Win a Scholarship to Berkleemusic.com

Berklee College of Music is launching an online music education scholarship. The program is designed to provide gifted musicians throughout the world with opportunities to attend Berklee from anywhere, enabling them to receive music instruction from faculty members. A valuable component of the program is to equip musicians with the tools and strategies to address contemporary music issues, such as the emerging digital landscape, distribution models, and leveraging the Internet as a positive movement in music. This is the third progressive online initiative that the college has introduced over the past year.

Berklee is awarding five scholarships, each of which is named after, and backed by, some of the most respected performers, arrangers, songwriters, and entrepreneurs in modern music.

The celebrity support roster includes one Berklee honorary doctor of music degree recipient, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, and four alumni: guitar virtuoso Steve Vai '79; singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitar wizard Patty Larkin '74; composer Alf Clausen '66; and songwriter Tom Snow '69. Each scholarship includes one year's worth of online courses at Berkleemusic.com, Berklee's online school, and all relevant textbooks and materials.

Berkleemusic.com courses are created and taught by the same renowned instructors that teach at Berklee's physical campus in Boston. Since its launch just over a year ago, more than 1,500 students from 38 countries worldwide have studied at the online school.

To apply for a scholarship, applicants should submit an original 750-word essay containing career goals and information about how Berkleemusic.com courses will help them to achieve those goals. In addition, applicants should prepare one item that best illustrates their talent. Examples include, but are not limited to, a recorded demo, a lesson plan, or a business plan. All entrants must be over the age of 18, and entries must be postmarked prior to August 15, 2004. For additional information about the scholarship program, see their web site. Scholarship winners will be notified after September 30, 2004.