TO FEATURE VIDEO PERFORMANCES BY NOW-FAMOUS ALUMNI - Performances from Showcases Past to Include Singer/ Songwriters Paula Cole, Susan Tedeschi, and Lalah Hathaway; and Saxophonists Antonio Hart and Teodross Avery.

BOSTON, April 15, 1999 -- Berklee College of Music's Spring 1999 "Singers Showcase" will celebrate the event's "First Fifteen Years" on Thursday, April 22, at 8:15 p.m. at the wheelchair accessible Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. Tickets are $4,00 -- $1.00 for seniors -- and are available at the box office, (617) 747-2261, or see the BPC web site at www.berkleebpc.com.

Performing with a 12-piece band and six backup singers, the college's top 20 student vocalists will sing hits from the first 15 years of "Showcase" concerts, including songs by Chaka Khan, Kenny Loggins, Ella Fitzgerald, Sting, Anita Baker, Billy Joel, Barbara Streisand, and Aretha Franklin. Produced by Berklee faculty, the concert will stage a special re-creation of the very first "Singers Showcase" in 1983.

"The First Fifteen Years" will also present video performances from past "Singers Showcase" concerts by some of Berklee's successful alumni, including singer/songwriters Paula Cole, Susan Tedeschi, and Lalah Hathaway; saxophonists Teodross Avery and Antonio Hart; guitarist Mark Whitfield; John McLaughlin bassist Kai Eckhardt; and drummer John Roberts, who played on Janet Jackson's Grammy-nominated "Velvet Rope" CD.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world's largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multicultural enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, 40 percent of whom are international. The college's alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.

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For media information, contact:

Toni Ballard
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617) 747-2247
Fax: (617) 247-8788
tballard@berklee.edu