Alumni Featured at International Jazz Day

On April 29, President and Michelle Obama hosted an all-star concert at the White House for the fifth annual International Jazz Day celebration. Berklee was well represented among the performers, which included headliners Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Kurt Elling, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, and others.

June 1, 2016

Pianist Danilo Pérez ’88 and vocalist Dianne Reeves were part of an ensemble performing Pat Metheny’s piece “Minuano.”

Steve Mundinger

On April 29, President and Michelle Obama hosted an all-star concert at the White House for the fifth annual International Jazz Day celebration. Berklee was well represented among the performers, which included headliners Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Kurt Elling, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, and others. Eight of the 40 artists who participated in the two-hour set were Berklee alumni, including drummers Terri Lyne Carrington '83 and Kendrick Scott '03, pianist Danilo Pérez '88, guitarist Lionel Loueke '00, bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding '05, saxophonists Sadao Watanabe '65 and Eli Degibri '97, and singer and pianist Diana Krall '83. All the female instrumentalists who performed were Berklee alumnae.

Berklee President Roger H. Brown and his wife, Linda Mason, attended the event with former Berklee President Lee Eliot Berk and his wife, Susan. “I cannot tell you how meaningful it was to see a global appreciation for the music many of us love—the product of our own unique history and culture,” Brown stated.

This article appeared in our alumni magazine, Berklee Today Summer 2016. Learn more about Berklee Today.
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