Berklee Clinics in Mumbai Connect with Local Teachers and Musicians

Though he has given many stage performance clinics throughout North America, Livingston Taylor said the students he stood in front of in Mumbai this spring offered up a different kind of question than those he usually fields.

In a country in which young people are often encouraged to pursue careers in medicine, business, or engineering, Taylor's students seemed intrigued that a life as an artist was within their reach. “There’s a bit more wonderment about that coming from Indian students, i.e., ‘Can we really do this? Wow.’ They’re a bit more starry-eyed about the prospect,” Taylor, who has taught at Berklee for 27 years, said.

He was in Mumbai as part of a larger Berklee trip in which the college and its Berklee India Exchange (BIX) awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to three Indian musicians.

The first clinic of the trip, for local music teachers, was held at Furtados School of Music. There, before about two dozen people, Taylor spoke to a rapt audience as he spent two hours going over topics like self-presentation, how to engage with an audience, stage fright, and more. His presentation later in the day at True School of Music was aimed at students and covered similar territory.

Maanumi Desai, an 18-year-old vocalist from Mumbai who attended the True School clinic, said she left with greater understanding of the psychological aspect of performance, of “making people feel what you feel, being sharp, reaching out to people and making them feel the lyrics.” Darshan Mehta, also 18, from Gujarat, said the clinic made him more confident in his desire to pursue music. He enjoyed Taylor’s guidance about “how to be a character” on stage.

The clinics are a way for musicians in India to have access to Berklee faculty and methods. They work, said Clint Valladares, managing director for BIX, because they provide a space for students to ask questions without being judged. A third and separate clinic was held during the trip as part of the Tandon Global Clinic series.

For Berklee, the clinics bring the chance to learn from diverse musical traditions. “The value of engaging new cultures and finding a place where musical tonalities can combine is one of the most important missions we have as an institution of higher learning,” Taylor said. "That we would facilitate communication is perhaps the core of who and what we are."