Berklee Welcomes Excited Entering Class

Driven to pursue their shared passion for music, more than 1,100 new students recently arrived at Berklee with instruments, gear, and dreams in hand.

September 11, 2014

At a recent convocation for incoming students, Berklee songwriting major Elena Goddard addressed Berklee's new entering class: 1,098 new students who have made their way to Berklee’s Boston campus with instruments, gear, and dreams in hand. A total of 4,482 students are now enrolled at the Boston campus, with an additional 146 master's degree students at Berklee's campus in Valencia, Spain.

“The American journalist Hunter S. Thompson once said, ‘Anything that gets your blood racing is worth doing.’ So, Berklee freshman class of 2014, I hope your blood is racing,” Goddard said. “I hope you’re terrified. I hope right now you want music and want to chase your dreams more than anything else in the world. I hope you’re ready to express yourself through music and to discover the root of who you are as a musician.” That’s precisely what many members of the entering class say they plan to do.

Opening Notes of Excitement and Nervousness

The entering class comes to Berklee from far and wide. Some, such as Emily Baker, a 26-year-old Suzuki-method-trained violinist/fiddler and singer-songwriter, did not have to travel very far. Baker hails from Newburyport, Massachusetts, and, after working most recently for shoe company Sperry Top-Sider, came to Berklee to dig deeper into her zeal for American roots music and possibly to explore music therapy as well.

A classically trained musician, Baker says, “I’ve done the conservatory thing, and I really like what Berklee has to offer in terms of my passion for bluegrass fiddling and Middle Eastern music as well as some other eclectic genres.”

Baker does have one element of the “terrified” dynamic that Goddard suggests students embrace; her worry is “not having that ‘ah-ha’ moment with music theory.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing, but I can do it, so I’m really excited about being able to understand the theory behind it,” Baker says.

Others had to leave behind everything familiar to attend Berklee, as is the case for many international students. Representing 55 nations, international students make up approximately one-third of the entering class at Berklee's Boston campus, coming to the college from Korea, India, China, Ecuador, and Mexico, just to name a few. Among this international cohort is Malaysian clarinetist David Ling, who gained familiarity with Berklee via the Berklee International Network (BIN) program at the International College of Music (ICOM) in Kuala Lumpur. Ling, who enjoys arranging for big bands and large ensembles, and has his eye on the jazz composition major, says he learned a lot from studying Berklee books, so he was excited to come to the college to meet and study with some of the professors who wrote them. In addition to adapting to Berklee, Ling, like many international students, must also get acclimated to the culture of the U.S. and Boston in ways that many American students might not even consider.

“Honestly, I’m really nervous when I have to cross the road, because the cars are all on a different side, but I’m kind of getting the hang of it,” Ling says. “I’m slowly settling in and I didn’t expect everyone to be so welcoming and accommodating. I’ve been to (other areas) and people weren’t as friendly as they are here so it’s a nice surprise.”

Ling and Baker were among the hundreds of incoming students who gathered for a barbecue on Friday, September 5, at Mothers Rest Park, where they were greeted by returning students looking for recruits. While such “opening day” festivities at other colleges might feature fraternities and sororities seeking new members, at Berklee, students solicited incoming freshmen for music-based organizations such as the Berklee chapter of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) or the college’s 2014 national-championship-winning a cappella group, Pitch Slapped—all set to an aural backdrop of percussion circles, bluegrass jam sessions, and countless conversations among new friends about when and where to get together to make music.

The resulting vibe set incoming student Riley Snyder, who came to Berklee from Guilderland, New York, at ease. “Coming here, I was a little bit nervous about networking and the whole social aspect, but everyone here is great at accepting everybody and being open so you can just go up and talk to anybody,” Snyder says. “It really seems like a great community here, which is very cool.”

Ready to Teach and to Learn

That same day, faculty and staff gathered to kick off the academic year by rededicating themselves to helping these incoming—as well as returning—students find their true path in music. The keynote speaker at the faculty and staff event was 2014 Grammy-winning vocalist and alumna Lalah Hathaway ’94, who noted, “There is a selflessness that comes with committing your life to something that you love, and I really love music.”

Hathaway spoke of the influence Berklee Voice Department professor Maggie Scott had on helping her to find and hone her sound. Berklee president Roger H. Brown followed up on that point to remind faculty and staff that “the impact you can have on a student, as Maggie had on Lalah, is enormous. It’s a huge, important, maybe even sacred responsibility we have, and I know you’re up for it.”

The new academic year brings some new faces to campus, including three new department chairs on the Boston campus: Sean Hagon (Professional Music), Sean Jones (Brass), and David "Doc" Wallace (Strings). The Valencia campus also welcomed some new faculty, including Robert Kraft, former president of Fox Music and current CEO of Kraftbox Entertainment, and renowned bassist Gary Willis.

As new arrivals mixed with Berklee veterans, Larry Simpson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, noted that, as members of the entering class and returning students arrive, “the campus is crackling.” At Mothers Rest, incoming violin/fiddle player Tom Krumm, who comes to the college from Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, surveyed the charged atmosphere.

Voicing a sentiment common on many college campuses this time of year, Krumm noted, “I’m excited to be here.” Then, he added a thought that may be more unique to Berklee’s passion-driven environment: “I’m excited for classes to start.”

Watch Berklee students discuss the classes they are most excited about this semester: