One Semester Ends, And Another Begins

Having just concluded the fall semester, Berklee is closed until January 4, 2010. We expect more than 325 new students to enter the College for the Spring semester and that our total enrollment will continue to be above 4,000. We're very excited to welcome our new students when spring orientation begins January 12. Our academic calendar is here, for those interested.

Happy New Year!

Berklee In Tel Aviv for A&I

Reposted from Berklee-Blogs:

After a 4-hour layover in Frankfurt, we arrived safely in Tel Aviv and made our way to the Melody Hotel. This is part of a larger strategicplan to stay only in hotels that have names associated with music (;JK). We just know there is a mixolydian or phrygian hotel out there somewhere. I am traveling with Greg Badolato VP International Programs, David Mash VP Technology Resources(who is accompanied by his wife Erica) and Myra Hindus VP Cultural Diversity. This is the first stop in a 3 city tour that will include Ramallah and Amman. Our hosts arranged a welcome dinner on Sunday night. It is now Monday morning and we will have our first meeting with the Rimon administration this morning.

It is always a wonderful experience to visit our friends in Tel Aviv. We are certain to meet students that are performing at the highest level and we will give a presentation later today to discuss preparing for Berklee’s audition and interview. Our partners at Rimon shared with us the surge in students that want to pursue songwriting as their major and we look forward to hearing what they have to offer.

Damien Bracken,
Dean of Admissions

Berklee College of Music Auditions in Istanbul, Turkey

For the first time ever, we recently brought an audition team to Istanbul, Turkey.

Here's the link to an interview with Emir Cermen, one of our students who was instrumental in bringing Berklee to Turkey. By all accounts, this was a great experience for everyone. We also have coverage at Berklee-Blogs.

Our commitment to global outreach is embedded in all that we do. Our next initiatives will include India and China - stay tuned!

Berklee-Blogs: Feature on International Students and Blogging in Languages other than English

We continue to develop our blogging efforts at berklee-blogs. One exciting new initiative includes having some of our international students writing about aspects of Berklee life. Here's an example from one of our Korean students and a piece on the BIRN, the Berklee Internet Radio Station.

Check it out!

Don Was - Legendary Producer at Berklee

One of the really extraordinary things that students experience at Berklee is access to music industry professionals. Don Was, a producer who has worked with Bob Dylan, Bonne Raitt, the Rolling Stones and others, came to Berklee recently and performed several songs and spoke to students about production. Here's both the media coverage and, what he has to say about Berklee:

Health Insurance and related programs at Berklee

As students and parents plan ahead for enrolling at Berklee for one of our upcoming semesters (students can enter in January, May or September), one of the most common questions they have is about health insurance and other services. Berklee has an excellent health insurance program which serves both domestic and international students. It also includes benefits related to dental and eyecare. A complete website with all the pertinent information was recently created - check it out here.

Berklee-Blogs

The College is making serious progress on blogging. Check out what we're doing here!

The Next Berklee Achievement Scholarship Application Deadline is Approaching

The Berklee Achievement Scholarship (B.A.S.) application deadline is October 31, 2009. This deadline applies to continuing students seeking a Berklee scholarship for the first time, scholarship students who are currently in their fourth full-time semester and are required to renew their scholarship, or scholarship students who are seeking to increase their current level of scholarship funding for the spring 2010 semester.

For further information, please review the detailed guidelines and requirements posted online at: http://www.berklee.edu/scholarships/continuing.html

If you have any questions, please email scholarships@berklee.edu.

Thank you,

Office of Scholarships and Student Employment

Berklee Partners with Rockband

Berklee Music, our online school, has partnered with Rockband to create Rock School. It's a pretty incredible combination - the folks at Rockband say "Get Ready to Rock with the Best Music School on the Planet! Learn with Berklee, Online From Anywhere in the World!"

check it out here: http://www.rockband.com/zine/berklee

Berklee Groove - Student Voice - Website Now Live

Our student "newspaper" is no longer a paper! The completely digital version of the "Berklee Groove" is now live!

Check out the site here. It comes with excellent writing, twitter feeds, all kinds of links to gigs and happenings in Boston and a super cool calendar feature so students can be sure to catch all the great events on campus. This is a major accomplishment in an extremely short period of time by some very committed students, supported by Berklee staff. Congratulations to all...

2009-10 Berklee College of Music Audition and Interview Dates

Our admissions office recently finalized (almost all) of our world-wide audition and interview schedule for 2009-10. See below for details of an "A&I" event near you!

NORTH AMERICA

Boston, Massachusetts

December 5, 2009
December 12, 2009
December 19, 2009
January 16, 2010
January 30, 2010
February 13, 2010
February 20, 2010
February 27, 2010
March 13, 2010

Atlanta, Georgia

December 1, 2009
December 2, 2009
December 3, 2009
December 4, 2009

Baltimore, Maryland

February 9, 2010
February 10, 2010


Chicago, Illinois

December 12, 2009
December 13, 2009
February 6, 2010
February 7, 2010


Cleveland, Ohio

February 3, 2010
February 4, 2010


Dallas, Texas

December 7, 2009
December 8, 2009


Denver, Colorado

February 13, 2010
February 14, 2010


Detroit, Michigan

February 13, 2010


Houston, Texas

December 10, 2009
December 11, 2009
February 3, 2010
February 4, 2010


Los Angeles, California

December 4, 2009
December 5, 2009
December 6, 2009
December 7, 2009
January 30, 2010
January 31, 2010
February 1, 2010
February 2, 2010


Memphis, Tennessee

February 13, 2010
February 14, 2010


Miami, Florida

February 16, 2010
February 17, 2010


Monterey, California

April 10, 2010
April 11, 2010


New Orleans, Louisiana

February 6, 2010


New York, New York

January 23, 2010
January 24, 2010
January 25, 2010
January 26, 2010


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

February 6, 2010
February 7, 2010


Salt Lake City, Utah

February 10, 2010
February 11, 2010


San Francisco, California

February 12, 2010
February 13, 2010


Seattle, Washington

December 15, 2009
December 16, 2009
February 9, 2010
February 10, 2010


Edmonton (Alberta), Canada

March 8, 2010
March 9, 2010


Toronto (Ontario), Canada

February 15, 2010
February 16, 2010


Vancouver (British Columbia), Canada

March 5, 2010
March 6, 2010


Mexico City, Mexico

February 8, 2010
February 9, 2010
February 10, 2010
February 11, 2010
February 12, 2010

AFRICA

Accra, Ghana TBA

Durban, South Africa TBA

Nairobi, Kenya TBA

ASIA

Kobe, Japan

February 19, 2010


Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

March 23, 2010
March 24, 2010

Seoul, Korea

October 20, 2009
October 21, 2009
October 22, 2009


Tokyo, Japan

February 25, 2010
February 26, 2010

AUSTRALIA

Sydney TBA

Melbourne TBA

EUROPE

Athens, Greece

December 9, 2009
December 10, 2009


Barcelona, Spain

November 19, 2009
November 20, 2009


Belgrade, Serbia

October 15, 2009
October 16, 2009


Dublin, Ireland

April 10, 2010
April 11, 2010


Freiburg, Germany

January 9, 2010
January 10, 2010


Helsinki, Finland

November 12, 2009


Istanbul, Turkey

November 25, 2009
November 26, 2009


London, England

April 12, 2010
April 13, 2010


Nancy, France

February 25, 2010
February 26, 2010


Paris, France

February 20, 2010
February 21, 2010


MIDDLE EAST

Tel Aviv, Israel

December 9, 2009
December 10, 2009


LATIN AMERICA
Buenos Aires, Argentina

April 6, 2010
April 7, 2010
April 8, 2010
April 9, 2010
April 10, 2010


Panama City, Panama

January 13, 2010
January 14, 2010

Quito, Ecuador

October 1, 2009
October 2, 2009


San Juan, Puerto Rico

November 20, 2009
November 21, 2009


Sao Paulo, Brazil

November 4, 2009
November 5, 2009
November 6, 2009

IMPORTANT CHANGE AFFECTING BERKLEE ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIP PORTFOLIO ON BERKLEEMUSIC.COM

Berkleemusic.com has introduced a new Berklee Music Network, a social network for creative exchange and communication, collaboration, networking, and discussions. The new format for the online profile changes the look and feel of the profile page to be more like facebook and allocates more server space for each profile page to allow students to upload significantly more files than the previous 10 gig limit. All Berklee students are automatically "Pro" level members and have full access to all the new Network features. Please visit this link to get an overview of how it works:

http://www.berkleemusic.com/welcome/how-to-use-network

Students who currently have a Berklee Achievement Scholarship portfolio posted on BerkleeMusic.com will need to manually transfer all files from their old page to their new page in order to allow anyone including the Office of Scholarships to view the full content of their profile. When you log into your existing account, you will notice that the layout and some features of your page have now changed.

To access the content from your old profile page click on “Profile” at the right top of your home page and then read the message at the top of your new profile that states:

“This profile is now the version that the public sees. Fill it out! Have some fun.
If you need to refer to content from your old profile, you can access it here.”

Click on “access it here” to download your content and save it onto your computer desktop. You must now switch over to your new profile layout and upload all content into the new layout.

If you need technical support please contact the BerkleeMusic customer service at (617) 747-2146.

--
Office of Scholarships

Online Time-Sheets Are Now Live for Student Employees!

Paper time-sheets have been replaced with a new web-based online time-sheet system on my.berklee.net. Starting with the current pay period - Saturday, September 26th - Friday, October 9th - Student Employees should log into my.berklee.net and start recording their time worked each day using the online time-sheet. At the end of the pay period, students must electronically sign their time-sheet and submit it for approval by their supervisor. The deadline for students to submit their time electronically is 2PM on the Friday before the pay date. This is a change from the previous 4PM deadline Berklee had for paper time-sheets.

Student Employee Supervisors will log-in to my.berklee.net to access the time approval form at the end of each pay period and they will approve or adjust the time that their student employees submit electronically. The deadline for supervisors to approve time is 5PM on the Friday before a pay date.

For further details, please visit the Student Employment website at: http://www.berklee.net/se/SE_WebTime09.html

Here's how you can contact Student Employment directly if you have any questions or concerns:

Main Office Phone: 617-747-2687
Main Office Email: studentemployment@berklee.edu

Tara Joyce: 617-747-8009 tjoyce@berklee.edu

Jill Stewart: 617-747-2852 jcstewart@berklee.edu

Thank you.

--
Office of Student Employment
Berklee College of Music
921 Boylston Street, Room 340
Boston, MA 02215

Berklee's Response to H1N1 - Swine Flu

The College has a comprehensive plan related to Swine Flu. Details here:

http://berklee.net/sf/H1N1%20Flu%20Virus%20Information.html

Berklee College of Music - Educating Creative People

A recent video that includes President Roger Brown and Vice President for Student Affairs, Larry Bethune:

Enrollment Strength Continues for Berklee

In a world economy staggering from recession, Berklee is still fully enrolled.

In a U.S. economy where many lenders have either left the market altogether or severely ratcheted up the baseline standard to extending a student loan, Berklee is still fully enrolled.

In an ever-changing world with uncertainty seemingly on every front, students and families continue to make the commitment to a music education, ensuring that Berklee is still fully enrolled.

~~~~

Despite world events that have caused enrollment struggles at many colleges, Berklee will open the fall term at its enrollment target of 4,000 students. How has this occurred?

Continuing and Returning Students

The main source of enrollment each term is of course, those who are continuing their education. This year, roughly 3,000 students will continue their path towards a Berklee degree or diploma. In this number are several hundred students who have returned from a leave of longer than one term. These students may have “stopped out” for a term or two or, in other cases, may be returning to Berklee after many years.

As many will know, in light of global economic circumstances, Berklee made a decision last fall to significantly augment its financial aid and scholarship program extending roughly $2 million in additional aid to continuing students. Moving to the current budget year, we further increased aid support so that the annual total is now roughly $5 million more than just one year ago. This commitment from the College is specifically aimed at encouraging and supporting students in their quest to graduate. While we are not in a position to meet every need of every student, we do know that this initiative is making a difference in our ability to support, encourage and retain students.

The Entering Class

More than 1060 new students are joining the College this fall,the largest class in College history. How did they get here? Each of our entering students came from one of almost 50 audition sites in 23 countries. They all went through our admission process which includes the A&I (audition and interview) experience, and a thorough evaluation of their academic history and personal history – ultimately to answer the core question, “is this student a good match for Berklee and is Berklee a good match for this student?” Applications for fall admission also set an all-time record at 4755, up more than 10% from the previous year. As such, we were both blessed by a large group of highly talented students, and challenged to choose our entering class from such an abundance of riches. Ultimately, our matriculating class is extraordinary in many ways. To illustrate, what follows is some simple facts about this year’s entering group:

Number of States Represented: 44

Number of Countries Represented: 65

International Students Enrolling: 237

Primary Languages Represented in the Entering Class: English, Spanish, Korean, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, French, Greek, Romanian, Thai, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Arabic, Filipino, Telugu, Norwegian, Serbian, Icelandic, Persian, Bulgarian, Finnish.

Percentage of students receiving scholarship: 47%

Percentage of students receiving some form of financial aid: 77%

Female Students Enrolled: 320

ALANA representation (African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American): 235 students

Commitment to Accessibility, Internationalism and a Diverse Student Body

As the school year starts, once again the College finds itself in the enviable position of not only being fully enrolled, but indeed, fully enrolled with a class that enriches the diversity, depth and breadth of the Berklee experience for all. Our students are extraordinarily talented, committed and resilient.

More than ever, we remain committed to keeping a Berklee education accessible. Our financial aid initiatives have given particular attention to maintaining Berklee’s commitment to excellence while at the same time, supporting our longstanding traditions of attracting and retaining students from many different backgrounds, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and countries. That commitment lives on and with the support of alumni and friends of the College, we hope to augment our ability to make a Berklee education affordable to as many students as possible.

The Road Ahead…

Now that the fall term has begun, our admission staff is quickly shifting gears to focus on recruiting the next group of incoming students for January, May and September 2010. With support from faculty, staff, alumni and partners, our team will again deliver the Berklee message around the globe to prospective students and families. At the same time, enrollment professionals in our Offices of Financial Aid, Scholarships and Student Employment and the Registrar work year round to support and retain our current students. Later this year, the College will complete its first Comprehensive Enrollment Strategy which will aim to coordinate and align our efforts to recruit and retain the best student body possible.

NECN Features Cafe 939 at Berklee

An interesting feature from New England Cable Network on one of our performance venues, and in a small way, our unique internship opportunities.

Links referenced include: http://www.cafe939.com and http://www.berklee.edu/events

Welcome to Berklee - Entering Class of 2009

It's finally arrived! Move in day and Orientation are underway at Berklee today. Over 1000 students from around the world are descending on Boston today and tomorrow. Our Student Affairs and Orientation teams are doing an awesome job of welcoming students and their parents.

Parking and driving is not easy in this city on a good day, but when thousands of folks arrive to move in at all the area schools (Northeastern, MIT, Harvard and many others are very close to Berklee), it gets pretty wild. I'm glad to see that our students are finding the move-in process a little less stressful than in previous years - in part because of the communications improvements our staff have made...

Anyway...we welcome our new students. It's SO exciting to start another year of school at Berklee!

Fitness Programs offered through Berklee's LiveWell Initiative?

Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 Fitness Offerings for Berklee Students

Five Area Clubs (including branches) provide discounted student membership. Programs have been further reduced at Tennis and Racquet Club Fitness Center, Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi Institute, Healthworks for Women (5 locations), Simmons College Fitness Center, and the Greater Boston YMCA (17 locations) are partially subsidized by Berklee’s strategic initiative LiveWell. Questions may be directed to livewell@berklee.edu or phone 617-747-2411.

1. Tennis & Racquet Club Fitness Center

Conveniently located, newly renovated, comprehensive weight training equipment and a cardiovascular fitness center, personal trainer

Free three visits between Sept 2-26

939 Boylston Street – Ground Floor

Phone: 617-536-4630 Manager: Tom Dobbins

tandr.org

Student Hours: M-F 6am-4pm and 7pm-11pm and Sat + Sun 10am-8pm – unlimited use

Semester fitness membership (Sept 2 – Dec 20, 2009) for $90, payable directly to Tennis & Racquet Club (check, credit card, and cash)

2. Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi Institute

Over 20 years instructing the Berklee community in Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and Kickboxing. Close to campus.

Free Week Trial Membership Sept 2 - 26

883 Boylston Street, 4th Floor

Phone: (617) 262-0600 taichi.com

Owners/Instructors: Yao Li, Joshua Grant

Memberships: Fee: $90 for semester (Sept 1-Dec 20), payable directly to BKFTC

3. The YMCA of Greater Boston Huntington Ave Branch

YMCA Huntington Ave will hold Open Houses for Berklee Community. Great Savings. Membership includes pool, over 40 weekly group classes, a huge selection of strength training equipment, courts, use of any of their 17 facilities

Phone: (617) 927-8255 ymcaboston.org

Membership Director: Xavier Rhinehart

Single membership: $37.50/month with joining fee. Payable directly to the YMCA

Open Houses: 5am - 11pm on

Wednesday, September 9, Thursday, September 17, Wednesday, September 23 andThursday, October 1

Join on any of these dates and your joining fee of $50 will be waived.

Phone: (617) 927-8255

Website: ymcaboston.org

Membership: Xavier Rhinehart

A variety of programs. Single membership: $37.50/month with joining fee. Payable directly to the Y

4. Simmons College Fitness Center

300 The Fenway Contact: livewell@berklee.edu

simmons.edu/athletics/facilities/holmes/index.php

Memberships: Limited to 45, Fee: $90/ semester

Memberships go on sale at The Bursar on Wednesday, September 9.


5. Healthworks for Women

Wide variety of classes offered and workout at your choice of 5 locations including nearby 441 Stuart Street (Copley Square/Back Bay)

Phone: (617) 859-7700

healthworksfitness.com

Membership: Stephanie Nelson

Membership fees: $53-$43/ month; Student promotion –check Announcements.

LiveWell Website: http://www.berklee.net/st/Livewell_Information.html

LiveWell Updates also posted on my.berklee.net > Announcements

Orientation just 10 days away for New Students at Berklee College of Music

The countdown is on...

Just 10 days until Orientation 2009 begins for the entering class. We're expecting just over 1000 students from around the world to join the Berklee community starting August 31. Our orientation staff and countless others have been planned a truly outstanding welcoming program for students and families.

Our students are filled with such enthusiasm for music and life - we can't wait to welcome them to Boston!

Les Paul - RIP

Berklee was probably the first place in the world that really took the teaching of jazz and rock guitar seriously. Much is owed to the great Les Paul who was an extraordinary pioneer with respect to guitar construction and sound engineering. He died yesterday.

Here he is with his wife in the 1950's demonstrating the possibilities associated with multi-tracks:

Berklee College of Music and Its Online Presence.

Here's a bunch of cool links to various social networks with Berklee info. It's not even close to all of the various places where we share info but, it's a start. Know of more? Share them! Enjoy:

Berklee on Twitter

Berklee College of Music main page

http://twitter.com/BerkleeCollege/

Berklee College of Music Enrollment

http://twitter.com/berklee_enroll

Concerts, tips, rumors, communication

http://twitter.com/Berkleenow

Berklee College of Music on MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/berkleecollegeofmusic

Berklee on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/BerkleeCollege

Berklee on Tour

http://www.berkleeontour.com/

Berklee Online

Our online school, berkleemusic.com, and its youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/berkleemusic?blend=7&ob=4

Folk, Bluegrass, Celtic Country? At Berklee? Or...a little story about the Folk Arts Quartet

Berklee has worked hard over the past several years to attract and nurture students from an ever widening array of musical genres. One result has been a growing community of musicians interested in Bluegrass, Celtic, Roots, Folk or hybrids thereof.

Read

this cool article

from "Cover Lay Down" about one band that formed at BCM! It says in part:

Someone’s doing something right at the Berklee College of Music. As a gathering place for talented musicians steeped in a variety of traditions, it has long held a reputation both a natural source for emerging artists and a hotbed of hybridization. You may not have realized it, but the odds are excellent that at least some of your own favorite artists attended the prestigious school, from Patty Larkin, Gillian Welch, Bruce Cockburn and Susan Tedeschi to Melissa Etheridge, Bill Frisell, Donald Fagin, Juliana Hatfield, Aimee Mann and John Mayer.

Student Activities Blog at Berklee

It seems like there's just so much information to get across to people interested in what's happening at Berklee College of Music. It's a very, very busy place.

To help folks get a sense of what is happening on the student activities front, check out this new blog. At the moment, the focus is on our outstanding summer performance program known as "5-week".

Taking care of yourself as a student at Berklee

How can I take good care of my health, wellness and fitness at Berklee? As we outlined in a previous post, Berklee offers a comprehensive wellness program called "LiveWell"

LiveWell Website: http://www.berklee.net/st/Livewell_Information.html
LiveWell Updates also posted on my.berklee.net > Announcements

Here is just a summary of some of the many opportunities offered by LiveWell:

•Sports and Recreation•
Emerson Division III Athletics (fall & spring semesters) | Boston Ski & Sports Club | Intramural and Club Sports | Sunday at Simmons basketball, indoor soccer, volleyball (fall & spring semesters) | Ice Hockey Team | Trips to Area Sites - beaches, parks, hikes, bike rides
•Discounted Gym Memberships + Fitness Programs• Tennis & Racquet Club, YMCA, Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi, Healthworks for Women, Simmons College’s Holmes Sports Center (fall & spring), Emerson Fitness Center

•Movement• Martial Arts | Yoga | Meditation | Dance Classes
Fitness Benefit through Berklee Health Insurance up to $150/year

•Workshops and/or Screenings• Physical + Occupational Therapists, Nutritionists and others

•Student Health 101• Monthly Online Wellness Magazine and 64 page Health Guide

•College Health + Wellness Courses• Yoga, Chi Gung, Anatomy, Wellness & Inspiration. Check the Registration Manual for the latest offerings.

•LiveWell Workshops & Series• SleepWell, EatWell, ChooseWell, HearWell, BreatheWell, PerformWell, LeadWell, LoveWell, ExpressWell, and more.


Have questions about the LiveWell offerings, please email livewell@berklee.edu or call 617.747.2411.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Berklee College of Music and Our International Commitment

One of the compelling aspects of Berklee is its commitment to internationalization. Whether it be in our student body, our faculty and staff, our curriculum or the incredibly diverse city of Boston, Berklee is a fantastic place to discover the world. I saw this article the other day about some of the work that we're doing in Ireland and thought I would share, as just an example of one of the things we are doing.

As I write this, we have a team of staff and faculty conducting auditions and interviews in Russia and as always, we're planning ahead for the upcoming year of events around the world.

Here's a few key links that might be helpful for you if you're interested in "things International" at Berklee:

Admissions for International Students: http://www.berklee.edu/admissions/international/default.html

International Programs: http://www.berklee.edu/international/

Berklee in Valencia - our plans for a new campus in Spain: http://www.berkleevalencia.org/en/

Our Internet Radio Station "The Birn", that includes an international channel: http://www.thebirn.com/

Enjoy,

Mark Campbell
Vice-President for Enrollment
Berklee College of Music

Wellness programs at Berklee - LiveWell!!!

The life of a musician is challenging to the body. Musicians especially benefit from living a well-balanced, integrated and healthy existence. Healthy habits and practicing wellness principles enhances one’s learning, career, relationships, endurance, strength, flexibility and creativity and helps one through life’s many changes.

LiveWell is Berklee’s wellness and health promotion program designed for the student musician. Serving as a web of support for the student throughout his or her time studying at Berklee, LiveWell provides information on many wellness offerings available on and around campus.

Conveniently located in the Student Activities Center, Room 207, 939 Boylston Street, Jane Stachowiak, Director, can be reached via email: livewell@berklee.edu or phone: 617.747.2411

LiveWell Website: http://www.berklee.net/st/Livewell_Information.html

Your Unofficial Tour of Campus

One of our more creative students put this totally unofficial, mostly accurate and highly entertaining video of campus together. Enjoy!

Link is here - to youtube!

Berklee LA Internship hosted by Alum Richard Gibbs

On June 4^th 2009, 14 Berklee Los Angeles interns found themselves sitting in the craftsman-style living room set up for alum Richard Gibbs’ (’77) studio. Custom built on the back of Gibbs’ home property in Malibu, the Woodshed Recording studio has a unique open-air design and a fabulous view of the Pacific Ocean.

Hearing a squawking sound, Gibbs explained wild parrots live in the area and that sleeping during summer evenings can be impossible due to the local wild peacock mating calls. Gibbs’ dog greeted each guest as they walked in with a friendly bark and his cat even came to snuggle on each interns’ lap as Gibbs spoke about the music industry and his career, film scoring and producing.

Interns asked questions about his writing process (fastest way is paper and pencil, but now he fleshes ideas out via computer), how often he uses mock-ups (every time), and if working for free is detrimental to their career. Gibbs explained he'll cut a deal for close friends and projects that he knows he’ll enjoy working on. “If you have the choice between sitting at home watching TV or working, then work for free. Staying home won’t build your career”.

With catchphrases like “bro-deal” (taken from his beloved surfing world) and “music happy” (a director who wants a lot of music in their project), Gibbs was able to string anecdote after anecdote together to give both the realities of the music industry and create a sense of hope for the future.

While the workshop was scheduled to run two hours, the students didn’t pile back into their cars for the long drive home until three hours later. By then the sun had set over the ocean, but the students carried with them a sense of living a creative life and a stronger bond with the Berklee alumni community.

Justine Taormino

Intern Services Coordinator

Berklee College of Music - LA Internship Program

p)323-326-7479

f)323-375-1668

jtaormino@berklee.edu

Some Student Perspectives on Berklee's LA Internships

Internships with Berklee

Often what happens in education is that students are asked to learn by observation, listening or watching. But one of the best ways to learn anything is to experience it, first hand, by doing! Berklee understands the power of learning by doing and has a number of opportunities for students to work "in the field". Our Office of Experiential Learning (OEL) helps students with service learning and internship opportunities.

The OEL’s goal is to provide practical learning opportunities where students can deliberately connect their Berklee curriculum in a work or volunteer setting. All programs are for college credit and some require application approval and acceptance into the specific program.

We have a range of programs that include:

• Introductory Internship
• Service Learning
• Los Angeles Internship Program
• Summer London Internship Program
• Major specific Internship

For more information on these programs, please visit www.berklee.edu/oel.

You can read more about the LA Internship Program:

http://www.berklee.edu/news/596/l-a-internship-program-a-springboard-to-the-musi

Follow us MySpace and Facebook:

Add the OEL as a friend on MySpace: www.myspace.com/berkleeoel

Become a fan of the OEL on Facebook: Office of Experiential Learning - Berklee College of Music

Off-Campus Housing Support

On Friday June 12^th, 60+ students who are entering Berklee for the Fall 2009 semester and 35+ of their parents, guardians and guests will visit Berklee for the one day Berklee Life Off Campus (BLOC) workshop presented by the Student Activities Center. The SAC has three primary goals for the day.

The first goal is to provide attendees with critical information for searching for apartments in the Boston area including what to know before signing a lease. There are great deals, landlords and realtors our there but there are bad ones as well. A presentation by Kunevich & Lau Realty will provide attendees with the knowledge and tools to make good decisions in their search.

The second goal is to introduce non-residential entering students to each other as a way to begin to build community amongst them. Knowing and seeing that they are not alone as a first semester student living off campus is a huge step in achieving comfort before they arrive for classes in August. Moreover, at last year’s June Off Campus Housing Orientation some students who met through our small group sessions went on to find an apartment over the summer and live together their first year.

The third goal is to begin to allay some of the fears that parents, guardians, and even students have of living on their own – many for the first time – in this city. Many calls to our front desk are from parents concerned about sending their child to live off-campus. For this goal, our best line of defense are students who themselves were in the same situation in first year. Over lunch, current Berklee students will share their experiences about searching for apartments, moving in, commuting throughout the city, and more. Attendees will hear success stories as well as stories that are educational in terms of situations to avoid.

Advisors from the Office of Admissions, Paul Noonan from Public Safety, professional and student staff from the Student Activities Center, Peer Advisors, and others will be on hand throughout the day to offer our perspective during sessions and to interact with attendees informally between sessions.

Many thanks to Admissions, FYSAP, Auxiliary Services, and Dining Services for their support creating and executing this workshop.

If you run into BLOC attendees next Friday and you have a useful “life in Boston” anecdote or one that might assuage their fears, please pull them aside and share.

For more information about BLOC visit http://www.berklee.edu/housing/off_campus.html where you can download a pdf of the advertisement.

Contact the Student Activities Center at x2560 with questions.

Tamia Rashima Jordan, M.Ed.

Assistant Director Orientation and Student Support Services

SWEET MUSIC CAREER ACCELERANT

The mission of Berklee's Career Development Center is to provide expert guidance, leading-edge resources and professional development experiences to a diverse student body for the achievement of students' music career-related goals. Its overall focus is on music career management rather than a one-time job link. Students can get one-on-one advising, tap into its vast library of resources, attend job recruitment events, connect with alumni through the Berklee Career Network and participate in numerous career-building workshops.

At the beginning of February 2009, Berklee was approached (via Jim Odgren) about the possibility of hosting a "Jazz Talent Search".  Compass Management UK, in conjunction with Universal Records UK wanted to put together a "hip, young jazz band" fronted by two singers (one male, one female).  The band would have the full backing of Universal and would spend this summer in London recording an album and then touring in the fall in support of the album.

The Career Development Center coordinated auditions through Compass Management.  A large number of Berklee students submitted their audition materials to Compass Management.  After reviewing said materials, Compass Management selected ~40 students for the first round, which occurred March 28th - March 29th. After Compass Management flew-in to Boston and auditioned those students, they selected 7 Berklee students for a second and final round of auditions which occurred when they flew-in April 18th - April 19th.  During the second round, the A&R rep (Tom Lewis) from Universal Records UK was also present.

Ultimately, three Berklee students were selected to be members of this seven member group!  They are:

   Jeffrey Fajardo - drums

         Matthias Minquet - guitar

         Manami Morita - piano

The band will be called "The New Capitols" and their website is going to be www.thenewcapitols.com (it's not live, yet).  They will be blogging, tweeting, etc. their experience.

BTW, Compass went to other colleges here in the US for auditions but none were as successful or included as many final candidates as Berklee. This college rocks (and scats) - around the world!

-Peter Spellman, Director, The Career Development Center

Follow us on Twitter...

We feel like our blog is probably where we'll spend most of our energies because what we have to say usually is more complex than a few characters. Nonetheless, you can find us now on Twitter.

We'll hang out there every now and then at: https://twitter.com/Berklee_Enroll

The Admissions Challenge

Within the space of just these past few weeks, Berklee's Office of Admissions has bid a fond farewell ("and don't forget to stay in touch"!) to the largest graduating class in the college's history, admitted one of the largest and most gifted entering classes for the summer and fall semesters in the college's history, and engaged in an intensive two-day retreat to examine both our long-term future and the steps we can take in this upcoming year to take our operation to the next level - higher - faster - louder,  as we say here;-)  And the theme that resonates for us again and again is...humility.  Berklee's Office of Admissions, and indeed all of our administrative colleagues at the college, bare an awesome responsibility.  One that we are most proud to bare, and one that brings pause again and again each year as we select our entering class and almost in the same breath watch the entering class from four years prior cross the stage to Hi-5 the likes of David Bowie, Anita Baker, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Smokey Robinson, Gloria Estefan, Wayne Shorter, The Edge and a litany of other celebrities who are thrilled to stand there and shake hands with over 800 Berklee graduates.  Don't they have better things to do?  What do they see?  Why are they there?

For those of us involved in recruiting our class each year, the answer to the question is blatantly obvious.  They know the value of networking in the music industry, and it is a thrill for them to meet, at this seminal point in our graduate's lives, with the future leaders of the industry.  We are all familiar with the "six degrees from Kevin Bacon" theory.  In the music industry, you may not even get to step three before Berklee comes into the picture.  Fact, not fiction.

So, each year our challenge is great and our mission is clear.  Find them.  Bring them.  Nurture them.  Graduate them.  Because the "them" we find, bring, nurture, and graduate will make all the difference.  Both today at Berklee and tomorrow in the future industry they will create.

Damien Bracken

Director of Admissions

Summer Semester Begins

Orientation began today for our entering summer semester students.  It's an exciting time for all of us in the enrollment area as we welcome a new group from around the world, to Boston.  Activities for students, and those whose parents could join us, are occurring throughout the day.  Students will continue to find orientation help over the next few days with classes starting next week. 

Since we start this semester in May, most of the students beginning with us are either transfer students from another college, or international students who have a different academic calendar.

In other words, traditional high school graduates will have to wait until September!  

Beginning at the End?

As we begin this blog about enrollment, with something of a focus on admission (beginning), ironically, we at Berklee just experienced our "end". Yesterday was our commencement, the formal end of a long and challenging road for over 800 students who completed requirements for our diploma or degree.  Doubly ironic, we call "graduation" commencement, from the french, "to start".  And so it is for our graduates both an ending of a phase in their lives with us at Berklee, but also a beginning, a starting point.

Motown legend Smokey Robinson, our Commencement speaker and honorary doctorate recipient, encouraged students to use the international language of music to speak to the world.  Linda Ronstadt, another honoree,  spoke eloquently of the transcendent power of music while merengue superstar and Berklee alumnus Juan Luis Guerra emotionally acknowledged his wife and children and his native Dominicans for the honor.  Noted producer and sound engineer George Massenburg encouraged graduates to be part of the next generation of musicians who will take sound quality to a higher level.

A few links here:

1)  Boston Globe featuring Smokey

2)  Telecinqo coverage of Juan Luis Guerra

3)  Berklee Page on Honorees

4)  Berklee's Commencement Page

Berklee Enrollment - This Blog and Its Purpose

Greetings and welcome to all visitors!

The purpose of this blog is to share information and provide balanced and real perspective about enrollment about Berklee College of Music. It is not intended to replace official information about the College which can always be found at our main website, here. What we're trying to do here instead of providing official information is share experience and insight about two main areas:

1) the admissions process (including applications, auditions, interviews, scholarships and financial aid, residence/housing, international student needs (like visas), etc. etc. and...

2) student life - what actually happens when you get to Boston (orientation, registration, academic counseling and advising, more financial aid and scholarships(!), living in Boston, finding work on and off campus, and lots of other fun things).

We'll have a variety of authors here including professionals from admissions, financial aid and scholarships, Registrar's Office, student employment, counseling, advising, student activities, housing, faculty and more.

So visit us often. We'll be posting new and varied information on a regular basis!