Berklee staff builds musicians’ housing in NOLA

Berklee College of Music recently sponsored a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild what was lost in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The trip occurred June 9 to 16 and the Berklee crew was made up of eight of the college’s staff members. The Berklee staff helped build affordable homes in the city’s upper Ninth Ward. The homes are in a Habitat for Humanity housing development called Musicians’ Village.

The volunteers also worked on constructing the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, a community center for residents to study and rehearse music.

This was Berklee’s first school-sponsored staff trip to New Orleans. The school reached out to the NOLA community and musicians soon after Katrina and hosted displaced musicians on campus for teaching and performance residencies.

For more information about the trip and ways that you can contribute, visit www.berklee.edu/katrina.

(Photo: Berklee staff member Jason Clinkscales gets to work on a Musicians’ Village home)

Originally Published June 21, 2007