Earlier this year, in February, teenagers — saxophonist Benjamin Allen and trumpeter Linton Smith were among the many students to audition and interview for Berklee College of Music. The prestigious school was in town recruiting. They were headquartered at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
Despite being nervous they both admit, the two did so well that in April they flew to Boston to rehearse with the Berklee City Music Allstars, before boarding a bus to New York City where they were among a group to perform at an event hosted by Quincy Jones to promote national music education for youth.
Impressive.
So much so, they were awarded full scholarships for Berklee’s five-week Summer Performance Program. Both were students in New Orleans’ own Tipitina’s Music Internship Program (T.I.P.s), which is supported by the Berklee City Music Network.
The summer program is now over. Allen and Smith have come home. But only to pack their bags, because both young men have been given full four-year scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music beginning this Fall.
Very impressive, indeed.
Allen started playing music at Eisenhower Elementary School. At Edna Karr Magnet School he went on to marching band music and worked with the Louis Armstrong Jazz Quintet. After the federal flood of 2005, Allen continued his education and graduated from Lusher Charter School.
Allen said the summer program “definitely” helped him improve his skills. “I feel like I had a lot of time to practice and network with musicians. Just talk with them about music, like the way I play, what advice do you have for me, how do you play that,” he said. “As a musician, you try to play things that you hear in your head; other people might be hearing the same thing. I notice that people are hearing some things in their head that I’m hearing in my head.” After college, Allen plans to be a full-time musician. “My back-up plan is to teach because I also have a passion for teaching.”
Smith has been playing music since seventh grade, starting with Big Band at Lusher. He said his mom pushed him toward music as a creative outlet. “She knows I like to dance a lot and sing a lot so she thought music would be the way to go.” Smith graduated from NOCCA and Benjamin Franklin High School. Smith said when he found out he had been selected for the summer program, he couldn’t wait to get there. However, he does miss New Orleans—”The food, the people. I miss it a lot.”
Both Allen and Smith said they were nervous at both auditions but both thought they had done well. When they earned full scholarships, they were overwhelmed.
“It was very exciting,” Smith said. “Very exciting; I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to do. It was just crazy. So exciting.” Smith plans to focus on performing during his four years at Berklee.
The four-year scholarships, worth $200,000, were awarded during the annual Berklee City Music Blowout Concert where students performed rock, pop, jazz, inspirational, and rhythm and blues songs by artists including Maroon 5, Adele, Christian McBride, Chic Corea, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and Rufus, and Michael Jackson. The 11 Continuing Scholarship recipients were among 72 young musicians ages 15 to 19 who were enrolled in Berklee’s five-week Summer Performance Program on City Music Summer Scholarships — the highest number to date.
Boston is a far cry from this, their birthplace, as well as that of the music genre of jazz, so Allen and Smith will know what it means to miss New Orleans all while soaking up the sounds and wonders of a college education at Berklee, in Boston, where for these two, the band plays on.
This article was originally published in the August 17, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper |
