Berklee Online Scholarships

We’ve been telling you about the coolness that is Berkleemusic.com, Berklee’s online music school, delivering online access to world-renowned music faculty, educational concepts and curriculum, previously available only to on-campus students. Berkleemusic.com has expanded music-education opportunities using the newest methods, media, technologies, and special juju.

Now they’ve announced the winners of the first online scholarship program:

After reviewing applications and demos from talented musicians worldwide, five gifted musicians and future music industry leaders were selected that exhibited significant promise, achievement, and inspired life stories. Each recipient will receive a scholarship that is named after, and backed by, some of the most respected names in modern music: Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, acoustic guitar wizard Patty Larkin, composer Alf Clausen, and songwriter Tom Snow.

“The amount and quality of the applications we received for our scholarship program was truly astonishing, ” said Dave Kusek, Vice President of Berkleemusic.com, “We’re thrilled to be able to offer access to Berklee’s proven curriculum and world-renowned faculty to talented music students worldwide that otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend our physical school.”

Scholarships will be presented to recipients from Pakistan, South Africa, and three cities across the United States; and will include six online music courses, up to two years of study, at Berkleemusic.com as well as all necessary Berklee Press books required for those courses. Recipients will also be afforded the opportunity to enroll in Berkleemusic’s NEASC-accredited college credit certificate programs, and earn college credit that they can transfer to their local college or university.

This year’s scholarship recipients include:

Arooj Aftab; Steve Vai Scholarship – Born and raised in Pakistan, Arooj is an entirely self-taught female guitarist in a culture where opportunities for music study, especially for women, are severely limited. Arooj is planning to use her formal Berkleemusic education to develop her songwriting skills and ultimately change the way that female musicians are perceived in her native country.

Brett Richard Keintz; Tom Snow Scholarship – A Fulbright Scholar who resides in Madison, Wis., Brett has created a forward-thinking blueprint for a music company dedicated to addressing music piracy and furthering the development of the digital medium of music. Brett will use his Berkleemusic education to take an active role in developing a future business model for the music industry.

Timothy Peter Kroon; Steven Tyler Scholarship – At the age of 19, Timothy, who lives in South Africa, is an accomplished singer who has mastered guitar, bass, piano, violin, and drums. He has played in popular modern rock bands, professionally and non-professionally, since he was 14 years old. Timothy plans to focus his Berkleemusic scholarship on production courses that will sharpen his music engineering skills and allow him to become a more complete musician.

Monica Orth; Patty Larkin Scholarship – A resident of Lowell, Mass., Monica’s career goal is to write and produce cutting edge electronic dance music. She began working on her first music project in October 2002 with no training. Soon after, Monica began taking drum lessons to learn about rhythm, and enrolled in piano lessons to gain a more complete understanding of melody and harmony. She is confident that her Berkleemusic scholarship will help her to ultimately make the transition from computer programmer to full-time musician.

Jose Luis Revelo; Alf Clausen Scholarship – A native of Columbia and world traveler, Jose now lives in Jersey City, NJ, and creates jingles and scores for some of the top music production houses in New York City. He pursued piano training at Panama’s National Conservatory, and at the age of 13 landed a job at the top jingle house in Panama. He plans to use his Berkleemusic education to help him open his own music house in New York, where he will create music for commercials, scores for television and film, and songwriting and production for Latin artists.

Congrats to all, and to Berklee for embracing new technology and approaches to music education.