Encore Gala Raises $1.4 Million for Berklee City Music
Niu Raza B.M. ’18 performs with the City Music Ensemble at the Encore Gala.
Image by Mike Ritter
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Image by Mike Ritter
Left to right: Gala cochairs Craig and Sandhya Douglas; Krystal Banfield, Berklee vice president of education outreach and social entrepreneurship; Berklee President Erica Muhl; and Gala cochairs/colead sponsors Bill and Kelly Kaiser
Image by Mike Ritter
Left to right: Berklee trustee David Gross-Loh, Berklee President Erica Muhl, Berklee trustee John Connaughton, Stephanie Connaughton, Berklee Board of Trustees Chair Martin Mannion, and Tristin Mannion
Image by Mike Ritter
The Family Stone
Image by Mike Ritter
Annette Philip and the Berklee Indian Ensemble
Image by Mike Ritter
Studio Two
Image by Mike Ritter
Eguie Castrillo Salsa Orchestra
Image by Mike Ritter
Berklee raised more than $1.4 million for the Berklee City Music program at the 28th annual Encore Gala, which took place on Saturday, October 1, at the Westin Copley Place, Boston.
The Family Stone and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway were the special guest artists on this year's musical program, which also included the Berklee Indian Ensemble, the Nebulous Quartet, the a cappella group Radius, faculty percussionist Eguie Castrillo and his Salsa Orchestra, and the Beatles tribute band Studio Two. It also featured two members of City Music's ambassador program: Madagascar-born singer-songwriter Niu Raza B.M. ’18, who sang with the City Music Ensemble, and producer/composer Theron Feemster ’00, who introduced the performance.
Proceeds from the Encore Gala support Berklee City Music, the college’s strategic initiative to engage underserved public school students in a yearlong, tuition-free music education program. Launched 29 years ago to provide high-quality music instruction to low-income youth in Boston, City Music is now a national movement, serving approximately 2,000 students in Greater Boston and more than 65,000 young people across the country and around the world through a variety of partnerships and initiatives.
The Gala was copresented by Abrams Capital and Bain Capital Community Partnership, with cochairs Sandhya S. and Craig S. Douglas and Bill and Kelly Kaiser. Guests at this year's event enjoyed bidding on a private dinner package with Red Sox legend and recent Baseball Hall of Fame inductee David Ortiz as part of the live auction experience.
