How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens

While he was still a Berklee student, Rick Aggeler BM ’07 and a friend started offering drum lessons at the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester using kits donated by the college. Before long, students were lining up outside waiting for a turn.

Two decades later, Aggeler oversees the Mattapan Teen Center and leads teen growth strategy for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (BGCB), where he helps create after-school spaces that give young people room to explore new interests and build confidence.

Aggeler grew up in Humboldt County, California. After brain surgery at age 7 ruled him out of youth sports, his mother introduced him to drumming, which ultimately set him on the path to Berklee. “The idea of any other college didn’t have any appeal,” he said. 

At Berklee, he studied with drum instructor John Ramsay and bass professor Ron Mahdi, two mentors who influenced his approach to music and teaching. A student job with Community and Governmental Relations also proved consequential, connecting him with the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club through the department's community partnerships.

"There is never a day—be it fun or really hard—where I don't feel lucky and privileged to play a small part in trying to make a difference for a kid who needs a nudge in the right direction."

Rick Aggeler BM '07

The response to the drum lessons at Blue Hill convinced Aggeler there was a real appetite for music programming. Around that time, he met Gary Eichhorn, a local philanthropist whose nonprofit, Music & Youth Initiative, was creating music clubhouses for underserved young people. The dedicated spaces were equipped with instruments, recording technology, software, and instructors who could help students develop their creativity.

Aggeler saw a way to bring that model to BGCB. Drawing on what he learned in an entrepreneurship course at Berklee, he developed a business plan that made the music clubhouse model sustainable for the organization.

After graduating, Aggeler stayed with BGCB, helping transform the first music clubhouse into a permanent program that expanded beyond Blue Hill to clubs throughout Boston. Along the way, his own role grew from music clubhouse director to leading teen programming across the organization.

From Clubhouse to Community

For Aggeler, one of the most rewarding parts of the job has been watching the clubhouse become a community, bringing together young people from South Boston, Dorchester, Charlestown, and other neighborhoods who might never have crossed paths otherwise. Over the years, former members have returned as coworkers and mentors, helping shape the next generation of participants.

The connections Aggeler built with students often extended well beyond the clubhouse. During a goal-setting exercise in 2010, he and former student Javon Martin wrote on business cards that they would be at the Grammy Awards in 2014. They kept talking about that goal until someone who heard them speak at a Converse event helped turn it into a reality. 

Another former student, StoopKid, went on to earn a gold record as a music producer. In 2022, he invited Aggeler to Boston Calling Music Festival as his guest. "The full-circle moment of him taking me around—he had an artist pass and I didn't—was an amazing feeling of pride for both of us," Aggeler said.

The job also comes with challenges: helping staff and teens navigate pressures stemming from school, home, and broader social and political issues while creating an environment where everyone can do their best. For Aggeler, the reward is helping young people "find their spark and years later seeing them be adults who don't feel stuck in their lives."

"There is never a day—be it fun or really hard—where I don't feel lucky and privileged to play a small part in trying to make a difference for a kid who needs a nudge in the right direction."

Follow Rick Aggeler on LinkedIn.