More than 1,000 graduates from 67 countries and 47 U.S. states received degrees today at Berklee College of Music's 2019 commencement. At the ceremony, Berklee President Roger H. Brown presented honorary doctorates to music icons Missy Elliott, Alex Lacamoire, and Justin Timberlake. Lacamoire, a 1995 graduate of the college, delivered the commencement address to the graduating class and an estimated audience of nearly 7,000 guests at Agganis Arena.
The annual commencement concert, held the previous evening at Agganis, featured some of the college's most accomplished students paying tribute to the honorees by performing their music, including Elliott's The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) and Get Ur Freak On, songs from Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen originally arranged by Lacamoire, and Timberlake's Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body. Timberlake sang on Can't Stop the Feeling! and all three honorees joined the students on stage during the concert's finale.
Alex Lacamoire, acclaimed composer, producer, orchestrator, musical director, and four-time Grammy Award winner, was cited for his incredible musicianship, creativity, and vital contributions to American musical theater. To be bestowed this distinguished title for simply doing what I love, what I believe I was born to do, it fills me with a level of pride that I can't compare to anything else I've felt until today, said Lacamoire in accepting the doctorate.
In his address to the graduates, Lacamoire told of struggling as a boy to find his place in a new school. A defining moment came when he gave a well-received impromptu piano performance. And in that moment, something in me realized: They want to hear what I have to say. I can't overstate how seminal that moment was, said Lacamoire. The applause that followed instilled a newfound confidence in me. It made me feel like I had a superpower... It makes me aware of the power of music. It unites us, it unifies us.
By creating music, we say I have a contribution to make.' We say yes, I will add my voice to this collective,' he continued. Because we acknowledge music's might, how it can make a sea of people sway in alignment, how it can cause us to tear up and lose our inhibitions, how it can make a 9-year-old kid feel like he has a place and a purpose.
Rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer Missy Elliott, a five-time Grammy Award winner whose U.S. sales have surpassed 30 million, was praised in President Brown's introduction for bending genres, breaking stereotypes, and pushing musical, visual, and stylistic boundaries. Elliott is the first hip-hop artist to receive Berklee's honorary doctorate.
There will be ups and downs-prepare for that, said Elliott in her remarks to the graduating class. After describing her own ups and downs, such as losing awards, being dropped from a label, and becoming ill, she encouraged graduates to be patient through the struggle, but to never give up on themselves. As long as you are breathing, it is never too late. Don't forget that. You have come too far to quit.
Justin Timberlake, a decorated singer, songwriter, and actor with 10 Grammys, four Emmys, seven American Music Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, and 32 million albums sold, was honored for his influence on pop music, his versatility, and for being an inspiration to others. This is surreal. That was a crazy list of awards, but they really, seriously, pale in comparison to this honor today. Berklee, thank you so much, said Timberlake. I gotta say to the students, last night was fantastic. The performance, the band, everybody, the production-I was really blown away.
You're defined by what you define failure as. It's not a thing if it leads you to your success. It's all part of the journey, said Timberlake. He concluded his acceptance with a challenge that brought cheers from the audience. I hope that in the years to come, two things will happen: one, I will represent you in the way that you most hope for. And two, I look around and see this graduating class. Meet me at the studio. I want to see y'all!
Greetings from the faculty were delivered by Jennifer Beauregard, associate professor in the Liberal Arts Department. Beauregard, a volcanologist whose classes include Environmental Science and Oceanography, used the acronym ROCK-resilience, opportunity, community, knowledge-as the theme of her speech. You are ready to go out there and make a difference. You have the resilience, you will find opportunities, you are building a community, and you will keep gaining knowledge. Resilience, opportunity, community, knowledge: the things that connect us together.
The student speaker was Caroline Vermillion, a music business/management major from Greenville, South Carolina. As each of us enters the next chapter of our lives, we must strive to identify and embody our purpose before we can hope to follow in the footsteps of these musical and creative legends, she said. We must hold each other accountable to perform, and create, and teach, and innovate, and heal authentically and with purpose.
This year's honorary doctorate recipients were recognized for their achievements in contemporary music, for their enduring contributions to popular culture, and for the influence their careers and music have had on Berklee's international student body. Past recipients include Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), George Clinton, Pl cido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Juan Luis Guerra, Julio Iglesias, Quincy Jones, Carole King, Alison Krauss, Annie Lennox, Paco de Lucia, Loretta Lynn, Rita Moreno, Milton Nascimento, Willie Nelson, A. R. Rahman, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Esperanza Spalding, Steven Tyler, Lucinda Williams, and Wang Leehom.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
More than 1,000 graduates from 67 countries and 47 U.S. states received degrees today at Berklee College of Music's 2019 commencement. At the ceremony, Berklee President Roger H. Brown presented honorary doctorates to music icons Missy Elliott, Alex Lacamoire, and Justin Timberlake. Lacamoire, a 1995 graduate of the college, delivered the commencement address to the graduating class and an estimated audience of nearly 7,000 guests at Agganis Arena.
