Berklee City Music Awards Eight Full-Tuition Scholarships

Emceed by actor and comedian Sinbad, the City Music scholarship presentation came at the conclusion of the Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program, the last hurdle for scholarship winners to clear before beginning their college careers.

Nick Balkin

August 11, 2016

Pictured from left to right: actor-comedian Sinbad, City Music scholarship recipient William Graves, and Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell.

Image credit: Mike Spencer

Eight young musicians from underserved communities in Boston and across the U.S. and Canada were awarded four-year, full-tuition scholarships to attend Berklee at an emotional presentation at the Berklee Performance Center on Tuesday, August 9. The collective value of the scholarships, presented to students from Berklee City Music Network sites, exceeded $1.2 million.

Emceed by actor and comedian Sinbad, the scholarship presentation came at the conclusion of the Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program, the last hurdle for scholarship winners to clear before beginning their college careers.

Scholarship students were welcomed to the stage by Berklee President Roger H. Brown; Lee Whitmore, Berklee vice president of education outreach and social entrepreneurship; Krystal Banfield, dean for City Music; Sinbad; and Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell. The concert showcased the talents of Berklee City Music students performing in jazz, pop/rock, choral, big band, and R&B ensembles.

The recipients were all participants in Berklee City Music, a program that delivers high-quality contemporary music education instruction to youth from underserved communities at no or low cost. The Berklee City Music Network is an association of 44 community organizations that serves more than 29,000 students in the U.S. and Canada each year. Since its inception, Berklee City Music has awarded 246 four-year full-tuition scholarships totaling more than $13 million.

The eight recipients are among 85 teens who were enrolled in Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program on City Music Summer Scholarships.