BPMI Takes Over Brighton Music Hall to Reveal Its 2023 Festival Artists

BPMI Takes Over Brighton Music Hall to Reveal Its 2023 Festival Artists The Berklee Popular Music Institute will showcase performances from Berklees hottest artists who are scheduled to perform at major music festivals this summer.

By

Tori Donahue

February 24, 2023

vivi rincon is one of seven featured performers at the BPMIs 21st annual showcase on April 5 at Brighton Music Hall.

Image courtesy of the artist

The Berklee Popular Music Institute (BPMI) will host its 21st annual showcase, featuring seven artists handpicked by its 2023 student cohort, on Wednesday, April 5, at Brighton Music Hall. In just a few months, these artists will be performing on the stages of major music festivals alongside some of the world's most esteemed artists.

BPMI Live, the institutes three-semester experiential education program, provides students with the opportunity to extend their skills beyond the classroom and into the live music industry. This year's BPMI Live stars include AWFBEAT, Clifford, JVK, Kieran Rhodes, Tyler Christian, Vivienne Artur, and vivi rincon. Representing genres ranging from alt-pop and folk to hard rock and country, these artists have displayed extraordinary maturity in their vision and showmanship, securing spots at Governors Ball, Faster Horses, and other major festivals to be announced soon.

Led by Morgan Milardo, managing director for BPMI, students in the program undergo months of A&R evaluation to select the artists, combing through hundreds of songs, videos, and live performances. Each artist is then paired with a group of BPMI students who serve as their management team, and together they collaborate on artist development, marketing, promotion, digital presence, merchandising, sponsorships, and tour budgeting.

The creativity, focus, and spirit in this year's BPMI Live cohort has been very rewarding for me to witness. I am excited for the students' hard work to come to fruition with this event, said Milardo. They have a real vision and plan that will surely make it a memorable evening for all attendees. And with incredibly unique backgrounds, deep passion for artistry, and amazing talents, the artists selected truly represent what it means to be an emerging artist.

This years showcase is sponsored by Citizens Live and presented in partnership with Live Nation New England. Tickets are $10. Brighton Music Hall is located at 158 Brighton Avenue in Allston.

About the Artists AWFBEAT The duo AWFBEAT has emerged as one of the most promising artists in the electronic hip-hop scene. This East Coast rap duo, composed of Grant Glazier and Universal Hunte, reveal their truth through clever punchlines and deep storytelling. Their first single, Better Than Me, broke two million streams on Spotify and was featured in the Netflix show Boo, Bitch.

Their latest single, Trinity, is a hip-hop/funk fusion church anthem that provides greater insight into the duo and who they are as individuals. Fusing a myriad of genres to produce feelings of nostalgia and relatability, the young duo is primed to break through in the national music scene.

CLIFFORD CLIFFORD epitomizes the infectious nature of progressive/technical deathcore. Having met months before starting college in Boston, band members Drake Plotkin (vocals), Thomas Reuter (guitar), Lucas Koughan (bass), and Luke Green (drums) discovered a shared vision for what would become the band's debut album, Soulless. Featuring blistering riffs and powerful breakdowns, the album demonstrated the band's ability to create memorable, technically brilliant music. CLIFFORD's outlandish sound incorporates a modern edge while maintaining the authenticity fans of deathcore, tech-death, and other extreme metal genres crave. Members of CLIFFORD have studied under David Marvuglio and Joe Stump, and shared stages with Avatar, Jared Dines, and Ryan Bruce of Dragged Under. CLIFFORDs vision is to create songs for their audience to headbang their brains out and lose their minds to.

JVK With the energy and chaos of old-school rock 'n' roll and a modern touch of sympathy and empowerment, JVK commands the crowd as soon as they step on stage. Lead vocalist Jo Krieger started JVK in Boston as a solo project, and met the other band members-Alix Breda (bass), Troy Welling (drums), Donny DeFala (guitar), and Syd Lane (guitar)-through encounters at local shows. Since opening for Frances Forever in New York and conquering just about every sweaty basement in the Northeast, their loyal audience is showing up to see the band fill bigger and bigger venues. JVK's debut EP, Hello, Again, best represents the band's intent to embark with its listeners through an ominous, almost spiritual sonic journey. JVK strives to create music that will leave their listeners feeling confident and empowered, through relatable lyrics combined with memorable guitar riffs.

Kieran Rhodes The songs of Kieran Rhodes songs are, in his own words, like watching movies, each one telling a different story and bringing you into a new world for a few minutes. His single What Got into You, earned him an honorable mention in the 2021 American Songwriter Song Contest. More recently, Kieran became known for his viral audition on season 17 of America's Got Talent, where he won the hearts of millions around the world, including judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel, and Heidi Klum. The audition with his original song Disengage, which chronicles a heartbreaking battle with depression, became a viral hit on YouTube, garnering over 15 million views. It has been praised Billboard, GoldDerby, and others.

Tyler Christian With their raw, inventive, and nostalgic sound, Tyler Christian creates music that inspires listeners to express their stories unapologetically. Tyler has always had the intention of tapping into another atmosphere, blending

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