I was very fortunate to receive the Sally Ann Forrester scholarship from the IBMA Foundation for my first semester at Berklee College of Music this past fall. The money I received from this scholarship went towards paying part of my tuition. It was an amazing opportunity and I learned so much from the classes that I took and the environment that I was in.
During my first semester I got to take a variety of classes that all helped me to greatly improve my musicality. I had private instruction from Joe K. Walsh, which has really helped me focus on my technique and work on my ability to transcribe music and solos. I took an ear training course that taught me how to read music and helped me learn to better sing in key and maintain pitches. I also got to take a music theory class which taught me so much about how music is built. This class also helped me articulate a lot of what I had already known about music, but, coming from more of a self-taught background, it gave me the ability to communicate what I was thinking better with others. During my first semester I got to be a part of a mixed genre ensemble which I really enjoyed, because it gave me the opportunity to dig a little bit into different genres that I had never really played before. I also took a music technology class that taught me about different software used to create music. This was very interesting because very little of the music I really listen to is made solely on a computer, but being exposed to it gave me a new perspective. I did take a few liberal arts classes as well, which I quite enjoyed.
I am extremely grateful to the IBMA Foundation for having awarded me with the Sally Ann Forrester scholarship and for helping make it possible for me to attend my first semester at Berklee College of Music. I learned an incredible amount and am so excited to continue my studies there. This scholarship was a tremendous help!
Thank you so much,
Emma Turoff
Return to the February 2022 issue of The Cornerstone.
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