Lee Eliot Berk (born 1942) was President and namesake of the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

(founded as Schillinger House in 1945 by his father,

Lawrence Berk Lawrence Berk (December 10, 1908 – December 22, 1995) was the founder of Berklee College of Music, a pianist, composer and arranger, and educator. Berk oversaw the growth of the modest Schillinger House music school into the Berklee College of Mu ...

, who renamed the school after Lee in 1954) from 1979 to 2004. Under the younger Berk’s leadership, the college underwent significant changes. Berklee expanded its curriculum to create new majors, including Film Scoring, Music Production and Engineering, Music Synthesis, Songwriting, Music Business/Management, and

Music Therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

. Educational applications of music technology expanded, the college administration was reorganized, more student services were added, and non-music academic offerings increased. In 1992, he established the Berklee International Network that includes music schools with a shared mission around the globe. Berk graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1964 and earned his law degree from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

in 1967. He began working at Berklee College of Music in 1966, serving first as bursar and supervisor of the Private Study Division. In 1969, he founded the first New England High School Stage Band Festival, later known as the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. In 2010, its 42nd year, it was the largest event of its kind in the United States. He served as a vice president from 1971 to 1979. He is the author of ''Legal Protection for the Creative Musician'', which won an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in 1971.

Awards

* Upon his retirement in 2004, Berk was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee. * 2004: Awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

from the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

for his contributions to strengthening cultural ties between the U.S. and Japan. * Received the President’s Merit Award for Outstanding Educational Achievement from the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

* 2004: Received the NAMM Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Music Products Industry. (click on New Mexico on the map) * 2014: Received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from

References

External links

Interview with Lee Berk
NAMM Oral History Library (2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Berk, Lee Eliot 1942 births Living people Berklee College of Music faculty Brown University alumni Boston University School of Law alumni Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun

Awards

References

Further reading

External links