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 ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...
23/07/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name ...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year.
Ce...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
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. 
