Wes Wehmiller Scholarship

Wes Wehmiller Click here to watch the video of President of Berklee College of Music, Roger Brown, announcing the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship: Berklee Remembers Wes video, 55MB

Contributions may be made to the scholarship fund by clicking here.

You can also purchase a DVD of WesFest 2, with performances by Stu Hamm, Danny Mo, Jude Crossen, and many more. All proceeds go to support the Wes Wehmiller scholarship fund. The third WesFest - WesFest 3 will take place on Monday, February 25, 2008. For details, click here.

Wes, who won a scholarship to attend Berklee, was mentored here by bassist/professor Danny Morris who became a close colleague and friend. In 1993, Wes moved to the west coast where he collaborated with a vibrant Los Angeles community of Berklee alumni. From 1997 through 2001, Wes toured worldwide with the multi-platinum pop band Duran Duran, and appeared on many TV shows with them as well, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, VH-1's Storytellers and Hard Rock Live. Wes also performed with Missing Persons, avant-garde solo artist Mike Keneally, and several other L.A. based bands, and his work appears on numerous recordings produced in the L.A. area and in Vancouver.

At www.weswehmiller.net you can learn about Wes, and the people he touched. This site is packed with music, videos, photography by and of Wes, and much much more.

A unique aspect of the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship is that on the evening of the awards ceremony in March, the scholarship recipient performs with Danny Morris at "Danny Mo's Jam." The following spring, the student travels to Los Angles to perform at WesFest, an annual celebration of Wes' musical legacy sponsored and led by Berklee in LA and Peter Gordon as a fund raiser for the scholarship.

In March of 2007, Claire Finley became the second recipient of the scholarship, receiving her award from Bass Department Chairman Rich Appleman and Danny Morris - Wes' mentor, colleague, and friend. That evening Claire teamed up with Danny Mo and "Crew" in a wonderful musical event.

Left to right: Rich Appleman, Claire Finley, and Danny Morris

"Wes possessed many special qualities as a musician. Most visible was the ability to light up a song thru his bass parts. I recently played a track from a Tom Langford cd with Wes on bass for my Survey of Bass Styles class. Upon the song's conclusion, I asked the class to describe what they heard. John Wehmiller, Wes' dad, in attendance at this class, commented after hearing the students speak that they all described Wes' personality so clearly. This power of the medium, to be able to get a concise and clear picture of one's being thru the bass part of a pop/ rock tune is profound. In fact, many aspects of this scholarship are so special. Not only is music being performed and shared by folks who knew and loved Wes, but also those who had never had an association prior to these events are experiencing his beauty." See you all next year at Wesfest3 in LA and/or at Danny Mo's Jam in Boston. You are on the guest list already. As I said in the advertisement for the show, "your spirit will be moved by this event."

For more information about creating or supporting scholarships, please contact David McKay or Marjorie O'Malley.