Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music
Motto	Esse quam videri (Latin)
Motto in English	To be, rather than to seem
Established	1945
Type	Private
Endowment	$179.0 million[1]
President	Roger H. Brown
Academic staff	522 [2]
Students	4,145 [2]
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Campus	Urban
Colors	Red and gray
Mascot	Cat
Website	berklee.edu

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz and commercial music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip-hop, reggae, salsa, rock, metal, pop, and bluegrass, in addition to its traditional jazz courses.^[3] It offers degrees in composition, contemporary writing and production, film scoring, jazz composition, music business/management, music education, music production and engineering, electronic production and design, music therapy, performance, professional music, and songwriting.^[4]

History

Lawrence Berk at the blackboard with students

Schillinger House, 1945–1954

In 1945, pianist-composer-arranger Lawrence Berk founded Schillinger House, the precursor to the Berklee College of Music.^[5] Located at 284 Newbury St. in Boston’s Back Bay, the school specialized in the Schillinger System of harmony and composition. Instrumental lessons and a few classes in traditional theory, harmony, and arranging were also offered.^[6] At the time of its founding, almost all music schools focused primarily on classical music, but Schillinger House offered training in jazz and commercial music for radio, theater, television, and dancing. At first, most students were working professional musicians. Many students were former World War II service members who attended under the G.I. Bill. Initial enrollment was less than 50 students,^[7] but by 1949 there were more than 500 students.^[8] In 1954, when the school’s curriculum had expanded to include music education classes and more traditional music theory, Berk changed the name to Berklee School of Music, after his son Lee Eliot Berk, to reflect the broader scope of instruction.^[9]

Berklee School of Music, 1954–1970

Lawrence Berk placed great emphasis on learning from practitioners, as opposed to academics, and generally hired working musicians as faculty members. Several of the school’s best-known musician-educators arrived after the school’s name changed. In 1956, trumpeter Herb Pomeroy joined the faculty, remaining until his retirement in 1996.^[10] Drummer Alan Dawson and saxophonist Charlie Mariano became faculty members in 1957.^[11] Reed player John LaPorta began teaching in 1962.^[12] Like many of Berk’s ideas, this practice continues into the present. Although far more emphasis is placed on academic credentials among new faculty hires than in the past, experienced performers such as Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, and Danilo Perez have served as faculty over the years.

Another trend in the school’s history also began the mid-’50s. During this period, the school began to attract international students in greater numbers. For example, Japanese pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, arrived in 1956.^[13] Multiple Grammy-winning producer Arif Mardin came from Turkey to study at the school in 1958. ^[14] The number of international students has grown steadily to 24.2 percent of total enrollment in 2010.^[15]

In 1957, Berklee initiated the first of many innovative applications of technology to music education with Jazz in the Classroom, a series of LP recordings of student work, accompanied by scores. These albums contain early examples of composing, arranging, and performing by students who went on to prominent jazz careers such as Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent, Sadao Watanabe, and many others. The series, which continued until 1980, is a precursor to subsequent Berklee-affiliated labels. These later releases provided learning experiences not only for student composers and performers, but also for students in newly created majors in music engineering and production and music business and management.^[16]

Berklee awarded its first bachelor of music degrees in 1966.^[17] During the 1960s, the Berklee curriculum began to reflect new developments in popular music, such the rise of rock and roll, soul and funk, and jazz-rock fusion. ^[18] In 1962, Berklee offered the first college-level instrumental major for guitar. The guitar department initially had nine students. Today it is the largest single instrumental major at the college. Trombonist Phil Wilson joined the faculty in 1965. ^[19] His student ensemble, the Dues Band, helped introduce current popular music into the ensemble curriculum, and later as the Rainbow Band, performed world music and jazz fusions. ^[20] In 1969, new courses in rock and popular music were added to the curriculum, the first ever offered at the college level. ^[21] The first college course on jingle writing was also offered in 1969. ^[22]

Berklee College of Music, 1970–present

The school became Berklee College of Music in 1970^[23] and bestowed its first honorary doctorate on Duke Ellington in 1971^[24]. Vibraphonist Gary Burton joined faculty in 1971, helping to solidify the place of jazz-rock fusion in the curriculum. ^[25] As Dean of Curriculum from 1985 to 1996,^[26] Burton led the development several new majors, including music synthesis and songwriting, and facilitated the school’s transition to technology-based education.^[27] Curriculum innovations during the 1970s included the first college-level instrumental major in electric bass guitar in 1973.^[28], and the first jazz-rock ensemble class in 1974.^[29] In 1979, Berklee founder Lawrence Berk stepped down as president.^[30] The board of trustees elected his son, Lee Eliot Berk, to replace him.^[31]

Under the leadership of Lee Eliot Berk, the school underwent further growth and diversification of its curriculum. The college offered the world’s first undergraduate degree program in film scoring starting 1980.^[32] Beginning in 1981, the string department curriculum expands to include many idioms besides classical music.^[33] In 1986, the world’s first college-level major in music synthesis was offered,^[34] followed by the world’s first college songwriting major in 1987.^[35] Instrumental majors also expanded to include the first college hand-percussion major in 1988. ^[36]

Berklee expanded its community outreach efforts in 1991 with the launch of City Music, a program designed to make music instruction available to underserved youth in the Boston area.^[37] On a more global scale, Berklee partnered with selected music schools around the world to form the Berklee International Network in 1993. ^[38] Another new major, Music Therapy, was offered beginning in 1996. In 2002, the school began offering classes online through Berkleemusic.com.^[39] Other curriculum developments included the incorporation of a hip-hop course in 2004.^[40]

In 2004, Lee Eliot Berk stepped down as president of the school his father had founded and Roger H. Brown was installed as the college’s third president. ^[41] Under Brown’s leadership, further expansion of the school’s academic offerings have continued. In 2006, mandolin and banjo were accepted as principal instruments for the first time. The college also initiated an Africana Studies program, the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, and an American Roots Music Program.^[42] In 2008, plans were announced for construction of Berklee Valencia, a new college for global, contemporary music education in Valencia, Spain.^[43]

Demographics

As of the 2009-2010 academic year, total enrollment at Berklee was 4,145. Of students enrolled in degree programs, 29 percent were female. Eleven percent are African American. Ten percent are Hispanic. Students from 79 countries outside the U.S. account for 24.2 percent of the student population. Korea, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Italy are the top five countries of origin. In addition to students attending the Berklee campus in Boston, in the 2009-2010 academic year, approximately 2,500 students took online courses through Berkleemusic.com.^[44]

Facilities

Berklee Performance Center

The Red Room at Cafe 939

Berklee remained at its original location at 284 Newbury Street from its founding in 1945 to 1966, when it moved into the larger 1140 Boylston St. building, the former Hotel Bostonian.^[45] Beginning in 1972 an era of more rapid expansion began with the purchase of the Fenway Theater and the adjoining Sherry Biltmore Hotel at 150 Massachusetts Avenue. The theater was renovated and opened as the 1,227-seat Berklee Performance Center in 1976.^[46] The former Biltmore Hotel provided additional classroom and practice room spaces and residence halls. It also houses the library, which was renamed the Stan Getz Library and Media Center in 1998.^[47] The 150 Massachusetts Avenue building is also the site of the Berklee Learning Center, which when it opened in 1993, was the world’s largest networked computer learning facility for music education. ^[48]

The Genko Uchida Center at 921 Boylston Street opened in 1997 and houses the admissions office, rehearsal and classroom space, and the 200-seat David Friend Recital Hall.^[49] At 939 Boylston Street, Café 939, the nation’s only student-run, all-ages night club, hosts a full program of student performers, local and national acts, and community programs.

As of 2010, Berklee occupies 21 buildings primarily in the Back Bay area of Boston, near the intersection of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue.^[50] Among these buildings are 13 recording studios, 5 film/video scoring and editing facilities, and 9 music synthesis facilities.^[51] The studios of the five-channel, commercial-free Berklee Internet Radio Network (BIRN), which launched in 2007, are also housed on campus.^[52] A new Liberal Arts building at 7 Haviland Street was dedicated in 2010. It houses the Liberal Arts, Music Therapy, and Music Business Departments, as well as the Africana Studies program.^[53]

References

Alumni

External links

• Berklee College of Music official site