Berklee Lollapalooza Partnership Results in Scholarships and Festival Performance

An ongoing partnership between Lollapalooza and Berklee College of Music has resulted in scholarship awards for outstanding young musicians. Adrienne Cowan is the 2013 recipient of the Berklee Lollapalooza Endowed Scholarship, a four-year, full tuition award that brings her to Berklee in the fall. Kate Diaz has been awarded the Berklee Lollapalooza Five-Week Scholarship to attend this summer. Berklee alumni group Brite Lite Brite is also performing at the festival, and students will intern at Kidzapalooza though the partnership.

Lollapalooza 2013, will be held August 2–4 at Grant Park in Chicago, and feature the Cure, Mumford & Sons, the Killers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, the Postal Service, Vampire Weekend, New Order, Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, and many more.

The Berklee Lollapalooza collaboration expanded this year to include a performance by Berklee band Red Oblivion at Lollapalooza Brazil and Chile this spring. A scholarship to attend the master’s program in contemporary performance at Berklee in Valencia, Spain, was also awarded to vocalist Luiza Sales Rangel from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rangel begins the program in the fall.

This exciting partnership is the first educational initiative of its kind for Lollapalooza. “At this moment, the music of the future is being written and rehearsed. Young musicians, given the gift of song unknown to us now, will one day validate our feelings and inspire our lives. Lollapalooza encourages their genius,” said Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell.

“I’m proud to be a part of it,” said Berklee professor Jeff Dorenfeld, who developed the partnership between Berklee and Lollapalooza producers C3 Presents. “Because of the Berklee Lollapalooza scholarship, students with financial need are realizing their dream to attend Berklee College of Music.”

Berklee Lollapalooza Endowed Scholarship

After an extensive process that included auditions in 20 cities across the U.S., Berklee chose singer-songwriter Adrienne Cowan to receive the full-tuition Berklee Lollapalooza Endowed Scholarship. In the spirit of Lollapalooza, the college aimed to find not only an outstanding musical talent, but also a musician with charisma, energy, and a strong interest in rock music who aspires to a performance career.

Cowan is originally from Houston, Texas, and now resides in London, England. She is a graduate of the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford, England. At ACM, she studied voice, songwriting, and artist development, while continuing her U.S. studies online with the University of Texas High School. She also took songwriting courses through Berklee Online. “I saw a huge improvement in the quality of my songs,” said Cowan, who plans to major in contemporary writing and production or film scoring. “I would have tried to find a way to attend Berklee without the scholarship, but I am extremely grateful because it means I can put the money and time towards other things that will help me grow as an artist.”

In addition to fronting the Adrian Cowan Solo Project, Cowan formed Riot Underground and joined Hollywood Trash. Both bands released EPs and toured in England. “She cites Joan Jett as an influence, and I’d say she’s pretty spot on, this is The Runaways on steroids,” said TBFM Online.

The Berklee Lollapalooza Endowed Scholarship is endowed by Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund. The scholarship was established at the recommendation of Berklee trustee Fran Bermanzohn, managing director and deputy general counsel of Goldman Sachs.

Berklee Lollapalooza Five-Week Scholarship

Kate Diaz, a 16-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist from the Chicago area, is the recipient of the Berklee Lollapalooza Five-Week Scholarship, awarded annually to a local musician. At the Five-Week Summer Performance Program (July 6 – August 9), she joins more than 1,000 teens from all over the world sharpening their skills in private lessons, ensembles, and concerts. 

Diaz is no stranger to Lollapalooza, having performed at Kidzapalooza in 2011. She has also performed at Taste of Chicago, Milwaukee Summerfest, Earth Day Festival in Washington, D.C., and at many well-known Chicago venues, including House of Blues and the Metro. In addition, Diaz wrote a song for the U.N.’s International Day of the Girl, and raises funds for child cancer research with her song “Christmas Smiles.” She recently released her third album of original acoustic songs.

This is the third year Diaz has attended Berklee’s summer program on a scholarship, but this award has special significance. “Like many kids from Chicago, I’ve caught the Lollapalooza fever every summer since I started listening to music, so I’m really honored to have been awarded this scholarship,” she said. Diaz juggles high school and soccer with songwriting, performing, doing all her own booking, websites, poster and album art, videos, copyrighting, and digital releases.

Berklee Alumni Band Brite Lite Brite Perform at Lollapalooza

Brite Lite Brite have taken electronic music production and performance to new levels by creating innovative technologies and techniques for live sound design and real-time production. The group is comprised of Berklee alumni singer-songwriter Andrea Stankevitch and electronics master Luke Johnson. Brite Lite Brite will perform at Lollapalooza on Friday, August 2, at 12:00 p.m. on Perry’s stage.

Brite Lite Brite has won numerous awards, including the grand prize electronica category in the 2007 John Lennon Songwriting contest for “Sky Turns Red;” semifinalist placement in the 2008 and 2011 International Songwriting Competition; and grand prize electronic category and second place overall in the 2010 100% Music Songwriting Contest for “I Lost My Heart Tonight.” Brite Lite Brite was selected to play Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2010 by thousands of voters and a panel of judges, opening for M.I.A., Joan Jett, Matt & Kim, LCD Soundsystem, and Ludacris.

“Twitchy, Scandinavian-sounding electro-pop imbued with urgent, even desperate, vocals,” said SPIN Magazine. Brite Lite Brite’s new album, Stalker, comes out in August. They also appear on Dorm Sessions 8, the latest release by Berklee’s student-run Heavy Rotation Records.

Students Intern at Kidzapalooza

Six students from Heavy Rotation Records will also intern at Kidzapalooza, Lollapalooza's family-friendly fest within the fest. One of the students will be chosen through a contest to remix songs from Dorm Sessions 8. The students are hosting a silent concert where they will be paired with kids on instruments—including bass, guitar, keyboard, and drums—which they play while wearing headphones. The instruments are connected to a laptop with Pro Tools and outboard gear through which a student mixes and engineers the concert. The engineer then sends the performance out to mixer/amps for the players and audience to listen through headphones.

Margot Edwards is a manager in the Office of Media Relations. Media inquiries: medwards@berklee.edu.