Berklee Artists to Perform at Festivals Across the U.S.
Former BPMI artist Jackie Foster performs at Lollapalooza in 2019. Tristan Simone will take the stage at the same festival later this month.
Image by Mike Magee
The Berklee Popular Music Institute (BPMI) is sending four up-and-coming artists from the college to perform at popular music festivals across the United States this summer and fall. The BPMI program guides students through every step of going from the classroom to the stage—important preparation for a performance career.
Berklee-affiliated artists will have the opportunity to perform at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois, July 29–August 1; Inkcarceration in Mansfield, Ohio, September 10–12; Music Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia, September 18–19; and Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida, November 11–14.
Throughout their virtual year, students in BPMI’s A&R group reviewed close to 250 artist submissions and narrowed the field through a combination of factors, including recordings, videos, and social media presence. The A&R group also considered the artist’s style of music for genre-specific festivals, such as Inkcarceration (metal) and Welcome to Rockville (rock). The class ultimately chose metalcore band Pistacia, alternative group Mom Rock, hip-hop artist Tristan Simone, and melodic deathcore band Survive the Sun to represent BPMI at the festivals.
While most Berklee classes take place over the course of one semester, BPMI runs on a three-semester, full-year cycle. In the fall semester, the class selects the artists and splits up into management teams. In the spring, students work on artist development, marketing, digital presence, budgets, merchandise, sponsorships, and advancing their assigned festival. For the final semester, in the summer and early fall, teams rehearse with the artists to prepare them for the festival stage—a much different experience than a club show—and accompany them to each festival to handle on-site promotion, production, and tour management.
“After a year without major live music events due to the coronavirus pandemic, our students are thrilled to be back on stage, participating in person at four of the country’s major festivals,” said Jeff Dorenfeld, founding managing director for BPMI and professor in Berklee’s Music Business/Management Department. “This course prepares students for the festival and touring experience, and I look forward to taking BPMI students and artists on the road after months of Zoom classes and summer rehearsals.”