Singer and songwriter Alessandra Zagame has been through all the walks of life. Whether it is through her personal life or from the lives who have been touched around her. Originally born in Paris, France, Zagame was primarily born in Worcester Massachusetts. Her music career started when she was about 12 years old and continues today. Now a graduating senior here at the Berklee College of Music.
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student
Carmen Woodruff is a Contemporary Vocal Performance graduate student at Berklee’s Valencia campus. Originally from the Detroit Metropolitan area, Carmen attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. After working for 10 years in the marketing field and some serious soul-searching, she went back to school to complete a second degree in Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is now living her dream at Berklee College of Music in Valencia and encourages others to do the same. It’s never too late! Follow Carmen’s musical journey on Facebook or Reverbnation.
“Veni; vidi; vici.” – Julius Caesar
We came; we saw; we conquered. We did it! We made it through our first semester as graduate students at Berklee’s beautiful Valencia campus. We sure are lucky to be a part of this progressive phenomenon where we’re able to create and explore amongst friends we now call our family. As we prepare for Spring semester, I can’t help but to reflect on the past five months we’ve shared.
I think about the study abroad students from the Boston campus who’ve touched our hearts with their infectious energy and talents. One in particular blew me away as she scatted Ella-style while simultaneously playing the drums at Café Mercedes one night. Another student with his wacky hairstyles and witty banter had us all in stitches in keyboarding class every Wednesday. At one point, I started to feel like their mother, instructing them to alert me when they arrived back from a trip to London and worrying about them throughout their weekend journey.
Carmen Woodruff is a Contemporary Vocal Performance graduate student at Berklee’s Valencia campus. Originally from the Detroit Metropolitan area, Carmen attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. After working for 10 years in the marketing field and some serious soul-searching, she went back to school to complete a second degree in Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is now living her dream at Berklee College of Music in Valencia and encourages others to do the same. It’s never too late! Follow Carmen’s musical journey on Facebook or Reverbnation.
“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” – E.Y. Harburg and Harold Allen
These are the sentiments I reflect on daily as I walk to class, scurry to the state-of-the-art studios, or anticipate show time, which happens more often than not. This is a dream I’m living. It just started and I don’t want to wake up! I’m not alone in this. Ask any Berklee student here in Valencia and they will sing “la misma canción” (the same song).
As many of you know, the Berklee experience is not an easy one. The Berklee drive inspires you to want to take on so many things at once. Some semesters at Berklee you have so many tasks you forget what a normal night of sleep feels like. Various careers pulled at me. I wanted to be a songwriter/producer, work at a label and be a film composer. There are only so many hours in one day! So much information was thrown at me I wasn’t sure my brain was retaining any of it.
Going into my internship at ASCAP I was nervous. How would I finally apply all of this information in the real world? Majoring in Music Business / Management let me experience classes covering the wide spectrum of the business, yet I was still unsure if I knew enough and could take the next step.
People will tell you there is no substitute for real world experience and they are right. Within the first couple of weeks interning, I truly felt it all come together. Jumping into conversations with everyone in my office over, I pulled knowledge from classes (especially Music Publishing, Record Company Operations and Legal Aspects). It all started to click for me. I went from feeling worried about my foundation to feeling confident. Internships help you realize that what you learned did sink in, however learning in a classroom is only the first step. Your learning is not complete without applying your knowledge in real life situations.