Berklee raised over $1.5 million in support of the Berklee City Music program at the 2020 Encore Gala, which featured over 150 faculty, student, and alumni musicians from 23 countries, and an array of celebrity guests.
This years event, which was held virtually on Saturday, October 24, began with remarks from Berklee leadership, and included special guest appearances by Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest '07H, Gloria and Emilio Estefan '07H '16P, Quincy Jones '51 '83H, LL Cool J '24P, Alex Lacamoire B.M. '95 '19H, Rickey Minor, famed Red Sox player David Ortiz, and comedian Sinbad.
The importance of this City Music program that reaches kids from marginalized communities and gives them hope for a college education through music is, I think, a fantastic idea, said special guest and hip-hop pioneer LL Cool J. Music basically took me out of the inner city and it let me see the world.
Multiple Grammy Award-winner and music industry giant Quincy Jones '51 spoke about the importance of music to the students in the City Music program: Music has the power to change lives, and I say this from the bottom of my heart, because it absolutely saved mine. Jones is an alumnus and remains an active member of the Berklee community.
The Gala musical program consisted of an array of performances, highlighted by renowned singer-songwriter Jackson Browne and legendary vocalist and musician Steve Winwood 08H. Browne performed his hit The Pretender, and Winwood performed classics such as I'm a Man, Can't Find My Way Home, and Higher Love.
Various digital rooms showcased more live music, notably the Hip-Hop Room, which featured a performance by Daryl DMC McDaniels, founding member of the historic hip-hop group Run DMC, and DJ Charlie Chan Soprano. The night also featured performances by R&B/soul artist Dreion B.M. 20, jazz prodigy Grace Kelly B.M. 12, student and Latin music artist Esperanza Delgado, the Berklee Indian Ensemble, and alumni American roots band the Ruta Beggars.
Proceeds from the Encore Gala support Berklee City Music, a recognized leader in creative youth development. Founded over 26 years ago, City Music works with marginalized communities to help develop talented youth and provide them with pathways to college, both through in-person and virtual classrooms. City Music reaches thousands of students in Greater Boston and across the country, and provides vulnerable youth an opportunity to develop their talents and express their voices in a safe, supportive environment.
Copresenting sponsors included Abrams Capital and Bain Capital Community Partnership. Encore Gala cochairs included Michael and Barbara Eisenson, Jim and Judy O'Brien 14P, and David and Lori Sprows.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Encore Gala Raises $2.3 Million for Berklee City Music The 25th annual Encore Gala included guest musicians such as Chaka Khan, Grandmaster Flash, and Livingston Taylor.
Meet Five City Music Scholars Attending Five-Week This Summer Berklee awarded full-tuition scholarships to 60 young musicians taking part in the college's flagship summer program.
Berklee City Music Awards Seven Full-Tuition Scholarships The City Music program celebrated this years scholarship recipients with a virtual ceremony and concert on Tuesday, August 11.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Berklee Partners with MIT to Help Students Get Paid for Their Music RAIDAR, a new licensing platform, makes it easier for student musicians to earn money from their songs and retain full control over their work.
Latest
Berklee's 26th Annual Encore Gala Raises More Than $1.5 Million This years Encore Gala was held virtually and featured Jackson Browne, Steve Winwood, Darryl DMC McDaniels, and many more.
Aja Burrell Wood Joins Board of Directors for New Music USA Wood, who is managing director for the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, will support New Music USA's mission of promoting new creative works through advocacy, grants, and more.
How Originality Took Tank and the Bangas from a New Orleans Cafe to a Grammy Nomination At a virtual Berklee Visiting Artist Series clinic, Tank and the Bangas talk about their origin, how they come up with such original tunes, and how the pandemic has affected them as a band.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
North America Stories
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Agentic AI is getting physical.
At COMPUTEX on Tuesday, NVIDIA announced NVIDIA JetPack 7.2 and NVIDIA NemoClaw support on NVIDIA Jetson.
JetPack 7.2 brings a...
01/06/2026
Financial institutions have spent years building AI: fraud models, credit models...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Berklee raised over $1.5 million in support of the Berklee City Music program at the 2020 Encore Gala, which featured over 150 faculty, student, and alumni musicians from 23 countries, and an array of celebrity guests. 
