Loads of talent, humor, personality and charisma!
We have just hosted a special week-long exchange program with Berklee International Network (BIN) partner, Music Academy International (MAI) from Nancy – France. This is an annual exchange in which selected students from MAI visit Boston and experience a week of Berklee in the classroom and the unique chemistry of its historic campus in Boston.
Annie Grunwald, an 8th semester guitarist and music technology major and Jason Camelio, director of international programs, write about the BIN program in Malaysia.
Okay, it is a college, not a school. Regardless, our Berklee International Network (BIN) partner institutions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the International College of Music (ICOM) has very much ROCKED this week. And, the students and faculty along with a number of important sponsors demonstrated their prowess at the ICOM Celebration Series event held at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPAC) on Friday and Saturday evening.
Post by Jason Camelio, director of international programs.
Ronan Guilfoyle is a force in the world of music. In addition to being a world-class bassist, composer and educator, he is the founder and artistic director of the Newpark Music Centre just outside of Dublin. His deep passion for music and music education, intense studiousness and brilliant wit have taken Newpark from its start in 1979 to its current status as a top institution for contemporary music education.
By: Jason Camelio, director of international programs
As we close in on the last leg of the 2012-2013 recruitment season, I see that it is a good idea to take a moment to share news from around the Berklee world. Here is the first in a series of updates about some great happenings in Berklee’s expansive network.
In late October we made our annual visit to our Berklee International Network (BIN) partner the Seoul Jazz Academy (SJA). Visiting Seoul and SJA is one of the major highlights of the year because of the rich community of excellent musicians in Korea, the success of our alumni and because Seoul Jazz Academy — already a very hip place — has just gotten hipper. In 2012 SJA came under new management and has undergone a significant renovation.
Berklee team with the new leadership of Seoul Jazz Academy.
With the number of talented, young Korean musicians interested in Berklee on the rise, we needed to take a larger team to SJA to present clinics, perform a concert with faculty members and students and to conduct the auditions and interviews. The team was comprised of assistant director of admissions Pearly Lee, associate professor of ensembles Skip Smith, professor of ear training Rick DiMuzio, assistant chair of guitar Rick Peckham, vice president of enrollment Mark Campbell and myself. Sessions were presented on a range of topics including practice techniques, small group improvisation, ensemble playing, composition and arranging, preparing for an audition and more. The events were closed out with a faculty showcase and students from SJA joining us on stage for a jam.
For 15-years SJA has been a partner with Berklee and a member of the BIN. In that time, the institution has done excellent work in training young musicians for careers in music and preparing them for transferring to Berklee. The results can be seen in the fine alumni, many of whom have returned to Korea to work in the vibrant music industry there. With new blood flowing in the veins at SJA we are excited for the future.
For more details about the happenings in Korea, I encourage you to read Mark Small’s feature in the Berklee Today alumni magazine.
Post authored by Amanda Gouldthorpe, assistant director for Office of International Programs
As I type this I’m traveling across the Russian/Finnish border by train with the Wambura Mitaru Synergy. We’ve traded winter snowscapes in Boston for those in Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia, to be specific. After our flight out of Boston last Friday was canceled due to the blizzard, we finally arrived in Europe on Tuesday night – to quote Wambura herself, “It’s really happening!”
Sebastian Reunert, Wambura Mitaru and Moez Dawad (l to r) perform at the JFC Jazz Club in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sebastian Reunert on guitar and Moez Dawad on hand percussion round out this truly impressive trio who are here to showcase original music and represent Berklee at the 2013 Close Encounters festival, an event designed to bring international students together to share their original music and create new music together. With Wambura hailing from Kenya, Sebastian from South Africa, and Moez from Egypt and Sudan by way of DC, this group brings their African roots front and center with a serious groove that you can’t help but tap your foot to and lyrics that make you sing along – participation encouraged!
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