Each summer, hundreds of students from all over the world come to Berklee for the annual Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive. This year's cohort included two students from India who had very different experiences in the industry: Bollywood star and singer-songwriter Shalmali Kholgade, and Pooja Tiwari, who won a scholarship to Five-Week after singing on A. R. Rahman's reality show, ARRived.
Kholgade holds a degree in ancient Indian culture, but had never studied music in a formal classroom setting. I've always wanted to do that, she said. And I feel the need to keep evolving and make sure my musical act is also evolving.
My time here boosted my confidence because I learned a lot of tools to enable [my] writing, to broaden its horizons.
-Shalmali Kholgade
During her time in Boston, Kholgade soaked up the musical knowledge and the relationships with her teachers and fellow students, including members of the Berklee India Exchange. My teachers were just fantastic, she said. They were so helpful even outside of the classroom. She also loved listening to a lot of talent from all over the world.
Tiwari agreed, saying her favorite class was her ensemble class. There are four to five people from different parts of the world, she said. We would assemble in different rooms and share our ideas, our thoughts. I wouldn't be getting that anywhere else.
Pooja Tiwari
Both students also spoke of the technical skills they learned in their courses: Kholgade said she'd picked up ear training and musical language skills. I've always felt a little underequipped to communicate with my band as to what I want to do with a certain piece of music, she said. I always seem to hear it in my head. Her time at Berklee helped give her the language and tools to communicate those ideas to her band members. I work with full backing vocalists who also dance in my band, so we all sing and dance, she explained. I do the vocal arrangements for them and it's all by ear, but now, I feel like I will be able to do it more efficiently and faster.
Kholgade said she'll be applying the skills she learned at Berklee to her singing, arranging, and songwriting. I'm looking forward to writing a lot, she said. My time here boosted my confidence because I learned a lot of tools to enable that writing, to broaden its horizons.
Tiwari said she learned so many things in five weeks, including improvisation skills, composing, and arranging in a variety of genres, including jazz. She is studying audio engineering at the KM Music Conservatory in India (through another scholarship awarded to contestants on Rahman's show) and says she wants to be a one-woman army of musical skills.
The interviews for this story were conducted by Colette Greenstein.
Related categories:
News
Most Popular
Students Find Rainbow Connection at Newport Folk Berklee Instant Strings joined headlining musicians such as Trey Anastasio, Robin Pecknold, I'm With Her, and Kermit the Frog at Newport Folk Festival 2019.
Latest
Leni Stern Finds a Universe of Rhythm The jazz guitarist and Berklee alumna performed with her band and talked with students about working with West African rhythms.
Krystal Prime Banfield Named VP for Education Outreach and Social Entrepreneurship Banfield has been instrumental in empowering young people through music for more than 30 years.
Indias Rising Stars Shine at Berklee Summer Program Bollywood star Shalmali Kholgade and singer Pooja Tiwari added technical skills to their natural talents.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
Each summer, hundreds of students from all over the world come to Berklee for the annual Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive. This year's cohort included two students from India who had very different experiences in the industry: Bollywood star and singer-songwriter Shalmali Kholgade, and Pooja Tiwari, who won a scholarship to Five-Week after singing on A. R. Rahman's reality show, ARRived. 
