Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business, leading the way with the world’s first baccalaureate studies in jazz, rock, electric guitar, film scoring, songwriting, turntables, electronic production, and more than a dozen other genres and fields of study. With a diverse and talented student body representing 96 countries, and alumni who have collectively won more than 250 Grammys and Latin Grammys, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow. Berklee College of Music is a nonprofit, coeducational institution of higher learning incorporated under the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students and to train veterans under the G.I. Bill of Rights. Mission and Philosophy The mission of Berklee College of Music is to educate, train, and develop students to excel in music as a career. Cultivating the musicianship of all our students is the foundation of our curriculum. Berklee was founded by Lawrence Berk, an engineer trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and veteran arranger with the CBS and NBC radio orchestras, who wanted to teach contemporary music and provide practical career preparation for the working musician. His idea caught fire, and the small teaching studio grew into a sizable school, then college, in just over two decades.