Berklee's distinguished faculty from Massachusetts was in Mumbai sharing their profound knowledge with Mumbai's budding musicians.

The Berklee College of Music based in Boston, Massachusetts has always been regarded as the premier institute specializing in music education in North America. Starting off as a school for jazz in the mid 40’s, Berklee soon adopted more diverse genres ranging from rock to bluegrass and even hip hop.

Study of theory as well as a practical approach to music combined with teachings on the working of the music industry provided its students with an unrivaled array of skills resulting in multiple honors over the coming years.

Providing degree courses in composition, film scoring, music business/management, music production and songwriting, the college has earned a noteworthy alumni consisting of greats such as Duke Ellington, guitarists Bill Frisell, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and renowned producer Quincy Jones.

With two record labels and a radio station in its arsenal, the celebrated institute soon spread its wings to students of different nationalities, visiting countries around the world conducting clinics and auditions for interested musicians. Collaboration with Tabula Rasa music and Furtados brought this tour to Jamnabai Narsee School from the 13^th to the 16^th of February and along with it an army of Mumbai musicians looking to learn from workshops headed by some of the most distinguished personnel of the college.

Mock auditions along with a presentation carried out by Gojko Damjanic, the Assistant Director of International Admissions, provided young musicians from the city a relative idea on tackling future opportunities in their musical careers.

Day one of the program’s visit to India began bright and early, with sessions on how to approach auditions, first for rhythm instruments and later for melody instruments and vocals. These mock auditions along with a presentation carried out by Gojko Damjanic, the Assistant Director of International Admissions, provided young musicians from the city a relative idea on tackling future opportunities in their musical career.  A simple and down to earth explanation of the processes by teachers well versed in the matter provided those in attendance with substantial information.

The second day of clinics was hosted by what is commonly referred to as the ‘Dream Team’ of Berklee College including the likes of Assistant Vice President of International programs, Greg Badolato. An accomplished Broadway saxophonist in his own right, he presented a session on using traditional, western solfege techniques to develop the performer’s ear and assist with developing improvisation vocabulary. Accompanying Greg was Dan Carlin, Chair of Berklee’s film scoring department who in his sessions, demonstrated the entertainment industry’s increasingly rapid evolution of scoring styles, techniques, and applications in movies and video games. Following was Michael Farquharson presenting a session analyzing the use of modes in current pop music and at the same time demonstrating the use of modal harmony in original compositions.

A simple and down to earth explanation of the processes by teachers well versed in the matter provided those in attendance with substantial information.

Emmy award winning Carlin and Juno award recipient Farquharson along with Director of International Programs Jason Camelio certainly possessed the required credentials and convincingly provided the Mumbai audience with a lifetime’s worth of experience while grooming a new generation of talented, credible Indian musicians.

- Berklee was founded by Lawrence Berk, an engineer trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and veteran arranger with the CBS and NBC radio orchestras.

- It was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music.

- With more than a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing more than 70 countries, Berklee is the world’s premier learning lab for the music of today and tomorrow.

- 68 Berklee alumni have received 184 Grammy Awards, including Donald Fagen ’66 of Steely Dan, Diana Krall ’83, and Steve Vai ’79

- 15 Berklee alumni have received 40 Latin Grammy Awards

- The composer of Simpsons, Alf Clausen ’66 who won the Emmy in ’97, ’98 was a student of Berklee

- Howard Shore ’69 won Latin Grammy awards for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004) & The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2002)

Article By Shikher Chaudhary

Images Courtesy: Jack Thomas, Performers Collective School of Music