Berklee's Helping Hands

 Berklee’s Canada Connection

For years, Americans have consumed Canadian music—and often without realizing it. Likewise, our neighbor to the north has continually enriched the Berklee community by sending outstanding musicians to the college. Berklee is grateful that Gary Slaight, a parent of a Berklee student who hails from Toronto, arranged for SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada to present the New Pornographers, k-os, and Bill King’s Saturday Night Fish Fry at the Berklee Performance Center on December 12, 2007, to highlight Canadian music’s unsung influence on American popular culture. The show was broadcast live in Canada and the United States on SIRIUS Iceberg 95.

Additionally, the Slaights have pledged to pay for tuition and room and board for an outstanding Canadian student entering Berklee. The first beneficiary of the Slaights’ gift is Lucian Gray, a gifted guitar player from Toronto, who entered the college this fall. In order to ensure other talented Canadian students have access to this scholarship opportunity, Berklee is planning auditions, interviews, and clinics, as well as an alumni reception in Toronto in the early months of 2009. Berklee is grateful to the Slaight family for helping Canadian musicians to be able to study at Berklee.

Rocking New Jersey

Red Bank, NJ, musician Pat Guadagno and his band the Tired Horses wowed a sold-out crowd at Bobfest, a Bob Dylan birthday celebration held at the beautiful new Two River Theater Company in Red Bank. Produced by cofounder Tom Moog and hosted by local radio personality Big Joe Henry, the show is in its 10th year. Concert proceeds directly benefit the Rock and Roll Music Fund and the Anthony X. Guadagno Scholarship Fund at Berklee. Established in memory of Berklee alumnus bassist Tony Guadagno, the scholarship will be awarded each year to an outstanding bass player from New Jersey with a passion for rock and roll.

Supporting Students, Developing BCM

Berklee is grateful for the financial support from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, which gave eight students the opportunity to attend Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program. The program is a major component of the Berklee City Music Program (BCMP), the college’s highly successful outreach program for underserved, urban, and at-risk youth in a sequential high-quality music education program that is year round and tuition free.

A generous gift from the Boston Foundation will underwrite an evaluation of the influence of participation in BCMP on youth development. An independent evaluator will track how BCMP participants’ experiences change over time and ways in which program activities and experiences support achievement in music, education, and social and leadership skills among youth in culturally diverse urban settings. The study will provide data to help guide the development and improvement of BCMP and to assess outcomes for program participants at regular stages of program development and implementation.

ASCAP Gives Back

For many years, the ASCAP Foundation has sponsored the Songwriter in Residence program at Berklee, allowing top songwriters such as Beth Nielsen Chapman, Gary Nicholson, Steve Seskin, Gary Burr, Annie Roboff, Don Pfrimmer, Mike Reid, John Leventhal, and Eric Bazilian to work directly with Berklee students. In addition, we are grateful to ASCAP for providing scholarship support for some of our most talented writers and performers.

Line 6, Harmon International, and Korg

Line 6, Harman International, and Korg USA recently made gifts to outfit Berklee’s new ensemble spaces at Fordham Road. A pioneer in amplifier modeling technology, Line 6 donated 20 amplifiers, including its Spider Valve 212, LD300 Pro, and LD175 models.

Harman’s donation of 10 new JBL EON PA systems will also enhance the new ensemble areas. Harman sponsored the floor space and equipment for the “Dream Studios: Berklee Making Music with the Mac” presentations at the 2008 Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. Harman International is the parent company behind an array of legendary brands.

Korg USA has supplied seven M3 Music Workstation/Samplers for the Fordham Road facilities. The company has partnered with Berklee for nearly 20 years, and just two years ago, they jointly donated Korg keyboard teaching labs to three Boston youth agencies.

A forthcoming website will enable Berklee faculty, staff, students, and alumni to buy products by Korg, Harman, and others at a discount.

Software Tools Aid Students and Faculty

Native Instruments, Antares, McDSP, and Celemony recently made generous software donations to Berklee’s Music Technology Division. These gifts will enable faculty members to teach modern audio production with contemporary tools of the highest quality and to maintain a state-of-the-art learning experience for students.