Berklee Awards 18 Full Scholarships at City Music Concert

Eighteen young musicians from Boston neighborhoods and Berklee City Music Network sites across the country were awarded full scholarships to attend Berklee at an emotional presentation at the Berklee Performance Center on Tuesday, August 12. The scholarship presentation and concert came at the conclusion of the Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program, the last hurdle for scholarship winners to clear before beginning their college careers. Three students were surprised with the news of their scholarships, adding to the powerful feeling of the concert and presentation.

Emcees actress Kiki Haynes, known for her role as Keisha on Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse, and Boston Celtics’ assistant coach Walter McCarty  presented the scholarships alongside Berklee president Roger H. Brown, associate vice president for Education Outreach and executive director of Berklee City Music J. Curtis Warner, and dean of City Music Krystal Banfield.

“As a former student at an arts school, I understand the significant importance of an education that supports, encourages, and enhances talent,” says Haynes. “Berklee City Music gives talented students that and so much more, allowing financially challenged students to shine and soar in ways they may never have imagined.”

The students were all participants in Berklee City Music, a scholarship, tutorial, and mentoring program that grants teens from 47 sites across the United States and Canada access to music education at no cost to them or their families. The collective value of the scholarships awarded at this concert exceeded $2 million.

The 18 recipients are among 117 teens who were enrolled in Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program on City Music scholarships, another scholarship component of Berklee City Music.

City Music Boston Recipients of the 2014 Berklee City Music College Scholarship

• Pianist Daniel Hines, Dorchester, Massachusetts
• Drummer Samuel Joseph, Readville, Massachusetts
• Saxophonist Yoshitaka Koga, Methuen, Massachusetts
• Vocalist Grace Mann, Roxbury Crossing, Massachusetts
• Guitarist Melisande Pope, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
• Upright bassist Nailah Williams, Dorchester, Massachusetts
• Vocalist Yanina Johnson, Cambridge, Massachusetts

City Music Network Recipients of the 2014 Berklee City Music College Scholarship

• Guitarist Elijah Davis, Harmony, Pennsylvania
• Clarinetist William Hightower, Metairie, Louisiana
• Pianist Isaiah Hill, Stone Mountain, Georgia
• Trombonist Alan Hsiao, Branchburg, New Jersey
• Saxophonist Ayanna Jacobs-El, Birmingham, Alabama
• Vocalist Kierston Kelly, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
• Vocalist Javiya Minor, Memphis, Tennesssee 
• Pianist Lorin (Xavier) Rivers, Columbus, Ohio
• Vocalist Lyric Stephen, Decatur, Georgia
• Vocalist Thomas Stewart, Milledgeville, Georgia
• Pianist Francisco Dandan, San Leandro, California

Liz Lupton is a publicist in the Office of Media Relations. Media inquiries: llupton@berklee.edu.