Encore Gala Raises Funds for BCMP Scholarships

The Berklee Encore Gala rocked the Boston Marriott Copley Place on October 21, 2017, raising nearly $2 million to benefit the Berklee City Music program.
January 1, 2018

Emmy Award–winning musician Rickey Minor served as the gala host.

Mike Spencer

Singers Courtney Harrell ’01 (left) and Lea Grace Hicks-Swinson sing “From a Distance.”

Mike Spencer

The Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra

Mike Spencer

Grammy-winning singing group Tavares entertained for the Starlight Finale.

Mike Spencer

Gala cochairs David and Lori Sprows, Berklee president Roger H. Brown, and cochair Jim O’Brien

Mike Spencer

Gala guests Dean Goodermote, David Gross-Loh, Amy Abrams, Roger Brown, David Abrams, and Susan and Lee Berk

Mike Spencer

On October 21, 2017, the Berklee Encore Gala rocked the Boston Marriott Copley Place raising nearly $2 million to benefit the Berklee City Music program. Composer, producer, and Emmy Award winner Rickey Minor, hosted the evening’s festivities. Among his many credits, Minor is the former bandleader of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Later in the evening, he played bass with the Grammy–Award winning funk group Tavares during the Starlight Finale. Minor’s story of overcoming great odds resonated with special guest and City Music alumna Courtney Harrell ’01. A former scholarship recipient and single mother, Harrell credits Berklee City Music with “saving her life.” Harrell and current student Lea Grace Hicks-Swinson sang “From a Distance” together, captivating the audience.

Following a cocktail reception and dinner, the gala’s 800 guests enjoyed performances from some 150 Berklee musicians and special guests in six different nightclub settings. Musical acts included the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, the Venezuelan Project, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee Musical Theater Showcase, Donna McElroy and Jetro Da Silva, the Glove, and Hunter LaMar to name a few. A silent auction featured musical instruments, private dinners, and event and travel packages.

For 23 years, the Encore Gala has raised significant funding for Berklee City Music, a program that enables students from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, and emotionally through the study of contemporary music. Since its founding in 1993, City Music has fostered the development of hundreds of thousands of young people from the United States and Canada. The program encourages innovation, collaboration, and community to help young people become confident and well-rounded individuals ready to shape the world.


Encore Gala Sponsors

 

Copresenting Sponsors

  • Abrams Capital
  • Bain Capital Community Partnerships

Colead Sponsors

  • Aramark Education
  • Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation
  • Jim and Judy O’Brien ’14P

Platinum Sponsors

  • Coca-Cola
  • David and Lori Sprows
  • Diane Arnold and Dean Goodermote ’09P

Superstar Ballroom

  • Michael and Barbara Eisenson

Event Cochairs

  • Jim and Judy O’Brien
  • David and Lori Sprows
This article appeared in our alumni magazine, Berklee Today Spring 2018. Learn more about Berklee Today.