ASCAP Day at Berklee Features Patty Larkin and a Scholarship Presentation

The ASCAP Foundation presents the third annual ASCAP Day at Berklee.

April 11, 2013

The ASCAP Foundation is pleased to announce its support of ASCAP Day at Berklee College of Music, which took place on April 4, 2013. ASCAP singer-songwriter Patty Larkin headlined the day. Larkin’s music redefines the boundaries of urban folk music, skillfully mixing pop, rock, Celtic, blues, and funk. A favorite with critics, she has honed a reputation as a musician's musician, receiving accolades for her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics.  

In 2010, Larkin celebrated a quarter century of music making with 25, a 25-song retrospective reworked with voice and guitar and 25 friends along the way. Guest artists include Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and others. In 2013, she will release a highly anticipated new recording, coproduced by Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Howie Day). Larkin is currently an artist-in-residence at Berklee, where she previously received an honorary doctorate of music.

ASCAP Day is designed to provide both film scoring and songwriting students with information on current trends in their fields. Larkin discussed her own career in classes with songwriting students, and ASCAP staff met with students in the film scoring classes. ASCAP staff were also on hand to answer students’ questions about the current state of the music business and performing rights organizations.  Larkin and ASCP Creative Services executives also hosted a special career development seminar, which was open to all Berklee students.

“By establishing an ASCAP Day at Berklee we show our support for young and emerging composers and songwriters at the college level,” stated ASCAP and ASCAP Foundation board president Paul Williams.  “Today’s Berklee students are tomorrow’s ASCAP members. These students are taking a major leap of faith to try to make their art their lives. I want the question of what their future holds to have a positive answer.”

Another highlight of ASCAP Day is the presentation of two tuition-based scholarships at Berklee: the ASCAP Foundation Film Scoring Scholarship at Berklee College of Music and the ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Scholarship at Berklee College of Music. Each scholarship recognizes talent, professionalism, musical ability, and career potential in film scoring and songwriting, respectively. Recipients are selected by the Berklee film scoring and songwriting faculties.

Ran Gil, the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Film Scoring Scholarship at Berklee College of Music is a composer, arranger, and pianist from Israel. He attended the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts as a jazz music major, as well as the Rimon school of Jazz and Contemporary music, two of Israel’s leading music schools. He has composed music for commercials, children’s DVDs and two musicals, one of which won a competition for new original plays at the Tzavta Theatre in Tel Aviv. Gil is studying composition and film scoring at Berklee College of Music. 

Hillary Paige Lacombe, the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Songwriting Scholarship at Berklee College of Music, grew up in a small town in Maine. She wrote her first official song at age 9 and hasn’t stopped since. Declaring professional music, with a concentration on songwriting and performance as her major, Lacombe continues to write in many genres with an emphasis on folk/pop. She was recently in Los Angeles and was given the opportunity to write and record with professionals in JT Entertainment Studios. 

Larkin and both scholarship recipients were honored on April 4 at a luncheon, which was attended by Berklee faculty and ASCAP and ASCAP Foundation staff.  ASCAP Day at Berklee College of Music is supported by the ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Estate. The two scholarships are also made possible by the Bart Howard Estate.

The ASCAP Foundation

Founded in 1975, the ASCAP Foundation is a public charity dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs. Included in these are songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, awards, recognition, and community outreach programs for songwriters, composers, and lyricists. The ASCAP Foundation is supported by contributions from ASCAP members and from music lovers throughout the United States.