'83 Alums Terri Lyne Carrington and Makoto Ozone Honored; October Gala to Feature Branford Marsalis '80

Two prominent 1983 Berklee alumni, drummer/composer/producer Terri Lyne Carrington, and pianist/composer Makoto Ozone, will receive honorary doctor of music degrees during Berklee College of Music's 2003 Entering Student Convocation on Friday, September 5, 2003. Both individuals will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to contemporary music.

Considered a musical prodigy by many, Medford, Massachusetts native Terri Lyne Carrington was awarded a full scholarship to Berklee at the age of 11 by Berklee founder Lawrence Berk. Word of her drumming prowess spread among her fellow but older Berklee student peers, and she began playing with future greats such as Kevin Eubanks, Mike Stern, Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby and others. At 17, she recorded her debut album TLC and Friends, an outing that featured Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, George Coleman, as well as her father Sonny Carrington. The quintessential side player and studio drummer, Carrington has played alongside Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, James Moody, Lester Bowie, Dave Sanborn, Herbie Hancock, and Cassandra Wilson, among others, as well as serving as house drummer for the Arsenio Hall Show. Her production credits include Dianne Reeves' 1997 Grammy-nominated Blue Note CD That Day.

In a very full musical career that has thrived both in America and Japan for more than 20 years, jazz pianist/composer Makoto Ozone has released 13 albums as a leader and played on a host of others with a large cast of jazz luminaries. In1983, he graduated from Berklee, began a world tour with vibraphonist Gary Burton, gave a solo piano concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, and signed a record contract with Columbia Records. In the following years, Ozone recorded three more albums for Columbia and also continued to collaborate with Gary Burton, playing on Burton’s albums Real Life Hits and Whiz Kids before moving back to his native Japan in 1989. Ozone’s career continued its upward surge in Japan with three recordings for the JVC label. By 1994, Ozone had jumped to the Polydor/Verve label, and after a decade in Japan, returned to America, settling in New York in 1999. Since that time, he has released four more recordings as a leader and continued his longstanding collaboration with Gary Burton, playing duo concerts and appearing on his recent Grammy-nominated CDs For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal, (2001) and Virtuosi (2002).

The two honorees will help welcome Berklee's entering Class of 2007, which includes approximately 1150 students from over 75 countries. In accepting their honorary doctorates, both Carrington and Ozone will address the class briefly.

Some of Berklee's most outstanding current students also will welcome the entering class with a tribute concert featuring music associated with the careers of Carrington and Ozone. The Convocation ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. in the Berklee Performance Center. The concert will follow at 8 p.m. The Convocation is not open to the public; however, members of the press are welcome to attend.

Berklee's Ninth Annual Encore Gala will take place Saturday, October 18, 2003, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at a new location, the spacious setting of the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The festivities include a cocktail reception, candlelight dinner, special entertainment, silent auction, and the Gala party. Proceeds from the event will support Berklee City Music, the college's education outreach program for talented urban teens. The principal lead sponsor for this year's Gala is Lynch Associates, Inc., and the co-lead sponsors are O'Brien Management, Inc. and Orchid Partners.

This year's Gala will feature a performance by one of the college's most famous alumni —Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer, and Marsalis Music founder Branford Marsalis '80. Known for his innovative spirit and broad musical scope, Branford Marsalis’ performing and recording career encompasses the world’s great jazz clubs and concert halls, as well as 16 recordings for Sony Music. The New Orleans native and Berklee alumnus was born into one of the world's most distinguished musical families, which includes patriarch/pianist/educator Ellis Marsalis and brothers Wynton, fellow Berklee alum Delfeayo '89, and Jason. He began his thriving jazz career in 1984 with his first record for Columbia, while he was also making successful forays into pop with artists such as the Grateful Dead, Sting, and Bruce Hornsby, as well as his own ground-breaking group Buckshot LeFonque, and leading "The Tonight Show" band. Last year Marsalis launched his own, Cambridge, MA-based label, Marsalis Music, which is distributed by another respected, artist-based company, Rounder Records.

At this year's Gala, President Lee Eliot Berk and Mrs. Susan Berk will be honored for their work in creating and supporting Berklee City Music, a premier urban outreach and education program that has inspired hundreds of young musicians to attain a music education. Lee and Susan Berk founded the Berklee Gala in 1995 in honor of the college's 50th anniversary, and dedicated the funds to the City Music program. President Berk will be retiring after the 2004 Spring Commencement, completing 38 years of professional service at Berklee, including 25 years as president. His wife Susan has played an integral part in the advancement of the college for 28 of those years.

This past year, more than 50 Berklee City Music students received scholarships to attend Berklee’s five-week summer performance program, and many will continue throughout the year in the college preparatory mentoring and after-school components of the program. Every year as many as eight new City Music graduates are awarded full four-year tuition scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music. The Encore Gala is a critical funding source for the Berklee City Music Program. To date, Berklee’s Encore Gala has raised over $2,250,000 for Berklee City Music. Since 1992, City Music has enrolled over 750 students, and Berklee is poised to replicate the City Music program in other urban music centers.

Comments