About Berklee

As the premier destination for the study of contemporary music and the performing arts, Berklee stands as the culmination of two pioneering institutions, each recognized for its global reach and cultural impact. Founded in 1867, Boston Conservatory is the oldest and one of the most prestigious conservatories in the U.S. for dance, music, and theater. Berklee College of Music opened its doors in 1945 and was founded on jazz and popular music rooted in the African cultural diaspora. In 2016, the two schools joined forces, establishing a diverse and comprehensive performing arts powerhouse unparalleled in its breadth and depth.

This shared history makes for an institution that blazes trails in music and performing arts education. Boston Conservatory was the first school of its kind to grant undergraduate degrees in all three major performing arts disciplines: music, dance, and theater. The College became the first to offer courses and/or degrees in rock, pop, and hip-hop; songwriting; film and video game scoring; music synthesis; and electronic digital instruments.

Berklee continues to integrate and find connections between its historical roots and the contemporary worlds of music, dance, and theater. With a mission to educate, train, and develop students to excel in the performing arts as a career, Berklee is a place where artists come together to innovate, and where artistic and cultural diversity is embraced and celebrated. This ethos permeates all aspects of Berklee—from teaching and learning to administration and governance—and is fundamental to the Berklee experience.

With an eye on sustainable growth in a global context, Berklee cultivates its own promise by expanding and reinventing itself in a rapidly changing world. In recent years, Berklee has opened new campuses in New York City and Valencia, Spain, and grown Berklee Online into the world's largest online music school.

Berklee aspires to transform contemporary music and performing arts education and empower artists to better our world. Building an inclusive culture that promotes diversity in all its forms, Berklee forges new connections among art forms, musical traditions, technologies, and institutions, creating a dynamic global network that fosters innovation, collaboration, and community.

Berklee's YouTube channel is the most viewed college/university channel in the world, with more than 400 million views and over 1.6 million subscribers.

An Unparalleled Institution

Each learning environment at Berklee brings distinctiveness to the whole and creates a portfolio of opportunities to deepen and broaden the Berklee experience of every student and all members of the faculty and staff.

Berklee's different learning environments serve the wide range of interests and aptitudes of its artistic student body.