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David Bogen (far left), Berklee interim president and provost; Boston city councilor Sharon Durkin; and Krystal Prime Banfield (far right), Berklee vice president of education outreach and social entrepreneurship, celebrated this year’s City Music scholarship recipients on stage at the Berklee Performance Center. Image by Elizabeth Friar
Ronald Ellies of Somerville is one of nine recipients of four-year, full-tuition Berklee City Music Scholarships this year. He is a current participant in Berklee City Music programming, focusing on drum performance. He plans to major in Music Production and Performance at Berklee.
Nineteen young musicians from Boston and beyond have been awarded scholarships to attend Berklee.
The scholarship recipients are participants in Berklee City Music, a nonprofit program that delivers high-quality contemporary music education to youth from underserved communities at no or low cost. The program also includes the City Music Network, an association of 47 community organizations that serve more than 60,000 students in the US, Canada, and Latin America each year. Since its inception over 30 years ago, Berklee City Music has awarded 283 four-year, full-tuition scholarships, totaling over $33 million.
This year, Berklee City Music funded 19 scholarships in total. Nine students were given four-year, full-tuition Berklee City Music scholarships, with four of those also receiving housing scholarships. Additionally, three students were awarded Berklee City Music partial-tuition scholarships, and seven participants were given full-tuition aid from Berklee ahead of the fall.
Berklee City Music celebrated the scholarship recipients in a ceremony and concert on August 6 at the Berklee Performance Center. The evening was hosted by four-time Grammy Award–winning pianist and producer Brian Kennedy(Opens in a new window), and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and artistic director of Berklee Abu Dhabi, Mayssa Karaa.
The scholarship presentation and concert marked the end of Berklee’s Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive, where dozens of students attended the program on Berklee City Music Summer Scholarships.
2024 Scholarship Recipients from Berklee City Music
- Tanisha Belizaire, Dorchester, Massachusetts
- Isaiah Blair, Memphis, Tennessee
- Kevin Da Fonseca, Woburn, Massachusetts
- Coltrane Douglas, Chicago, Illinois
- Edwin Duarte, East Boston, Massachusetts
- Ronald Ellies, Somerville, Massachusetts
- Allison Geddes, Peabody, Massachusetts
- Andre Harris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Andrew Harris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Olivia Huval, Midland, Pennsylvania
- Myles Lee, Newton, Massachusetts
- Star Mahoney, Scottsdale, Arizona
- Ambar Perez Alcantara, Norwood, Massachusetts
- Graciela Rodriguez, Holden, Massachusetts
- Isaiah Siddell, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Jordan Volel, Roxbury, Massachusetts
- Tia Ward, Westerville, Ohio
- Reginald Williams, LaPlace, Louisiana
- Pelin Su Yavuz, Boston, Massachusetts
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