Page 31 - EducationWorld September 2020

Grammy, 34 Emmy, seven Tony and eight Academy awards. SCHOLASTIC OPTIONS AT BERKLEE
Founded as Schillinger House in 1945 by musician and
MIT graduate Lawrence Berk, the college initially pro- Berklee College of Music, Boston offers a wide range of
vided jazz music education. In 1954, when the curriculum undergraduate and postgraduate study programmes. They
expanded to include other music genres, it was renamed include:
the Berklee School of Music and re-christened the Berklee Bachelor of Music. Composition; contemporary writing and
College of Music in 1970. On January 20, 2016, Berklee production; electronic production and design; film scoring;
signed a merger agreement with The Boston Conservatory jazz composition; music business/management; music ed-
(estb.1867) — one of the world’s oldest and pre-eminent ucation; music production and engineering; music therapy;
performing arts conservatories. The combined institution performance; professional music; and songwriting
is known as Berklee with the conservatory renamed The Graduate programmes. Contemporary performance (global
Boston Conservatory at Berklee. jazz concentration), contemporary performance (production
With its main campus in Boston, a second campus in concentration), global entertainment and music business,
New York, and an international campus in Valencia, Spain, music production, technology, and innovation; scoring for
Berklee offers study programmes in music and the perform- film, television, and video games; creative media and tech-
ing arts to 6,439 undergraduate and 560 graduate students. nology with specialisation in songwriting and production,
The faculty-student ratio is an enviable 1:4. However in the live experience design, writing and design for musical the-
wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all Berklee programmes are ater; M.A music business; M.M music production; MBA mu-
being offered remotely/online for the current fall semester. sic business; M.M. brass performance; harp performance;
Boston. The capital of Massachusetts state, Boston (pop.8.2 marimba performance; music education: non-licensure pro-
million) is the sixth largest city in the US. But perhaps more gramme; music education — autism concentration; musi-
important, Boston is the ultimate gown town and provides cal theater; orchestral conducting; percussion performance;
an exhilarating academic experience with more than 50 col- piano performance; string performance; vocal pedagogy;
leges and universities situated in the Greater Boston area. voice performance; opera performance; woodwind perfor-
The climate in Boston is continental, with cold, snowy win- mance.
ters and warm to hot and humid summers, punctuated with
frequent thunderstorms.
Campus facilities. Berklee’s main campus hosts 25 build- Tuition & other fees (annual) ters, transcripts and
ings in Boston’s Back Bay area. Classrooms are specially Tuition $44,360 portfolio. All full-time
designed to enable music learning and equipped with au- Fees $1,300 students are evaluated
dio-visual and stereo sound systems, overhead projectors, Software bundle $1,285.63 for scholarships during
whiteboards, musical instruments and excellent acoustics. Room and board $18,640 the admission process.
The main dining hall is housed within a floor-to-ceiling Miscellaneous $2,700 For further informa-
glass structure that transforms into a concert venue. Berk- Total $68,285 tion, contact the Office
lee’s sprawling campus houses 12 performance venues, $=Rs.74.45 of Admissions, Berklee
the largest being the Berklee Performance Center. This College of Music, 1140,
1,215-seats concert hall hosts performances and produc- Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215; Ph: 617-747-2222; e-
tions by students, faculty, touring artistes and community mail: admissions@berklee.edu; website: www.berklee.edu/
organisations. Renowned Indian musicians A.R. Rahman admissions
and Shankar Mahadevan have performed at the centre Accommodation. The office of housing and residential edu-
jointly with Berklee students. cation houses 1,500 students in five residential facilities,
For sports and games, Berklee students are entitled located at short distance from Berklee’s academic build-
to utilise health and fitness services of the neighbouring ings. Each of them — some over 100 years old — offers 24-
Northeastern University, YMCA, Boston Sports Club and hour security, laundry, kitchen and other amenities. For
the Tennis and Racquet Club at discounted rates. instance, 98 Hemenway Street, built in 1899 and renovat-
Admission. Each study programme at Berklee specifies its ed in 2005, comprises five residential floors and provides
own admission criteria. For admission into undergradu- laundry facilities, practice rooms and a community lounge.
ate programmes, students must submit online application 150 Massachusetts Avenue is the largest residence hall and
forms together with academic transcripts evaluated by a hosts the Stan Getz Library, study rooms and other aca-
credential agency (Span Tran or Educational Credential demic spaces.
Evaluators) and proof of English language proficiency Degree programmes. Berklee offers 27 undergraduate and 32
(TOEL, IELTS, PTE Academic test scores). Shortlisted ap- graduate degree programmes; 20 summer and internation-
plicants are invited for online audition and interviews. For al college and pre-college programmes; and online courses.
postgraduate programmes, admission applications must
Berklee Boston campus: award winners factory be submitted together with resumé, recommendation let- AKHILA DAMODARAN

SEPTEMBER 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 31