By Matt Micucci
Berklee launched the master of music – global jazz concentration program at the beginning of the Fall 2015 semester, as a natural outgrowth of its highly successful undergraduate program in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, under the artistic direction of Grammy Award-winning Panamanian piano virtuoso Danilo Pérez.
Beginning with the Fall 2016 class, all 20 students accepted to Berklee College of Music’s master of music in contemporary performance – global jazz concentration program will be awarded full-tuition grants valued at $46,000. Students accepted to each subsequent entering class will also attend entirely tuition-free. Applications for the intensive, three-semester program are due by February 1, 2016.
“Danilo Pérez and the program faculty are looking for students who are as passionate about developing as bold, effective global citizens as they are about becoming creative and accomplished musicians. These full-tuition grants will guarantee access, for the most thoughtful, accomplished and deserving students on the planet, to an elite faculty and a comprehensive program that has been designed expressly for them” says Berklee president Roger H. Brown.
Advanced instrumentalists and vocalists selected for the program will be integrated within the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under Perez’s direction. Students will have the opportunity to be mentored by some of the world’s foremost jazz musicians including Terri Lyne Carrington, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, and John Patitucci.
They will also travel and perform together, creating music and serving the local community. Africa, Panama, Newport, Monterey, and New York are a few of the program’s previous destinations. Further, through the study of music business and production, students will create strategies to take their projects to the next level.
These scholarships are made possible thanks to a generous gift from Jeff Shames, chair of the Berklee board of trustees.
For more information visit berklee.edu/graduate
