
Alum Featured on NPR's 2023 Tiny Desk Contest Winner Wonder Eye by Little Moon, which includes Chris Shemwell B.M. 20 on drums, was the judges top choice among 6,000 entries.
By
Bryan Parys
May 26, 2023
Chris Shemwell B.M. '20 plays drums in Little Moon, the winner of NPRs 2023 Tiny Desk Contest.
Image courtesy of the artist
Fourth times a charm for Utah-based indie-pop band Little Moon, who after as many years of entries to NPRs annual Tiny Desk Contest, beat out 6,000 other entrants and was the unanimous choice according to the judges. Little Moons entries have impressed contest judges since 2020, but this year, the band leveled up, NPR reported in their announcement.
Berklee Alumni on Tiny Desk
Check out a list of other Berklee-connected artists who have been featured on the popular concert series.
The winning video features the bands latest single, Wonder Eye, and shows each member arranged in a tableau of candles and red backlighting, which fits the songs haunting mood. The song is a dynamic and explosive tune with a deeply emotional story, said Tiny Desk series creator Bob Boilen. Opening with just lead singer Emma Hardyman and a nylon-string acoustic guitar, the song bursts open at the one-minute mark, anchored by bassy, pounding drums led by Chris Shemwell B.M. 20. While at Berklee, Shemwell majored in electronic music and production. I'll forever be fascinated by rhythm, electronics, and the combination of the two, Shemwell has said, speaking to the impact his studies had on his drum style.
The band is set to play an official Tiny Desk concert in Washington, D.C., soon, before setting off to headline the contests On the Road tour beginning in June.
Watch Little Moons winning entry for the Tiny Desk Concert 2023:
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Image by Libby Danforth
Viral TikTok Song If I Were a Fish Is a Joyous Call for Acceptance Berklee alum Corrine Savage, who performs as corook, wrote the song with their partner as a way to cope with feeling unaccepted by society for being different.
Latest
Ben Wilborn
Building Resonance Merging his musical and mechanical skills, luthier Ben Wilborn carved a niche as an in-demand builder of high-end acoustic instruments.
Image by Greg Mably
Key Changes: We Can't Give the Industry Enough Playback Engineers As live shows increasingly incorporate a synchronized audio-visual experience, playback engineers have stepped into the spotlight.
Illustration by Dana Smith
Music Licensing 101: How to Sync Your Music Learn how to create syncable music, stand out to music supervisors, and negotiate sync deals with these tips and insights from music licensing experts.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
More from Berklee
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
19/12/2025
Berklee Announces Spring 2026 Signature Series This season's highlights include the Gospel Extravaganza, the 40th International Folk Festival, special gue...
19/12/2025
Ricardo Coke-Thomas Named Chair of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee The distinguished theater educator, director, and performer will join the Conser...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
11/12/2025
Boston Conservatory Earns Several Best of Accolades in 2025 Highlights include a faculty Grammy win, a seventh consecutive year on Playbill's list of coll...
11/12/2025
Happy Holidays from Berklee Enjoy this years holiday student-performance video.
December 10, 2025
By
Office of the President
Dear Berklee community,
As w...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
25/11/2025
Berklees Inaugural Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole Scholarship Awarded to Paris P...
22/11/2025
Seeking Advice for a New Opera, Laura Kaminsky Consulted the Experts: Her Studen...
21/11/2025
The Best Movie Musicals on Every Streaming Platform From Wicked to The Sound of Music, heres where to stream all the classic movie musicals and recent hits on...
20/11/2025
Graduate Spotlight: Krysta Mirsik DePuy The educator from Hackettstown, New Jersey, shares how it took her 11 years to find the right graduate program for her...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
18/11/2025
20 Bob Dylan Songs That Reflect a Legacy of A-Changin On the heels of Bob Dylan receiving a Berklee honorary doctorate, we take stock of one of the most singu...
14/11/2025
Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations Gen...
14/11/2025
Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards Pickett, a 2009 graduate, was nominated six times across three categories at this ye...
08/11/2025
Berklee Artists Return to Perform at Boston Snowport Holiday Market The performances, a weekly highlight of the holiday market, are the result of a partnershi...
08/11/2025
Berklees 2026 Alumni Grammy Nominees: See the Full List From R&B and Americana to gospel, jazz, and game scoring, Berklee talent was recognized across a range...
07/11/2025
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Opera Adaptation of Little Women Marc Adamo's acclaimed opera brings Louisa May Alcott's beloved story to life...
07/11/2025
Amplify Berklee Gala Raises $1.4 Million for Berklee City Music Students This year's event featured performances from student K-pop group B-Girls, the Ove...
04/11/2025
Bob Dylan Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music The songwriter, performer, and cultural icon is recognized for a six-decade career that redef...
04/11/2025
Q&A with Music Alum Andrew van der Paardt The oboist and English horn player reports back from the pit of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and tells how he...
31/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates the Inauguration of President Jim Lucchese In his inaugural address, Lucchese shared an optimistic vision for Berklee's future as a for...
29/10/2025
Berklee Valencia Talent Helps Score Alejandro Amen bar's El cautivo Faculty and alumni from Berklee Valencia's scoring for film, television, and video...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
25/10/2025
Spanish-Language Music Production Course Debuts at Berklee Online New 12-week online course expands access to Berklee's renowned music curriculum for Span...
24/10/2025
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere Filmed at Berklee NYCs Power Station The biopic, starring Jeremy Allen White as the Boss, focuses on the period when Spri...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
Q&A with Boston Conservatory Choral Conductor Stephen Spinelli How his research into the lost manuscripts of composer Florence Price led to a Grammy-winning c...
16/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Alan Villanueva The graduate student and saxophonist, who performed on Natalia Lafourcades Latin Grammy-nominated Live at Carnegie Hall alb...
15/10/2025
Rakim to Join Berklee's Hip-Hop Hall of Fame at Signature Series Concert The rap icon becomes the latest inductee, following luminaries such as Roxanne Sh...
15/10/2025
Berklee Brings Live Music to the Head of the Charles Student artists will perform on multiple riverfront stages during the 60th anniversary of the world's...
11/10/2025
Dean's List: Tommy Neblett Shares His YouTube Top Five Boston Conservatory's dean of dance reveals his favorite student dance videos.
By
Sarah Godcher...
09/10/2025
Berklee Presents a Roots-Fueled Tribute to Bob Dylan The Signature Series concert will showcase Dylan's impact on songwriting and the enduring spirit of A...
08/10/2025
Michel Camilo Scholarship Competition Returns to Santo Domingo Berklee will award a full-tuition scholarship to a gifted instrumentalist of Dominican descent ...
03/10/2025
Applications Open for 2026 Next Jazz Legacy Cohort Emerging jazz artists are encouraged to apply to the mentorship program by October 31.
By
Tori Donahue
O...
02/10/2025
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Adds Two New Degree Programs in Collaborative Pia...
01/10/2025
Berklee Student Attends Elite Conducting Symposium in Japan Dominican musician Alejandro Tavmed was just one of 10 people from around the globe chosen to atte...
01/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Sebastien Hollich The trombonist and film and media scoring major talks about finding mentors, writing for orchestra, and competing in the ...
01/10/2025
Berklee Student Attends Elite Composing Symposium in Japan Dominican musician Alejandro Tavmed was just one of 10 people from around the globe chosen to atten...