Karen A. Bell Named Chair of Performance Studies

Berklee is pleased to announce that Karen A. Bell BM '90 has been named chair of performance studies, effective immediately. This new role will be in addition to her current title as associate dean of the Professional Performance Division.

“Karen Bell has been a valuable contributor to the college for over two decades, and her recent work as associate dean has made a profound impact on the  Performance Division and the students within the performance major,” says Sean K. Skeete, dean of the Professional Performance Division at Berklee.

Bell has worked in multiple roles in several departments in Berklee for more than 20 years. She began working in the Professional Performance Division in 2018, and prior to that she spent 13 years working in Alumni Affairs, first as the director and then as the chief alumni officer for the College and Conservatory. During her time in Alumni Affairs, she coproduced Berklee's first alumni reunion and concert, and coled the efforts resulting in the Bill Pierce MLK Scholarship Fund, the Jeffrey E. Ramsay Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, and the Berklee Alumni Achievement Awards.

In her current position, she works with the dean of the Professional Performance Division overseeing its 10 departments, serving on the provost’s leadership council, managing the division’s course proposals and curriculum development, and supervising faculty and staff. Bell also advises and guides the institution’s performing artists in preparation for career longevity in the music industry.

“I am honored to be asked to expand my role and to continue my work with Sean Skeete and the Professional Performance Division team in providing necessary curriculum to all students, regardless of their artistic discipline, major, or instrument,” says Bell. “My personal and professional journey led me to Berklee more than thirty years ago from Camden, South Carolina, and I was as excited then as I am now to share my love for community, music, and education.”

Outside of her role in higher education, Bell is a 30-year veteran in the music industry. Her longevity can be attributed in part to having established ongoing support and collaboration with the behind-the-scenes artists who are the backbone of the performing arts industry, including musical directors, rhythm section players, backing vocalists, dancers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and more. A singer by trade, she describes her sound as “a mix of R&B and pop with satisfying spoonfuls of Gospel and blues." She has shared the stage with renowned artists Shirley Caesar, George Duke, and Paula Cole, and has entertained audiences at Berklee's annual fundraiser Amplify Berklee (formerly Encore Gala) and the Beantown Jazz Festival.

Bell is also the bandleader of the Karen Bell Band, a group ranging from a duo to 10 pieces, including three singers and a three-piece horn section. In addition to her musical pursuits, she is an entrepreneur, having founded Let Me Be Free to Love, a community-based program spotlighting and celebrating the voices of Black women over 40 by fostering community, social change, and advancement through the performing arts and other collaborative endeavors.