{"id":3156,"date":"2013-05-22T04:47:11","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T04:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/administrator_wordpress\/index.php\/2013\/05\/22\/carole-king-willie-nelson-and-annie-lennox-receive-honorary-degrees-at-berklee-college-of-music-commencement\/"},"modified":"2013-05-22T04:47:11","modified_gmt":"2013-05-22T04:47:11","slug":"carole-king-willie-nelson-and-annie-lennox-receive-honorary-degrees-at-berklee-college-of-music-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2013\/05\/22\/carole-king-willie-nelson-and-annie-lennox-receive-honorary-degrees-at-berklee-college-of-music-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Carole King, Willie Nelson, And Annie Lennox Receive Honorary Degrees At Berklee College Of Music Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"


More than 1,050 graduates from 60 countries \u0096 the college\u0092s largest-ever graduating class \u0096 received degrees today at Berklee\u0092s 2013 commencement. Berklee president Roger H. Brown presented honorary doctor of music degrees to music legends Carole King, Willie Nelson, and Annie Lennox \u0096 all multiple Grammy Award-winners, among their many accolades. Lennox delivered the commencement address to the graduating class and an estimated audience of more than 4,000 guests at the Agganis Arena.<\/p>\n

In her address, Lennox said, \u0093Consider this, wherever you think you\u0092re heading right now might turn out to take a completely different path. What looks like an ending might actually be the start of a brand new beginning. Wherever and however we find ourselves, what a privilege it is to enrich our lives through music: the incredible universal language of the soul. Enter it wholeheartedly, make it yours to share with the world in the very best way you can.\u0094 Lennox also sang lines from several songs that inspired her as a teen, including \u0093Say a Little Prayer,\u0094 \u0093Wichita Lineman,\u0094 and King\u0092s \u0093It\u0092s Too Late.\u0094<\/p>\n

President Brown enlisted Kris Kristofferson, Nelson\u0092s guest for the festivities, to help present Nelson\u0092s honorary doctorate. The longtime friends had performed a duet of Hank Williams\u0092 \u0093Jambalaya (On the Bayou)\u0094 at the previous night\u0092s commencement concert. Recalling the student performance during his acceptance, Nelson said, \u0093Last night was especially tremendous. I enjoyed hearing everyone play and sing so many great songs. The history of music is good, but the future is even better, thanks to you folks.\u0094<\/p>\n

The annual commencement concert at the Agganis Arena featured some of the college\u0092s most accomplished students paying tribute to the honorees with performances of music associated with their careers. The honorees all took the stage during the event. Nelson also performed \u0093Night Life,\u0094 while Lennox performed her hit song \u0093Cold\u0094 with the student and faculty orchestra. King joined in during the \u0093The Locomotion,\u0094 to dance along. Other concert highlights included renditions of King\u0092s \u0093(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman,\u0094 and \u0093I Feel the Earth Move;\u0094 Nelson\u0092s \u0093On the Road Again,\u0094 and \u0093Crazy;\u0094 and Lennox\u0092s \u0093Walking on Broken Glass,\u0094 and \u0093Why.\u0094<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, President Brown thanked Berklee\u0092s faculty and staff for their extraordinary commitment to the students, especially during the trying times in the aftermath of the marathon bombing. \u0093The knowledge and skills our students have accumulated are astounding. They don\u0092t fully realize it, but this training prepares them for many possible paths, inside the music industry and outside,\u0094 said Brown to parents in the audience. \u0093If we have been successful, we have prepared them for a dynamic world in which new careers will be invented, the nature of which we cannot even yet imagine.\u0094<\/p>\n

This year\u0092s honorary doctorate recipients were recognized for their achievements in contemporary music, for their enduring contributions to popular culture, and for the influence their careers and music have had on Berklee\u0092s international student body. King, Nelson, and Lennox join the ranks of such esteemed recipients as Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie, Bonnie Raitt, Count Basie, Sting, Loretta Lynn, B.B. King, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan, Steven Tyler, George Clinton, and Patti LaBelle.<\/p>\n

Berklee\u0092s class of 2013 graduated with bachelor of music degrees or professional diplomas. Female graduates numbered 327, representing 31% of the total class. International students from 60 countries made up 36% of the class. The largest number of graduates from outside the U.S. were from South Korea and Canada. Students from as far away as Ghana, Mozambique, Japan, Russia, and the Philippines were among the graduating class. Domestic students were from 46 states. The top three majors were professional music, performance, and music business\/management. Guitar, voice, and piano were the three most common instruments among the graduates.<\/p>\n

Berklee College of Music, for over 65 years, has evolved to support its belief that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through contemporary music education. The college was the first in the U.S. to teach jazz, the popular music of the time. It incorporated rock n\u0092 roll in the 1960s, created the world’s first degree programs in film scoring, music synthesis, and songwriting, and, in recent years, added world music, hip-hop, electronica, and video game music to its curriculum. With a diverse student body representing over 80 countries, a music industry “who\u0092s who” of alumni that have received 229 Grammy Awards, Berklee is the world\u0092s premier learning lab for the music of today \u0096 and tomorrow. <\/p>\n

Source: Berklee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 1,050 graduates from 60 countries \u0096 the college\u0092s largest-ever graduating class \u0096 received…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}