Berklee School of Music summer program – Week 2

One of our former students, Renee Masse, is taking a break from her studies at McGill to attend the Berklee School of Music summer program.　 She has shared her second week with us.

Berklee Music – Week 2

It has been another very full week here at Berklee Five Week Summer Program. Monday’s classes are larger, and broader. I had Survey of Vocal Styles, which focuses on the history of music, and showcases the key musicians of various genres throughout time. Afterwards, everyone has the same class together in the Berklee Performance Centre where we had Melissa Ferrick, who is a professional musician come and speak with us about her experience and perform as well.

Tuesday was my busy day, filled with theory, musicianship and private lessons. That evening I had Musical Theatre class, where we practiced for our auditions that would be occurring the following day. The auditions would be at the ‘New York’ level and we were required to have a headshot and resume, and come prepared with our song.

Wednesday I had a Rhythm and Grooves class, which I was quite excited but nervous about. We had to pick a swing tune and write the chart which the chords on it for the band, and perform and direct the band as we were doing it. It was quite exciting seeing the chords and music that we arranged come to life, but it will take some getting used to when conducting the band. Later that evening we had our musical theatre auditions, which went very well, we only had to prepare 32 bars of a song and sing it for our teachers. Once that was over my friend and I went to a concert at the Red Room, which is Boston’s only all-age performing space. The venue features many of Berklee’s up-and-coming bands, and at one point featured bands like Owl City and Passion Pit which are now, very well known. The concert I went to see showcased Super Volcano, a heavy metal band which was definitely NOT my style of music, and Ann Driscoll a well-known Berklee singer-songwriter.

Thursday I only have a couple classes, so I took the opportunity to get my hair cut at one of Boston’s many salons. Afterwards, I decided to explore the city a bit more, by venturing a little out of my regular path. My mother will be coming to visit me during the last week, so I went to see what her hotel was like and how close it would be to my classes. I discovered this beautiful pool behind the church that I walked past every day, and in thewarmth and sun, was extremely relaxed and content walking along it and felt very much at peace.

Friday I had an ensemble class, where we practice songs in a small group that will later be performing at the end of the program, this class is probably my favourite because we get to sing well known songs and improvise. After class I went to a coffee shop and sat down with my theory homework and decided to learn everything that we have been doing (the teacher for the course is a very nice gentleman, but he tends to skim through a lot of the material and go on tangents about his life, which while it can be entertaining, is not going to get me a good grade on the quiz next week) I decided that I would just have to learn the material on my own time, which is a bit annoying considering we have a lot of class during the day as it is. After a couple of tedious hours, my brain had had enough, so I met up with my friend to go out for a nice dinner. The weather unfortunately was not in agreement with our plans and made it extremely difficult for us to get somewhere somewhat dry. Once dinner was over, and the clouds and rain had finally gone away, we went to the Caf Show, which is a concert where full-time Berklee students can perform for us. The band that was playing, apparently are competing to open for John Mayer, and are currently in first place. Needless to say they were very impressive and performed many original pieces as well as covers.

Saturday, I met up with my Italian friend and her roommate and we walked along Newbury Street, Boston’s main ‘shopping street’. It was a beautiful and warm day, so we decided to keep walking through this park at the end of the street which has a little lake in the middle of it. We continued onwards towards Quincy Market for lunch, which was extremely busy on Saturday afternoon, but very pleasant. By the time we got back, we had been walking for about three and a half hours, and my feet were exhausted. I came back home for a bit and then later went to the practice rooms to do some homework.

The next day, I met some friends to do a bit more shopping, and then we took the bus to Cambridge to go see an a cappella concert near Harvard Square. The group was called Syncopation and they were only a four person group, but very talented. It was nice to leave the ‘bubble’ that we are in every day and see a bit more of Boston. Afterwards we ventured out a littlefurther to try and see more of Harvard, but the campus is so spread out that we were unable to find the grand entrance that I was hoping for, that I have seen in many  movies, but settled for the only sign we found (which was extremely pathetic in my opinion J ). Another great week in Boston, and I am looking forward to what happens in week three!

Miss you all,

Love,

Renée Massé