Boston Conservatory at Berklee Earns "Best of" Recognitions in 2024

Take a year-end look at the awards and distinctions earned by Boston Conservatory and its accomplished alums.

By
Sarah Godcher Murphy
December 11, 2024
Collage of three images: students in a theater production standing with their arms out, a dancer on point with one leg raised behind, in their hand, and string players in an orchestra.

As 2024 draws to a close, Boston Conservatory at Berklee once again finds itself named in “best of” lists by respected trade publications and guides to higher education. From Playbill’s “Big 10” list of most represented colleges on Broadway to top rankings from Backstage, The Best Schools, and DanceUS, Boston Conservatory was recognized for excellence in dance, music, and theater and for its outstanding summer programs.

Ample performance opportunities, accomplished faculty, professional mentorship, and successful alums are just a few of the criteria that keep Boston Conservatory in the top tier of performing arts schools nationwide. And, speaking of alums, 2024 was another great year for Boston Conservatory graduates at the Grammy and Tony awards.

Six alums sang on Grammy-nominated cast recordings for the musicals Merrily We Roll Along (Morgan Kirner, BFA '16), The Notebook (John Cardoza, BFA '16), and The Outsiders (Sean Harrison Jones, BFA '18, Renni Magee, BFA '17, and Victor Carillo Tracey, BFA '21), and the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Catán: Florencia en el Amazonas (Gabriella Reyes, BM '16). Two other alums—Nathaniel Taylor BM '15, GPD '17, PSC '18, AD '20 and Sangeeta Kaur, MM '08—were nominated in classical music categories.

And, at the 2024 Tony Awards, three Boston Conservatory alums received nominations, while an additional eight were featured in Tony-nominated productions. Producers Ben Simpson (BFA '11, musical theater) and Mike Mosallam (MM '06, musical theater) took home the Tonys for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Revival of a Play, respectively.

Dance

For the fifth consecutive year, DanceUS.org has once again recognized Boston Conservatory’s Dance Division as a standout, naming the Conservatory to its annual list of the Best College Dance Programs. In its assessment, DanceUS.org praised faculty and visiting artists for comprising “an impressive portfolio of real-world dance experience.” The Dance Division’s stellar roster of faculty grew by 10 new members this past fall, including former Boston Ballet principal John Lam.

Music

Two higher education guides ranked both Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of music among the top music schools in the US. For the third consecutive year, both institutions placed among the top 10 at The Best Schools, while Road 2 College named both the Conservatory and the College in their editorial feature, “Top Music Schools and Colleges by Excellence, Financial Aid, and Value.”

Two stage productions featuring Boston Conservatory student performers, Voir Dire (directed by David Gately) and L’Étoile (directed by Nathan Troup), were named among the winners of this year’s Opera Production Competition, sponsored by the National Opera Association (NOA). Adjudicated by opera professionals and educators, the awards recognize outstanding student productions on the basis of musicianship, vocal quality, diction, dramatic credibility, and staging.

Theater

For six of the past eight years, Boston Conservatory at Berklee has made Playbill’s “Big 10” list of the most represented colleges on Broadway. Covering the 2023–2024 performance season, the list is compiled based on cast members who included their Boston Conservatory degree in their Playbill bios. Boston Conservatory alums made a big impact on Broadway this past season, with performances in new musicals like The Notebook, Shucked, and The Great Gatsby, as well as revivals of classics like Funny Girl and Cabaret.

Backstage magazine included Boston Conservatory on its top-tier list of “13 College Undergraduate Musical Theater Programs You Should Know.” The magazine made note of the wide-ranging performance opportunities available to Conservatory undergraduates, as well as the Theater Division’s emphasis on professional networking.

Summer Programs

In a separate piece, Backstage included Boston Conservatory’s Musical Theater Acting and Musical Theater Dance intensives on their annual roundup of “10 Outstanding Summer Programs for Actors.”

Four of Boston Conservatory’s summer programs were included in ArtsBridge’s top picks for 2025. The Musical Theater Acting, Musical Theater Dance, Vocal/Choral, and Summer Dance intensives were all highly recommended, based on feedback from students and faculty who have experienced the programs firsthand.