Berklee City Music Receives Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Berklee has been approved for a $25,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the Berklee City Music High School Academy and Preparatory Academy programs.

The Berklee City Music High School Academy offers students music theory lessons, master classes, and ensembles after school, as well as access to performance opportunities, visiting artist workshops, and other valuable resources on Berklee's campus. With year-round instruction, expert faculty, and a comprehensive curriculum, the program provides students with the tools and support they need to reach their full potential. 

The Berklee City Music Preparatory Academy was created for performing artists in the fourth through eighth grades. Using a troupe model that focuses on community and connectivity, the academy puts on two multidisciplinary performances each year: one in December and one in May to celebrate the end of the program. 

“We are overjoyed to have the esteemed honor to be acknowledged by the National Endowment for the Arts! The Berklee City Music High School Academy and Preparatory Academy positively transform the lives of young people through music and performing arts instructional rigor and creative youth development, especially given the challenges resulting from the pandemic that our youth face today,” said Krystal Prime Banfield, Ed.D., vice president of education outreach and social entrepreneurship. “We are grateful to be recognized by the NEA—a champion for excellence in the arts—and look forward to being in service to our students through this generous support."

The City Music programs are among 1,125 projects across the U.S. that will receive NEA grants totaling more than $26.6 million.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including Berklee City Music Boston, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”

For more information on other projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.