Paramore's Hayley Williams Praises Berklee Ensemble: "Make Noise"

The students of Berklee's Paramore Ensemble got high praise after their big show, Final Riot!, at the Berklee Performance Center last week, from none other than frontwoman Hayley Williams herself. 

The rocker posted a note on Substack congratulating the group, saying, "it really made me emo to watch students perform our music." 

She watched part of the performance that included songs from the band's most recent album, This Is Why. 

"They did such a great job playing and singing together. It made me feel a lot of hope that there will always be young people who want to pick up instruments and make noise," Williams wrote. "And those young people will go on to make art that could just as easily end up inspiring another generation." 

The student-run ensemble has been active for three years, and has worked its way up from performing at smaller venues to putting together this large-scale show at the BPC with full production, dancers, and visuals. 

"We started planning the BPC show in the spring of ’25, and throughout that time it was a lot of organizing, scheduling, planning, and hard work from not only the band members, but the production team as well," says Annette Alicandu, the ensemble's co-founder, co-director, and co-drummer. 

It was "done with a lot of care to not only make a great show, but also to stay faithful to the message of the music... a message of empowerment and staying true to yourself," says Will Gibson, the group's musical director and guitarist. 

Paramore's music obviously resonates with the students. "I first auditioned to Berklee with a Paramore song," says Carlee Morales, who is also co-founder, co-director, and co-drummer. "They were one of the first bands that I started learning on drums. It’s just such a crazy full-circle moment for the entire three years of this ensemble running to receive such a recognition."

"Their music has always felt like the band talking to each other through their songs," says Gibson. "It gives us as listeners a very candid look into their growth as people, and seeing that while I was growing up was so inspiring." 

The ensemble's business manager, Tarra Ajwani, had reached out to Paramore's team and kept them updated on the performance, which is how Williams saw the livestream. "We were all in shock!" says Alicandu. "It felt surreal that Hayley and her team had watched and commented on it."

"To be encouraged by someone who you have such deep respect for is an incredible feeling," says Gibson.

"Congrats to the students on what looked and sounded like an incredible show," Williams wrote near the end of the Substack note. "Keep playing. 'Play' is the antidote to trauma and it tells our bodies that we can be safe. Dancing, singing, gathering together as a community, for joy, is not a frivolous thing. Joy is still a worthy cause because it is what will sustain us for any fight ahead of us."

"That’s what art as a whole is about. Human connection and communication," says Gibson. "Nobody does that like Paramore."