Berklee Summer Concerts at Georges Island

Berklee College of Music, Boston Harbor Island Alliance, and the Boston Harbor National Park have joined forces again to bring up-and-coming Berklee students and alumni to historic Fort Warren on Georges Island for free live performances of pop, R&B, bluegrass, roots, folk, Latin, and more. The concerts take place Saturdays July 12 and 26, and August 9, 23, and 30. Each concert features three artists performing back-to-back, so all that's needed to enjoy an afternoon of music on the island is a ferry ticket.

Berklee’s Summer Concerts at Georges Island are accessible by ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf North, next to Christopher Columbus Park (MBTA Blue Line to Aquarium Station, Green or Orange lines to Haymarket Station). Ferry tickets can be purchased at the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, across from the Long Wharf Marriott. Ferries also depart from Hingham Shipyard Pier. For more information, visit bostonharborislands.org.

Summer Concerts at Georges Island:

Saturday, July 12

1:00 p.m. – Meredith Snyder is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a smooth vocal blend of folk and jazz. She explores a spectrum of styles, influenced by artists such as Joni Mitchell, St. Vincent, and Fiona Apple. Snyder recently released her first EP titled Beginning.

2:00 p.m. – With roots in Celtic and bluegrass, Cat and the Moon blend traditional and modern, acoustic and electric, to create an exciting and original new sound. Armed with technical prowess, this five-piece band from Boston has been performing publicly since 2013. 

3:00 p.m. – SA is Indian songstress and Berklee alumna Shilpa Ananth. “Sa” is the beginning and end of notes in the Indian scale, much like the “do” of its Western counterpart. With a fusion of soul, jazz, and world, SA will open your ears to a delicious palate of tasty surprises from the East and West.

Saturday, July 26

1:00 p.m. – Miriam Elhajli's sound recalls Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie with a touch of Delta blues. Last summer she traveled to London, where she played at renowned venues including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Leigh on Sea Folk Festival, and the Troubadour Club.

2:00 p.m. – Tim Reynolds Band, combining pop, soul, and R&B, finds its unique sound by using both voice and violin as the lead instrument. It has performed at venues including the Rome City Auditorium in Rome, Georgia; the New England Conservatory; and Berklee.

3:00 p.m. – Zoya's fourth EP is titled Letters to Toska. Zoya's confessional songs convey her experiences throughout the world, beginning in her native India, to her childhood home in Southern California, and stretching to her most recent travels across South America. 

Saturday, August 9

1:00 p.m. – Damn Tall Buildings is an acoustic bluegrass and blues band from Boston with lyrical storytelling, foot-stomping grooves, and up-tempo hobo anthems. With members from all around the U.S., Damn Tall Buildings is four people uniting their influences into a single sound.

2:00 p.m. – El Feeling is a folk band composed of Colombians Camilo Gomez, Felipe Gonzalez, Carlos Pinzon, Ivan Valbuena, and Juan Alvarez; and Mexican Diego Torres. The group met at Berklee and developed its sound based on the rhythms of the different regions of Colombia.

3:00 p.m. – Chorobop is a new ensemble with repertoire based on the traditional Brazilian choro genre, with a twist of bebop. They perform with traditional and contemporary instrumentation that includes mandolin, seven-string guitar, pandeiro, electric guitar, bass, and percussion.

Saturday, August 23

1:00 p.m. – Bailey Taylor honed her sound—a pure voice combined with banjo-style fingerpicked guitar—writing and performing in the Twin Cites before coming to Berklee. Her passion is music’s role in cross-cultural communication and much of her songwriting focuses on social change.

2:00 p.m. – The Georgia English Band tell stories of youth, discovery, and vulnerability. English used pop, soul, folk, and jazz to explore everyday themes on her 2012 all-original album In the Fog. She also received Berklee’s Songwriting Achievement Award and a SESAC Award.

3:00 p.m. – Wambura Mitaru’s music blends funk, soul, R&B, jazz, and hip-hop as well as sounds from her African background. A young, passionate singer and songwriter from Nairobi, she attended the Kenya Conservatoire of Music before enrolling at Berklee on a full scholarship.

Saturday, August 30

2:00 p.m. – Ludovica Burtone, an Italian violinist, composer, and arranger, came to Berklee in 2012 to follow her passion for jazz. Burtone and her string quartet present a variety of compositions, from classical to jazz standards, tangos, and original compositions. Please note, Burtone is the only performer at this concert.

Summer Concerts at Georges Island is part of Berklee Summer in the City presented by Natixis Global Asset Management (ngam.natixis.com) which brings free musical performances by Berklee faculty, students, and alumni to neighborhoods in the Boston area and beyond. For more information and a full schedule, visit berklee.edu/events/summer.

Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Natixis Global Asset Management provides investment solutions to both institutional and individual clients. The Berklee Summer in the City sponsorship is the second phase of a new multi-year global NGAM music sponsorship program designed to align business objectives with initiatives that preserve cultural experience through music. 

About Boston Harbor Island Alliance:

Boston Harbor Island Alliance (BHIA) is a nonprofit organization that supports the Boston Harbor Islands national park area and is one of the very few nonprofit organizations designated by Congress as a partner in the development and programming of a park. In partnership with the National Park Service and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, BHIA plays a vital role in providing an enhanced visitor experience by building visitation and bringing awareness to the park. BHIA welcomes more than 150,000 visitors from around the world to the islands each season and has attracted $30 million in new facilities projects, which include the new Harbor Islands Pavilion on Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway. Through partnerships with corporations, foundations, individuals, and government agencies, BHIA provides more than 150 free, informative, and educational island programs, as well as free access to the islands for underserved communities. Additionally, BHIA manages all major island service providers, including water transportation and on-island concessions.