Boston Conservatory at Berklee Celebrates 2018 Graduating Class
From the left: Lawrence Simpson, Berklee’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost; honoree Billy Porter; Cathy Young, Boston Conservatory executive director; honoree Victoria Livengood ’85; and student commencement speaker Briana Bunkley ’18.
During the proceedings, conservatory alumnus Mihail Jojatu ’99 was presented a Distinguished Alumni Award. Dean of Music Michael Shin read to the graduates a statement prepared by Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Jojatu, who was not able to attend the ceremony.
“It’s not always the most talented person who gets the job, but the most prepared,” Jojatu wrote. “If you put in the work, practice, prepare and craft your art, you will be that much closer to achieving success.”
Conservatory executive director Cathy Young told the crowd, “Artists are our healers, our change makers, the ones who wake us up and inspire us, who remind us on the deepest level, of what it is to be human and that we are all connected. My vision for Boston Conservatory at Berklee is that we create—student by student, class by class, and generation by generation—an army of love and a force for good and beauty and compassion in the world. That we transform the world through the power of art.”
