|
|
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Two weeks ago, Sara and I went on a week long college tour trip to the east coast. First on the list was Berklee College of Music in Boston. If you or someone you know is interested in a professional modern music degree, Berklee is the name that always pops up on the top of the list. So we wanted to see if the school lives up to it's reputation and hype.
The bottom line is: Yes it does.
Berklee is in downtown Boston. To be clear, it is an urban campus. Berklee occupies numerous buildings within an area, but it is not a separate campus such as the nearby Boston University. There are other businesses interspersed between the Berklee buildings. If you are looking for the picture postcard ivy covered buildings kind of campus, this is not it.
I didn't take any external campus pictures, so here's one from Berklee's site of their main building.
There are tons of small stores occupying ground level throughout the area. There are two Dunkin' Donuts and at least one Starbucks within campus. There's a Daddy's Junk music store, Radio Shack, numerous restaurants, several bookstores, etc etc.
Sara and I had to stop in a Dunkin' Donuts for a quick snack. It's a family tradition when we are on the east coast.
Students live either in college owned dorms or find their own housing nearby. Many students live in Allston to find cheaper rents, a quick train ride away.
Berklee is right on the T line, so there is excellent access to anywhere in the area using mass transit. If you visit Berklee, don't rent a car! Driving is murder in Boston. Take the money you would have spent on a rental car and stay at a nice hotel downtown, using the T for transportation.
Berklee is a real college, not a conservatory or a guitar school. Students take a variety of non-music courses.
Majors at Berklee are organized around general career groups, not instruments. Majors include music business, production and engineering, music therapy, performance, film scoring, composition, professional music, and education. Each student has a primary instrument which they study intensively, so every graduate is an expert musician even if they are not a performance major.
The campus tour took us through most of the academic areas. Class size is generally quite small, about 10 to 12 students, and are held in function specific rooms. The guitar labs have numerous amps, so that students don't have to haul a little amp around with them. There are lots of rooms full of the latest technology for editing, scoring, etc. The music and video library is stunning in terms of their collection and facilities.
The recording facilities are also first class. We walked down a long hallway full of studios. One that we went into was quite large, and was fully equipped with iconic guitar amps, isolation areas, various sound baffling devices, and a fully decked out control room. The production and engineering students spend a lot of hours recording and producing, which means that they need a lot of artists to record. Coincidentally, the rest of the student body is looking to have demos recorded, so there is plenty of opportunity to get studio time.
Business majors run several businesses. They have Cafe 939, which is a cafe with performance space. Students bring in outside acts as well as Berklee students. There are four record labels run by students which produce and market different styles of music. There is a state-of-the-art concert facility run by students. There is an internet readio station, and several publications. Basically, if you are a business major you will graduate with plenty of real world experience in the music industry.
The main concert hall:
Students' primary instrument can be guitar, voice, piano, violin, banjo, mandolin, percussion, woodwinds, brass, etc. Basically almost any instrument you can think of that fits into modern music.
We were impressed with the real world emphasis. The bulletin boards were full of flyers for special events regarding the music industry. Special lectures are given by famous guests such as Quincy Jones, Paul Simon, Keith Lockhart, etc.
Perusing the long list of notable alums, a few familiar names jumped out at me. Sara keyed in on a whole different list of younger artists that are more contemporary. Here are just a few that I recognized: Al DiMeola, Melissa Etheridge, Kevin Eubanks, Bruce Hornsby, Quincy Jones, Natalie Maines, Branford Marsalis, John Mayer, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Susan Tadeschi, Steve Vai.
My opinion after seeing the school is that it is the real thing. I'd love to take one of their summer courses, or sell the house and take a full 4 year program! I won't be disappointed if Sara ends up at Berklee. | |
| | |
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Was there a discount related to this stellar example of marketing? :p
Seriously, fine write up for a renown institution! | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | FlySig,
Just out of curiousity,
Did you happen to check out the Hart school of music in Hartford, Ct? My sister has someting to do with addmisions and the testing of prospective students. | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | I think it's worth a full ride 4 yr scholarship for Sara. :)
Honestly, words can't describe how impressed we were with the curriculum and facilities. I wish I'd taken a lot more pictures. We walked around saying "WOW" every few seconds. Sara fell in love with Boston, too. I feel sorry for the choice she will have to make, with all of the schools on her list being top notch. She's trying to decide if she should go to Berklee to pursue music or if she should be a math major and a music minor elsewhere. She's got a talent and love for both music and math. | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | BT, she looked at the website for Hart. Hart is a conservatory and is more classically oriented than Berklee. Pretty much every other school she looked at for music has that conservatory approach, whether as a major or a minor. | |
| | |
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | I have a nephew that started at Northwestern this year. If that's on your list, let me know and I can connect you with him to answer any questions. He is from the Boston area and I think he took a good look at Berklee, as well. | |
| | |
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | FlySig, let me know if Sara decides on Berklee. My daughter resides in Boston and would probably be willing to serve as a resource for a new student in town. | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Originally posted by FlySig:
BT, she looked at the website for Hart. Hart is a conservatory and is more classically oriented than Berklee. Pretty much every other school she looked at for music has that conservatory approach, whether as a major or a minor. Right, I knew that. :rolleyes: Your daughter is more interested in Pop/rock/folky type music, as opposed to "Classical", wasn't thinking. | |
| | |
Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1456
Location: Texas | Carnegie Mellon is supposed to have a strong music program. | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Carnegie Melon is on her short list, too. She'd major in math at CMU with a minor in music. We spent a whole day there doing the tours of the music department, housing, and the general campus tour. Sara sat in on a math class.
If I had college to do over again, because I certainly did squander my 4 years at school when I was young, the top two on my list would be Berklee and CMU. They are quite different in many ways, but are both outstanding. | |
| | |
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Fly , how will it affect " Velvet Lace " ?
Vic | |
| | |
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | The girls don't officially play together now, so being separated won't be a musical crisis. The girls are planning on playing together for Sara's audition for Berklee in February.
You never know what the future holds, though. The girls could end up at the same college or at least close enough to keep their duo going. | |
| |
|
Berklee College of Music field trip report