Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Tania León and Kelli O’Hara at Commencement Ceremony

On Saturday, May 10, 285 graduates from around the world came together at the Berklee Performance Center for Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s annual commencement ceremony. At the event, Berklee President Jim Lucchese and Boston Conservatory at Berklee Executive Director Michael Shinn presented honorary doctorates to two iconic artists: Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, conductor, and educator Tania León, and Tony Award–winning actor and singer Kelli O’Hara.

León was recognized for her work leading orchestras around the world and for her powerful compositional voice. She is the first Latin American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music, for her orchestral work Stride, which honored the women’s suffrage movement. She has also served as a visiting professor at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, among others.

In her address to the graduating class, León reflected on her memories as a young musician in Cuba, where her grandmother encouraged her to pursue piano at the age of four, and on her move to the United States, where she studied composition and established her footing professionally in New York City. She shared stories about her early days composing for the Dance Theatre of Harlem (which she cofounded) and her work with Arthur Mitchell, emphasizing the importance of creative collaboration and working with others to write history. 

“What we make of an idea fueled by passion could be extraordinary,” said León. “I could quite actually change the world. You could quite actually change the world.” She closed her speech with advice for the class of 2025. “Just as music transcends language and culture to connect us all, let your actions be a symphony of compassion, empathy, and understanding in a world in dire need of harmony,” she said.

O’Hara was recognized for being one of Broadway’s most versatile artists, for which she received a Tony Award and eight nominations, as well as Emmy, SAG, and Grammy nominations throughout a career spanning more than two decades. She made history in 2015 as the first artist to cross over from Broadway to opera when she debuted opposite Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera’s The Merry Widow. O’Hara also enjoys a robust career on screen, and can currently be seen as Aurora Fane on HBO’s The Gilded Age. 

“Today and this moment remind me of what it actually means to be an artist, a person of craft,” said O’Hara in her commencement address. She discussed falling in love with movie musicals and films as a girl, discovering a path that would ultimately lead her to Broadway. O’Hara also shared her memories as a young Broadway actress, and how she learned to shape-shift and adapt for different roles as she auditioned around the city, ultimately finding her niche. 

“It’s not just the craft—finding work inside the craft—it’s your interpretation of the craft, your authentic voice within it, your artistry. And if the ‘in’ thing, whatever that means, isn’t necessarily your thing … find some trusted collaborators and build a world for yourself.” She imparted advice to the graduating class, saying, “We must fight for humanity—all humanity—by staying, by telling our stories and the stories of others any way we can with our true voices, and the ones that don’t ask us to compromise—especially for those who don’t have voices to use.”

The senior speaker for Boston Conservatory’s graduating class was Grigori Balasanyan (BM '25), a composition major from Yerevan, Armenia. Balasanyan shared his fondest memories and plans for the future in a student spotlight feature ahead of his graduation. His opera, Silent Tears, debuted in November of 2024 to great acclaim, and will be performed throughout the world, including Los Angeles, Indiana, London, Paris, and Balasanyan’s home country of Armenia during the 2026–2027 season.

Past honorary degree recipients for Boston Conservatory at Berklee include Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Betty Buckley, André De Shields, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, LaChanze, Victoria Livengood (MM '85, voice), Lar Lubovitch, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nicholas Paleologos, Billy Porter, Awadagin Pratt, Leontyne Price, and Chita Rivera, among others.

Watch Tania León and Kelli O’Hara’s remarks at Boston Conservatory’s 2025 commencement ceremony.