
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...
28/07/2026
Ad Intel AI is Nielsen's first in a new generation of AI products built to t...
28/07/2026
Contribution to Europe's technological autonomy in the key industry telecommunications
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, starts commercial shipments...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Encompass Digital Media has been selected by Channel 4, one of the UK's public service broadcasters, to deliver managed linear playout services as part of a...
28/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has confirmed a new partnership with leading Korean systems integrator and distribu...
28/07/2026
Limecraft today announces version 2026.5 of its AI-powered production platform. Limecraft 2026.5 https://(www.limecraft.com/limecraft-2026-5-multicam-quad-view-...
28/07/2026
X Platform technology enabled a premium UHD viewing experience through a hybrid ground-to-cloud architecture developed with Chilevisi n, ClaroVTR and Pixop
App...
28/07/2026
LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today announced it has set historic performance records during the 2026 World Foo...
28/07/2026
dhd.audio announces that its latest generation firmware, Version 10.4, is now available to DHD customers. Version 10.4 introduces expanded configuration capabil...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Brand's Intuitive Metering and Dialogue Tools Improve Efficiency and Maintain Clarity Across Projects Ranging from Sitcoms to Effects Heavy Fantasy Series
...
28/07/2026
TAG Video Systems, a leader in 100% software-based realtime media monitoring, multiviewing and quality control (QC), today announced the latest innovations to i...
28/07/2026
Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Between the maturation of IP and remot...
28/07/2026
New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Large format sensor allows Texas Legacy ...
28/07/2026
NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to ...
28/07/2026
AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Epic Games
Leading creative applications are...
28/07/2026
How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens When he was a Berklee student, Aggeler volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, where he hel...
28/07/2026
Anyone can make a robot move; NVIDIA Jetson makes it think. As a discerning AI i...
28/07/2026
RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, RT Radio 1, RT One and RT Player to showcase the best of the reels, rhymes and rambles from Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na h ireann 202...
28/07/2026
Through a wide range of perspectives, this documentary looks at how Ireland might navigate one of the defining political questions of the future
Wednesday, Jul...
27/07/2026
The Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation has named its scholarship and grant recipients for the 2026/2027 academic year. The awards support students...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have signed a multi-year media rights agreement covering basketball championships and select football and ba...
27/07/2026
Yahoo Sports and Cameo have partnered to allow fantasy football users to book personalized celebrity videos directly within the Yahoo Fantasy app and website. T...
27/07/2026
Eutelsat has welcomed the FCC's order establishing the regulatory framework for the transition of Upper C-band spectrum in the United States. Under the orde...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a global rights agreement for the 2026 season. Events will air bi-weekly on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET beginni...
27/07/2026
NBCUniversal and YouTube have signed a multi-year global partnership that includes bundling Peacock with YouTube Premium, extending NBCUniversal's distribut...
27/07/2026
Agenda includes presentations from the Miami Heat, Inter Miami, Florida Panthers...
27/07/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
27/07/2026
Ten one-minute shorts will roll out across CBS, The CW, Paramount+ during the 2026 PBR Teams season
PBR is officially moving into scripted animation. The Profe...
27/07/2026
Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute shared the names of this year's cohor...
27/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
27/07/2026
Latest MPE-capable instrument completes Pure Trilogy line-up
Sonora Cinematic have just released the third and final instalment in their series of acoustic ...
27/07/2026
Emulates four varieties of optical compression
The latest addition to the fedDSP line-up has just been announced, and packs four distinct optical compressor...
27/07/2026
Optical & FET compressors join 500-series line-up
At our recent GearExpo UK show, we heard from Drawmer that they would soon be launching a pair of new 500-...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Lightware announces SNMPv3-based monitoring support for selected Taurus devices, available from firmware v1.20.0. The update enables IT administrators and AV in...
27/07/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its vision for the Real-Time...
27/07/2026
All episodes available Thursday 6 August on Sky and streaming service NOWMonday ...
27/07/2026
Why Confidence MattersIn this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along the way, we ex...
27/07/2026
Apple today announced AppleCare One - a new way for customers to protect multipl...
27/07/2026
Yesterday witnessed truly memorable scenes in Croke Park, bringing the curtain d...
27/07/2026
Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval...