Berkleemusic News

Last month, Berklee students and alumni—including Berkleemusic online student Matthew Kliewer and his band The Fast Romantics—rocked NYC at our 3rd annual CMJ Music Marathon Showcase. Hear from Matthew and watch the band play in this exclusive video interview.

Read and watch more video from Berklee’s CMJ Showcase here.

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The multi-platinum selling hip-hop singer, writer, and producer will use Berkleemusic’s online courses towards a Berklee diploma

Wyclef Jean

Jean will take Basic Ear Training 1, Music Theory 101, and Guitar Chords 101 online with Berkleemusic, all of which will transfer directly to Berklee towards his degree.

“I left college after only the first semester to pursue my career and, after all that I’ve accomplished, going back to college was the one thing I wanted to do for myself,” said Jean, who was on campus this past summer to give a Performance Perspectives Clinic.

“Berklee was always where I wanted to attend. I would like to thank Berklee’s president President Roger Brown and chief of staff Carl Beatty and the entire faculty for making me feel welcome,” he said, adding, “I think it is important for young people to aspire to get an education.”

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Congrats to Berkleemusic online student Jarbas Agnelli (Orchestration 1), who’s captivating viral video “Birds on the Wires” has become an overnight hit.

“Reading a Brazilian newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires,” explains Jarbas. “I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.”

Jarbas posted the video online and it spread like wildfire.

“The video became an overnight hit, spreading on sites and blogs all over the world, with thousands of views and enthusiastic comments from people from all the races. And it’s growing, non stop. 600.000+ views on Gizmodo alone! If we add all the views, it will be more than a million.

“Thanks to Ben Newhouse (Orchestration 1 instructor), too! It was only because I now think about classical music the whole day long that this thing happened!”

Jarbas reports that he’s happily enrolled in Orchestration 2 for the fall semester, starting September 28.

Grammy-nominated producer Jason Halbert has traversed the globe working with some of today’s top-selling recording artists. Since being selected in 2003 by American Idol judge Randy Jackson to act as music director for Kelly Clarkson, it has been a meteoric rise for the Nashville-based producer and keyboardist.

Though he is a multi-platinum selling producer, Halbert still felt there were gaps in his musical knowledge base. He recently enrolled as a Berkleemusic online student in Songwriting for Film and TV. “After talking to the advisors, I decided that the flexibility of the online program was best suited to my current career and travel schedule,” he says. “Many of the musicians I have hired over the years have been Berklee graduates, and I’ve long been a fan of the quality education the school provides.”

Schedule flexibility is critically important to Halbert, as his upcoming calendar includes not just the start of his online classes on September 28, but also a 30-stop U.S. tour with Clarkson, followed by Europe, Asia, and Australia in 2010.

To top it all off, Halbert’s commitment to education and collaboration with Kelly will be featured in a new television documentary called “Get Schooled–You Have the Right,” premiering Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 8:00 P.M. EST.

Learn More about Jason Halbert

Grammy-nominated producer Jason Halbert has traversed the globe working with some of today’s top-selling recording artists. Since being selected in 2003 by American Idol judge Randy Jackson to act as music director for Kelly Clarkson, it has been a meteoric rise for the Nashville-based producer and keyboardist.

Though he is a multi-platinum selling producer, Halbert still felt there were gaps in his musical knowledge base. He recently enrolled as a Berkleemusic online student in Songwriting for Film and TV. “After talking to the advisors, I decided that the flexibility of the online program was best suited to my current career and travel schedule,” he says. “Many of the musicians I have hired over the years have been Berklee graduates, and I’ve long been a fan of the quality education the school provides.”

Schedule flexibility is critically important to Halbert, as his upcoming calendar includes not just the start of his online classes on September 28, but also a 30-stop U.S. tour with Clarkson, followed by Europe, Asia, and Australia in 2010.

To top it all off, Halbert’s commitment to education and collaboration with Kelly will be featured in a new television documentary called “Get Schooled–You Have the Right,” premiering Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 8:00 P.M. EST.

Learn More about Jason Halbert

Five years ago, Owen Gurry had a career as a data analyst, and the guitar was nothing more than a weekend hobby. He enrolled in Berkleemusic’s online courses to reconnect with his passion for music—and ended up studying at Berklee’s physical school in Boston as well as launching a new career as a professional musician.

Owen enrolled in Berkleemusic’s online Music Theory 101 course, where he began to learn the formal vocabulary of the music he played. With that experience under his belt, he jumped into music education with both feet attending the Berklee Guitar Sessions held in Boston in the summer of 2006, and then spent a full semester at Berklee in person. After his time at the physical school, Owen returned to London and took further courses online with Berkleemusic—in particular, Music Theory 201 and Harmonic Ear Training.  

As for what he ultimately did with all this education, he explains that “I always wanted to be a session player,” he says. “To me, session players represent the musical SAS, the guys you call in when you need the job done. And also, session work really challenges my ability. I never know what’s going to happen.” To date, Owen has worked as a session guitarist on project by South Africa’s Arno Carstens, spent five months supporting UK recording artist Natalia on tour, and currently has a regular assignment recording BBC Radio 1 “1ntros” each week for Music 4.

“It’s hard to explain how much Berklee and Berkleemusic have helped me, because they made me into a completely different player,” says Owen.

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Joe Scrocca knows the value of a good education. At 47, when he decided to switch careers from mortgage financing to music business, Joe turned to Berkleemusic to prepare him. “I did my research knowing that I had to limit my studies to online courses. Berkleemusic had the most to offer not only in course selection, but quality of teaching staff.”

Joe enrolled in Berkleemusic’s Master Certificate in Music Business and, midway through his studies, launched his own artist management firm, Scrocca Entertainment Group (SEG). He credits his online studies with his success.

“Taking online courses at Berkleemusic are worth the investment,” says Joe. “And I truly mean that: tuition is an investment, not a cost.”

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London-based online student Dave Holland’s song “Worlds Away, Yards Apart” (written for his band, Hiding in Public) has won First Place in the AAA category of the prestigious International Songwriting Competition.

“Most of the songs on our upcoming CD were written during my Specialist Certificate in Songwriting coursework,” says Dave. “My winning song found its lyrical roots in Andrea Stolpe’s Commercial Songwriting Techniques course.”

Taking Second Place in the competition is singer/songwriter Suzanna Choffel, managed by online student Ihor Gowda. Suzanna won for her song “Hey Mister.”

Congratulations to Dave and Suzanna! Take a listen to their winning songs below.

Berkleemusic band The Volunteers “laid down some NYC-style rocking that was impossible to ignore” at Berklee College of Music’s 4th Annual SXSW Party on March 20th. Along with eight other bands in four-and-a-half hours, the Berkleemusic band energized the crowd at Friends.

The group’s manager, online music business student Richard Zack, was thrilled by the band’s performance. “I had a blast at SXSW, and the Berkleemusic party ROCKED!” Richard said. “People flowed inside to see the bands when they heard the music out on 6th street.”

Read a full review of the Berklee party here. And check out The Volunteers on MySpace.

Berkleemusic band The Volunteers “laid down some NYC-style rocking that was impossible to ignore” at Berklee College of Music’s 4th Annual SXSW Party on March 20th. Along with eight other bands in four-and-a-half hours, the Berkleemusic band energized the crowd at Friends.

The group’s manager, online music business student Richard Zack, was thrilled by the band’s performance. “I had a blast at SXSW, and the Berkleemusic party ROCKED!” Richard said. “People flowed inside to see the bands when they heard the music out on 6th street.”

Read a full review of the Berklee party here. And check out The Volunteers on MySpace.