Graduate Music Education Comes to Berklee College of Music The three graduate programs, started at Boston Conservatory, will begin a new era as part of Berklee's Music Education Department this summer.
By
John Mirisola
November 1, 2021
Young students explore drumming during a BIAESN-sponsored program.
Image by Elizabeth Friar
After years of successful and groundbreaking work under Boston Conservatory at Berklees banner, Berklees graduate music education programs-the M.M. in music education, the M.M. in music education (autism concentration), and the graduate certificate in music education and autism-will begin operating within Berklee College of Musics Music Education Department starting this summer.
Rhoda Bernard, managing director of the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs (BIAESN) and the founder of all three programs, will continue to oversee the M.M. in music education (autism concentration) as well as the graduate certificate program-the only programs of their kind in the world. Cecil Adderley, chair of the colleges Music Education Department, will oversee the general M.M. in music education.
There is an enormous benefit to having all of music education in one place, says Adderley. We have multiple faculty members whove taught at both institutions, but its one big community. There has been that collaboration all along, so having it all in one place we can continue with that level of collaboration moving forward.
While the shift marks the beginning of a new era for Berklees graduate music education programs, their core values and distinctive approach to contemporary music education remain unchanged.
Programs for Working Teachers Ready to take the next step in your teaching career?
Learn more about Berklees contemporary approach to music education.
One of these values is ensuring that students enrolled in these programs-many of them working teachers-can keep their teaching jobs while they advance their careers through graduate-level training. This is why all three graduate programs are designed to accommodate a working teacher's schedule by offering evening courses in the fall and spring semesters, as well as two full-time summer sessions. And during the academic year, students can participate remotely using web conferencing and student-directed study formats-a model these programs have been refining for years before COVID-19 made online learning a necessity at other institutions.
Im teaching a class tonight where I have five students on the web and four students in the room, and we are all together having class, says Bernard. Weve been doing hybrid and remote learning in graduate music education since long before it was sexy.
A Contemporary Approach to Music Education While many music education programs still follow outdated models, graduate music education at Berklee is designed to help working teachers engage with the latest pedagogical, cultural, and technological shifts shaping todays learning environments. Students in these programs are trained to consider culturally responsive approaches to music education, and to understand and employ cutting-edge technologies to develop their lessons and aid their students with cloud-based technologies such as MusicFirst and SmartMusic.
People today experience, consume, make, and interact with music in a wide range of ways, explains Bernard, and we have now access to music from all over the world and from all throughout time in ways that weve never had before, and it has to change how we teach.
Berklees music education faculty are internationally recognized as innovators in the field. Just this year Stefani Langol, associate professor of music education, was named 2021s Teacher of the Year by the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME).
Three Distinctive Programs While all three programs share some basic traits-a flexible schedule, a contemporary approach, and an audition requirement that ensures all students share a level of musicianship-each is designed to serve educators and administrators in particular ways.
The two autism-focused programs are unique in the world. Typically, when you train to be a music teacher, if youre lucky, you get one class about special ed students, and its a class thats legal history and a lot of alphabet soup.... It is not about pedagogy, explains Bernard. These classes are about how to teach students with disabilities. So it is very practical; it is about the actual work of that teaching.
The M.M. in music education (autism concentration) is for teachers with an undergraduate background in music or music education who wish to earn a masters degree with an autism focus. The graduate certificate in music education and autism is open to students with a broader undergraduate background who are interested in a focused study of this subject area but do not need or wish to pursue a masters degree.
The general M.M. in music education provides exceptionally customizable curricular pathways, through electives and through culminating experiences or theses, that enable students to craft unique subspecialties within their masters program. For example, some students have focused on community music and nonprofit programs, while others have focused on teaching nontraditional students, including indigenous populations.
Go deeper: In this podcast, learn more about how Rhoda Bernard and BIAESN bring music education to those with special needs, and how the institute trains others to do the same.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Arooj Aftab B.M. '10
Berklee's 2022 Alumni Grammy Nominees: See the Full List Nominees include Arooj Aftab, Miguel Zen n, Esperanza Spalding, and others in categories including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.
Latest
Tia Fuller, Berklee City Music ambassador and artistic director of the Berklee C
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include MLSE, Vegas Golden Knights, Pro Climbing League, FansXR, Focal ...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australias Nine Network and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a media partnership that will bring the worlds premier professional ice ho...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
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...
15/10/2025
CobbTV, the government access television channel for Cobb County, Ga. recently acquired an automated playout system from Pebble, a global provider of automation...
15/10/2025
OSLO, Norway Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future...
15/10/2025
NEW YORK The NBA is making major changes to the NBA App and NBA TV as it takes control of them from TNT Sports, which has long managed the league's digital ...
15/10/2025
SAN MATEO, Calif. In what promises to be a major expansion of interactive features and personalized content on the DirecTV platform, the operator and Glance hav...
15/10/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has launched changes to its user interface (UI) that the streaming platform says will better showcase original programming on the platform...
15/10/2025
LOS ANGELES Software-defined data storage and data services provider OpenDrives has elevated Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer, responsible for driving th...
15/10/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE October 15, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
15/10/2025
Sheldon Nichols and Will Trickett to find and prepare more classic cars for budget conscious would-be owners from Wiser Films
UKTV have recommissioned the clas...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Nick Cave
JPEG (275 KB)
Explore the creative univer...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
From breaking up with your partner to quitting your job - new polling shows some messages are just too scary to send
Over a fifth (...
15/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz unveils compact MXO 3 oscilloscopes with 4 and 8 channels: Advan...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Revenge Series The Resurrected' Captivates Audiences Across Asia
Entertainment
15 October 2025
GlobalTaiwan
Link copied to clipboard
...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Bringing the Best in VFX and Virtual Production Together as Eyeline
Jeffrey Shapiro
CEO, Eyeline
Business
15 October 2025
GlobalCanadaInd...
15/10/2025
Deployed by Astound Business Solutions, Harmonic's Primary Distribution Solution Ensures Outstanding Video Quality and Seamless Ad Insertion at the Edge
SA...
15/10/2025
Collaboration extends a trusted relationship as RMC BFM invests in scalable, fut...
15/10/2025
Series coming in 2026 stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'Mara released today
RT today released first look images of new comedy-drama ...
14/10/2025
SVG Europe Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYNetworking event that preceded IBC2025 shone a light on elite live sports innovation acro...
14/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Author Rich Podolsky on Writing Madden & Summerall: How They Revo...
14/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacingThe Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the countr...
14/10/2025
Content protection: Getting the right management for your DRM By Neal Romanek
Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:11
Print This Story
Eluvio power the EPCR'...
Graduate Music Education Comes to Berklee College of Music The three graduate programs, started at Boston Conservatory, will begin a new era as part of Berklee's Music Education Department this summer.
