Among the world’s most prestigious institutions for study of music and the performing arts, Berklee alumni have won 297 Grammy, 34 Emmy, seven Tony and eight Academy awards

Established in 1945, the Berklee College of Music, Boston (aka Berklee), is among the world’s largest and most prestigious higher education institutions for the study of contemporary music and the performing arts. CEOWorld magazine ranked Berklee among America’s Top 3 music schools in 2019, while The Hollywood Reporter ranks it among the Top 25. Moreover, Berklee is ranked #3 in Forbes’ rankings of colleges with most Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning alumni. To date, 126 Berklee alumni have won 297 Grammy, 34 Emmy, seven Tony and eight Academy awards.

Founded as Schillinger House in 1945 by musician and MIT graduate Lawrence Berk, the college initially provided jazz music education. In 1954, when the curriculum expanded to include other music genres, it was renamed the Berklee School of Music and re-christened the Berklee College of Music in 1970. On January 20, 2016, Berklee signed a merger agreement with The Boston Conservatory (estb.1867) — one of the world’s oldest and pre-eminent performing arts conservatories. The combined institution is known as Berklee with the conservatory renamed The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

With its main campus in Boston, a second campus in New York, and an international campus in Valencia, Spain, Berklee offers study programmes in music and the performing arts to 6,439 undergraduate and 560 graduate students. The faculty-student ratio is an enviable 1:4. However, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all Berklee programmes are being offered remotely/online for the current fall semester

Boston. The capital of Massachusetts state, Boston (pop.8.2 million) is the sixth largest city in the US. But perhaps more important, Boston is the ultimate gown town and provides an exhilarating academic experience with more than 50 colleges and universities situated in the Greater Boston area. The climate in Boston is continental, with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot and humid summers, punctuated with frequent thunderstorms.

Campus facilities. Berklee’s main campus hosts 25 buildings in Boston’s Back Bay area. Classrooms are specially designed to enable music learning and equipped with audio-visual and stereo sound systems, overhead projectors, whiteboards, musical instruments and excellent acoustics. The main dining hall is housed within a floor-to-ceiling glass structure that transforms into a concert venue. Berklee’s sprawling campus houses 12 performance venues, the largest being the Berklee Performance Center. This 1,215-seats concert hall hosts performances and productions by students, faculty, touring artistes and community organisations. Renowned Indian musicians A.R. Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan have performed at the centre jointly with Berklee students.

For sports and games, Berklee students are entitled to utilise health and fitness services of the neighbouring Northeastern University, YMCA, Boston Sports Club and the Tennis and Racquet Club at discounted rates.

Admission. Each study programme at Berklee specifies its own admission criteria. For admission into undergraduate programmes, students must submit online application forms together with academic transcripts evaluated by a credential agency (Span Tran or Educational Credential Evaluators) and proof of English language proficiency (TOEL, IELTS, PTE Academic test scores). Shortlisted applicants are invited for online audition and interviews. For postgraduate programmes, admission applications must be submitted together with resumé, recommendation letters, transcripts and portfolio. All full-time students are evaluated for scholarships during the admission process.

For further information, contact the Office of Admissions, Berklee College of Music, 1140, Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215; Ph: 617-747-2222; email: admissions@berklee.edu; website: www.berklee.edu/ admissions.

Accommodation. The office of housing and residential education houses 1,500 students in five residential facilities, located at short distance from Berklee’s academic buildings. Each of them — some over 100 years old — offers 24- hour security, laundry, kitchen and other amenities. For instance, 98 Hemenway Street, built in 1899 and renovated in 2005, comprises five residential floors and provides laundry facilities, practice rooms and a community lounge. 150 Massachusetts Avenue is the largest residence hall and hosts the Stan Getz Library, study rooms and other academic spaces.

Degree programmes. Berklee offers 27 undergraduate and 32 graduate degree programmes; 20 summer and international college and pre-college programmes; and online courses.

Scholastic options at Berklee

Berklee College of Music, Boston offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate study programmes. They include:

Bachelor of Music. Composition; contemporary writing and production; electronic production and design; film scoring; jazz composition; music business/management; music education; music production and engineering; music therapy; performance; professional music; and songwriting

Graduate programmes. Contemporary performance (global jazz concentration), contemporary performance (production concentration), global entertainment and music business, music production, technology, and innovation; scoring for film, television, and video games; creative media and technology with specialisation in songwriting and production, live experience design, writing and design for musical theater; M.A music business; M.M music production; MBA music business; M.M. brass performance; harp performance; marimba performance; music education: non-licensure programme; music education — autism concentration; musical theater; orchestral conducting; percussion performance; piano performance; string performance; vocal pedagogy; voice performance; opera performance; woodwind performance.

Tuition & other fees (annual)

Tuition $44,360
Fees $1,300
Software bundle $1,285.63
Room and board $18,640
Miscellaneous $2,700
Total $68,285 $=Rs.74.45

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