Reframing Conservatory Education Through Africana Studies As Berklee's Africana Studies Division grows, so do learning and mentorship opportunities for Boston Conservatory at Berklee students.
By
Sarah Godcher Murphy
September 11, 2024
Africana studies student Caden Burston (BM 25, violin) performed works by Black composers at Symphony Hall in February 2024.
Liz Friar
Studying technique helps performing arts students answer the how questions: how to play staccato bowing on the violin, for instance, or land a grand jet . But it is context-historical, social, cultural, and personal-that helps them answer the why.
Berklee's Africana Studies Division provides Boston Conservatory students with essential context for the study of Black creative expression in dance, music, and theater. This learning process sheds light on systemic inequities that have shaped the performing arts landscape as it exists today, and it offers a platform on which to build a more inclusive future.
We really are focused on providing the social and cultural contexts of the art forms for which students are training, says Dr. Mike Mason, chair of the Africana Studies Department. We want to provide those contexts for students so that it's part of their overall education in terms of not just learning the technical side of things but also, where did this come from? And what/who were some of the influences?
Mason's department is housed within Berklee's larger Africana Studies Division, which offers courses rooted in the African diaspora-including a minor in Africana Studies-to both Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music students. In the spring 2025 semester, the division will add its first-ever course at Berklee Online, Black Creative Expression: Introduction to Africana Studies. The division also oversees the Africana Studies Center, which serves students in myriad ways: providing mentorship, encouraging culturally responsible scholarship, and supporting special event programming for all students.
Since Mason was appointed as the inaugural chair of Africana Studies in 2023, the department has been expanding its curricular offerings with Boston Conservatory students in mind. In the 2023-2024 academic year, for instance, it partnered with the Conservatory to design a new course on African American classical composers. And now this fall, the department is launching its biggest endeavor to date: a bachelor's degree in Black music and culture available to all Berklee College of Music undergraduates. Although the major is for students at the College, it's still great news for Boston Conservatory students, who are now able to enroll in Africana courses-and earn credit towards an Africana Studies minor, as well as fulfill some of their liberal arts and sciences degree requirements.
That was a huge plus for me, knowing that I could study Black traditions here while I'm also obtaining my violin performance degree. I feel like that's an opportunity that students don't have at other conservatories.
-Caden Burston
Interpreting a work of art requires an understanding of the context in which it was made, Mason says, pointing to choreographer Alvin Ailey as one example. To perform Ailey's choreography in a meaningful way, dancers should know where he came from-why his upbringing in the segregated South, paired with his nuanced perception of Black popular dance, led to the creation of his own company, the now-legendary Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. With this context, students can recognize that forming the first Black repertory dance company in 1958 was more than a personal artistic achievement-it was a triumph of the civil rights movement.
The impact of the Africana Studies Division can be felt by all Boston Conservatory students, not simply those who choose to declare the minor. For music students in particular, it has played a role in reshaping core music history curriculum and broadening repertoire selection for ensembles. Since 2022, all Music Division students have taken a new required course, Music in Context, which places Western classical music within the broader framework of global traditions from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Caden Burston (BM 25, violin) began their studies at Boston Conservatory before the expansion of the music history curriculum. In the years since, they've seen a change in the repertoire that fellow students are choosing to perform in recitals. I've noticed a cultural difference at BoCo, ever since the extra [music history] semester was added. More people are playing works by composers that are Black, and works by Latino composers, Burston says. All of a sudden, I saw so many recital posters with composers that I thought nobody else knew about.
In major ensembles as well, Burston has seen more inclusive repertoire selection, along with greater care given to providing personal and historical background about Black composers whose works were largely overlooked in their lifetime. Our conductors were actually talking about How do we play this music with the right knowledge to be able to express it correctly?'-in the same way that they would talk about playing Beethoven's sixth before rehearsing it, Burston says. I feel like all of the composers and all of the pieces are receiving equal attention. And in turn, the programs were more thoughtful and more historically put together.
After attending a majority-Black performing arts high school in Columbus, Ohio ( It's called Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, if you want to shout them out, Burston says), they chose to attend Boston Conservatory, in large part, because of the prominence of the Africana Studies Division. That was a huge plus for me, knowing that I could study Black traditions here while I'm also obtaining my vi
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...
16/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Leader in Personal Aviation taps URSA Cin...
16/07/2026
XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage In...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
General-purpose robots and autonomous machines are moving from research labs to ...
15/07/2026
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...
15/07/2026
Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...
15/07/2026
Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...
15/07/2026
Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and iconic gaming companies, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI ...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
Reframing Conservatory Education Through Africana Studies As Berklee's Africana Studies Division grows, so do learning and mentorship opportunities for Boston Conservatory at Berklee students. 
