the community can see workshops advertised and available to the entire community open to anyone who would be interested in learning about all aspects of music production while getting hands-on experience with state-of-the-art equipment in the Mercy music studios. Mercy’s musical community will be full of more faces and more events.

Getting the role left him charged up and ready to create the environment he wants himself and his students to be in.

“We want to create a fun environment, but one where students can see themselves reflected and appreciated. Where they can see that they’re not being held to some sort of strict demand, they are here being encouraged to grow in their own way through guidance and support,” Kessler said.

Being able to work along side Ward up until his promotion was a blessing, he said. It was an opportunity of immense learning and the perfect way to begin to frame this new journey while still keeping the origins of the program.

In the future, students can expect to see some curricular changes, elevated electives, and expansion of offerings possibly involving game sound, live sound, and concert production to appeal to students who may not want want to be music producers but want to be involved in any aspect of entertainment.

The program can be deemed as more open and reflective of all opportunities. Kessler is ready to use his voice to be the push the community needs to make things happen and achieve more growth.

“I see great things for the future. I see music production coalescing with other media production types, and careers in music production linked to other types of production,” Kessler says. He hopes to see other variables like social media and video production included to give students a more well-rounded toolset. 

If there is one thing current students, prospective students, and anyone in the Mercy community should know is that Kessler is here for them, this is their learning environment and their experience.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about Mercy’s Music Production and Recording Arts Program, you can reach Justin Kessler at [email protected].