Berklee Goes To Spain

Berklee College Of Music is creating a school in Valencia, Spain.The building looks pretty awesome.And they are calling the program "Rock Goes To Harvard",or something like that.Berklee has REALLY changesd since the short while i went there.It was quite an experience,and talent and info just oozing out everywhere.And the practice rooms,well,you could walk around and hear any style of music being played,any.But the knowledge that is floating around is incredible,to say the least.But just let me present this section from the article in Wired online....
You might think the music industry's heavily-publicized woes would scare kids into more financially stable lines of work -- say, brokering stocks or managing hedge funds. Those aren't the greatest examples these days, but still, given shrinking labels and dwindling sales, the music industry seems like a hard place to get a foothold. Nonetheless, budding musicians continue to be drawn like moths to the flame of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where applications for Fall '09 matriculation are up 40 percent according, to Larry Monroe, the school's vice president of international programs, and popular subjects include music theory, composition, performance, music management, music education and even music therapy. The Boston location turns out 800 graduates each year, while the Valencia location will produce smaller classes of 250.
Humm....i tend to agree,a bad time for the music industry as a whole,and,by all observations,will be getting worse!Ha...if you love your instrument and music,go for it,but i would be careful in what i chose for subjects.And the mentioning of the increase in students,40 percent up!So a lot of dreaming going on!Now here is another section in the article.I tend to TOTALLY agree with this passage....
"There isn't a country in Europe that doesn't have great conservatories," he explained, "but what we found from doing market research is that there are an awful lot of graduating students from, say, a classical composition school, who've learned to write for symphony, chamber orchestra, ballet and so on, who want to enter the world of film music, or want to get into writing for videogames -- all of the places in contemporary music where the electronic entertainment industry is lurking. And what you learn in a conservatory just isn't going to help if your first movie is a contemporary detective story and they want a funk background in the opening scene."
I also attended classes for classical guitar and studied privately,and this is SO true.The majority of students in my classes were LOST when it came to other styles of music...totally.And...take their sheet music away....well,you get the picture.Although i do totally support sight reading,you got to use your ears some too,and "feel" and be familiar with the other styles of music.
And Berklee like all other businesses has to stay afloat financially.So i can see where offering additional courses outside the norm,or old school,would be beneficial.With times like they are,it is amazing their 40% increase in students!But i remember Berklee as a place for those musicians who were seeking a higher form of music/jazz and one that required improv skills and knowledge of substitution and feel....
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/11/building-the-mu.html