Berklee College of Music President Roger H. Brown bestowed an honorary doctorate of music degree upon 86-year-old jazz pianist and composer Marian McPartland (pictured) at the Berklee Performance Center on January 11, 2005. McPartland, best known as the host of NPR’s longest-running cultural series, “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz,” was in town to address faculty at the annual Berklee Teachers on Teaching conference. McPartland told stores about her long life in jazz, including anecdotes about her friends Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
“I know so many people from Berklee that to receive this honor is beyond belief,” she said in her acceptance remarks.
McPartland followed the award by performing a piano duet with Berklee professor Bob Winter.
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