Musical genius A.R. Rahman will be conferred an honorary Doctorate by the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Boston today (Oct 24) at a glittering event.
In recognition of his two decade-long musical legacy, the double Oscar and Grammy winner, best known for his original scores and songs from movies like Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Elizabeth:
The Golden Age and Million Dollar Arm, Rahman will receive the honour where the students and faculty will perform songs, paying tribute to his memorable compositions. Reportedly, Rahman will also join them for select pieces.
In honour of Rahman’s new relationship with Berklee, the college will establish a scholarship in his name to help bring in students from India. All proceeds from the October concert will go toward this scholarship fund, the college statement reads. In addition to his performance, Rahman will conduct a master class at the Berklee Performance Centre.
“I’m deeply moved to receive an honorary doctorate from such a distinguished school which has contributed so much to the world of music,” Rahman said earlier. “I’m especially proud and honoured that the college is graciously establishing a scholarship in my name for future generations of musicians to follow their dreams,” he added.
Rahman’s visit comes in conjunction with the Berklee India Exchange, a new endeavour, aiming to connect Berklee students of all nationalities with successful players in the Indian entertainment industry.
Berklee College of Music President Roger H Brown had said, “A friend from India described A. R. Rahman to me as John Williams and Sting rolled in one a leading film composer and a wildly popular, brilliant songwriter and performer. We welcome him to Berklee, where the college and our students look forward to paying our respects.”
When guitarist Prasanna applied to attend Berklee in 1993, he asked none other than A. R. Rahman to write him a letter of reference. Rahman agreed, and the letter “is a lovely memory for me now”, recalls Prasanna.
A 60-piece Berklee student and faculty ensemble will honour Rahman’s two-decade-long musical legacy, which not only includes distinguished soundtracks and film scores, but also compositions for the 2012 Olympic Games and collaborations with iconic artistes like Mick Jagger, Michael Bolton, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Will.i.am.
Fusion Touch
The Jiya Jale number from ARR’s film, Dil Se, which starts with its Tamil lyrics, Nenjinile Nenjinile from the Tamil version, Uyire, with a fusion of several musical instruments was performed by the Berklee Indian Ensemble.
This video, in gratitude to Rahman’s contribution to the music world, has been trending on YouTube. Touched by their gesture, Rahman wrote on his microblog recently as follows, ‘Immensely talented students as part of the Berklee Indian Ensemble performing one of my songs’.
The event will be streamed live on the site www.concertwindow.com at 8 pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), which will be around 5.30 am IST on October 25.
