Starting from scratch with Berklee College

Dulwich and Berklee makin’ more music

The skill of collaboration is an integral part of music at Dulwich College; the concept extends well beyond the school walls as we are delighted to be working more and more closely with renowned music institutions around the world.

While many will be aware of Dulwich's relationships with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, NorthWestern University in Chicago and the Vienna Boys Choir in Austria. More recently, we have partnered with the Berklee College of Music, Boston, one of the world's leading places of learning for music. Artists such as the Scratch Ambassadors, a group that could loosely be described as a hip hop duo that combines "turntablism" and technology recently performed at Dulwich College Beijing and Shanghai. The Berklee admissions team have even started using the Beijing and Shanghai schools’ facilities for its student auditions in China.

The relationship between the Dulwich College International family and Berklee got off to a strong start - our first DCI University graduate was at Berklee - Leanne Chu (DCB 2010) and this fall, Holly Brook (DCS 2012) commenced her studies at Berklee on a scholarship. Berklee College of Music has a long list of notable and eclectic alumni including Korean rapper PSY of "Gangnam Style" fame; Quincy Jones, producer of Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad albums; Trey Parker, the co-creator of South Park; popular musicians like Donald Fagen, Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer, Aimee Mann, and Diana Krall; just to name a few.

The Dean of Admissions at Berklee, Damien Bracken, is confident about developing the relationship further. "We are looking at developing more master classes, an after school music programme and hosting our graduates at Dulwich schools as part of a gap year." Plans are also underway for Dulwich Colleges to be the hub for Berklee’s China auditions annually and the place for more joint music festivals.