By Tyler Friedman ’17, Arts and Entertainment Staff Writer

During this past summer, I spent five weeks at Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, where I attended the Five-Week Summer Performance Program. The college offers a wide variety of summer programs, but the Five-Week Summer Performance Program, commonly referred to as Five-Week, is the most popular, with a little over 1,000 students attending. As implied in the name, the program is mainly centered on performance in every aspect possible. Students are required to select a single instrument to focus on in all of their classes, with the most commonly studied instruments being vocals and guitar. Each student must also choose which genre of music they want to study, with the options being jazz, pop/rock, funk/fusion, and pop/R&B.

The program is essentially a glimpse into what it would be like to attend college at Berklee. After a placement audition during the first few days of the program, students are given a schedule based on their skill level, instrument, and genre. As a pop/rock guitarist, I took classes such as chord lab for guitar, survey of guitar performance styles, and a private lesson. I also had classes that were not specific to my instrument, such as musicianship, which focuses on ear training and music notation. Each student is placed in two ensembles based on their genre of choice, which are essentially bands with about six to eight people that rehearsed once a week and performed together during the last week of the program. The schedule is structured like a college schedule; I had classes at different times throughout the day with one to two-hour breaks between each class. When not in class, you are free to do whatever you like, whether it is exploring the city of Boston or just relaxing in your dorm. Overall, the variety of classes and the wonderful teaching staff improved my playing and performance skills immensely.

Although the classes and academics were the main focus of the program, arguably the best and most motivating part of the program is the social aspect and student life. First of all, with students attending from 75 different countries around the world, I was able to meet people from so many different cultures and backgrounds, which provides for an enriching experience. It was extraordinarily inspiring to be around so many people with such a deep passion for music. I was able to form such a strong bond with all of the people I met because of our shared interests and aspirations. Being exposed to so many motivated and talented people truly encouraged me to want to become the best musician I can be. The Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance program was an unbelievably gratifying experience.  I would recommend it to anyone who is passionate about music because I had the best summer possible.