This year, Berklee awarded City Music Summer Scholarships to 60 outstanding young musicians from the United States and Canada, one of those students is Helpy Castano from Lawrence.
A native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Helpy Castano will be attending Five-Week to study percussion. He has participated in Berklee City Music Boston for one year. “This experience has changed me in many ways—it has given me hope and strength and taught me things I never knew,” said Castano.
These students, who must be nominated by a Berklee City Music full-member site, have received full-tuition scholarships valued at $4,345 to Berklee’s Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive (Five-Week) program, taking place virtually from July 11 through August 14. Five-Week is one of the world’s most comprehensive summer performance programs, providing students with one-on-one instruction from Berklee faculty and special guests, including Esperanza Spalding B.M. ’05, Jacob Collier, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Victor Wooten, among others.
Berklee City Music enables youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially, and emotionally, primarily through the study of contemporary music and the performing arts. Founded over 25 years ago by Berklee College of Music, the organization reaches over 55,000 students annually through a variety of programs and initiatives including the Berklee City Music Network, Berklee City Music Boston, and the innovative online Berklee PULSE Music Method. By using culturally relevant music as a vehicle for holistic youth development, City Music helps young people flourish as students, musicians, performing artists, and—perhaps most importantly—confident and well-rounded individuals ready to shape the world.