This year’s Encore Gala will be unlike any other virtual fundraiser you've seen. We will bring a wide variety of musical genres right into your home, with several rooms featuring performances by student, alumni, and celebrity artists.
All proceeds support the Berklee City Music® program. Founded over 26 years ago, City Music works with marginalized communities to help develop talented youth and provide these young people with pathways to college, through both in-person and virtual classrooms.
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Encore Gala Program
Doors open at 7:45 p.m. when the stream begins. The program begins at 8:00 p.m.
Starting at 8:00 p.m., our Encore Gala program will feature remarks from Berklee leadership, a sampling of our music rooms, and special appearances by Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest '07H, Gloria and Emilio Estefan '07H '16P, Quincy Jones ‘51 ‘83H, LL Cool J '24P, Alex Lacamoire B.M. ‘95 ‘19H, Rickey Minor, David Ortiz, Sinbad, and more to be named.
The Encore Gala program will include a sampling of our six music rooms. Enjoy a series of performances from a wide range of genres, featuring the artists below.
In addition, the full performances from each music room will be available for 24 hours after the event at our After-Party. Return to this page for the links to explore each room at the conclusion of the Starlight Finale.
R&B and Soul Mixtape
Featuring:DREION B.M. '20 and his high-intensity band, Legacy
Having graduated summa cum laude this past May with a degree in songwriting, DREION brings that James Brown funk, with an electrifying performance sure to have you dancing at home. This set of original music includes two songs featured in Foster Boy, a new movie produced by Shaquille O’Neal.
An unequivocal musical prodigy, the singer, saxophonist, songwriter, composer, and band leader Grace Kelly has rocked the jazz world with sold-out concerts, 13 acclaimed albums, and a résumé that includes playing with jazz legends, performing at the Hollywood Bowl, and being part of the house band for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, all before reaching her mid-20s.
With over 182 million views to their viral videos, the Berklee Indian Ensemble brings to fore a new Indian sound melding classical, folk, Sufi, and contemporary Indian music with hip-hop, jazz, Middle Eastern, and African flavors. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2021, the ensemble is proud to premier at the gala some new collaborations with two Indian legends, vocal megastar Shreya Ghoshal and Grammy-winning tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, along with two brand new student originals.
A current Berklee student, Esperanza Delgado and her band will join us all the way from the historic Los Jardines del Alcazar, the royal palace gardens in Córdoba, Spain, with music from the Latin Mediterranean coast.
Band members Micah Nicol B.M. ’20 (guitar), Sofia Chiarandini B.M. ’20 (fiddle), Ariel Wyner B.M. ’19 (mandolin), Trevin Nelson (banjo), and Noah Harrington B.M. ’20 (bass) met and studied together in the American Roots Music Program at Berklee. The Ruta Beggars infuse traditional bluegrass and early swing to create a timeless act filled with foot tappin' grooves, intricate vocal harmonies, and fiery, virtuosic instrumentals.
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels is a founding member of hip-hop group Run-DMC and is considered one of the pioneers of hip-hop culture. The group boasts a string of hit records, and they are the first rap group to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. DJ Charlie Chan Soprano has been synonymous with the culture of hip-hop in St. Louis, Missouri, since the late 1980s and has been spinning for DMC since 2010.
Starlight Finale
Steve Winwood and Jackson Browne
The evening will include a special musical highlight from renowned singer-songwriter Jackson Browne. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007, Browne is known for his activism and hit songs “Doctor My Eyes” and “Running on Empty.”'
We will end on a high note with Steve Winwood '08H. A singer-songwriter, legendary vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and mandolin player, Winwood is also a producer and Grammy winner who has sold over 50 million records in the course of his five-decade career. His top hits include "Higher Love," "Gimme Some Lovin'," and "Back in the High Life Again."
After-Party
9:30 p.m.
Following the Starlight Finale, we will make the full performances from each music room available for 24 hours. Explore the music rooms and, at 9:30 p.m, click the image to watch the entire recorded performance.
All proceeds benefit Berklee City Music®, the college’s educational outreach program that leverages the power of contemporary music to empower youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially, and emotionally.
Berklee is an exempt organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; EIN 04-2300472.
