The Berklee College of Music will honor Andrew Hill (pictured), Gloria and Emilio Estefan and The Edge (U2) with honorary doctorates at the school’s May 12 commencement. The recipients were chosen for their vast contributions to world music and culture.
Commencement speaker Gloria Estefan will address the graduating class of 850 students and their invited guests at the private ceremony held at the Agganis Arena at Boston University.
In accordance with Berklee tradition, the graduating students will pay tribute to the honorees by playing music “associated with”-those are the words used in the Berklee press statement-Hill, the Estefans and The Edge.
We couldn’t imagine a more complementary group of artists.
Hill, who passed away on April 20, leaves a lifetime’s body of work as a jazz pianist and composer. In past years, he has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America, the JAZZPAR Award and has been named Jazz Composer of the Year four times by the Jazz Journalists Association, most recently in 2006. His string of albums with Blue Note Records during the 1960s has cemented Hill as one of the seminal figures of modern jazz.
Gloria Estefan has sold 70 million albums worldwide since she broke out in 1985 with the Miami Sound Machine, later achieving wild success as a solo artist. Her brother Emilio heads Estefan Enterprises, Inc., managing and producing his sister and many other international artists.
As the guitarist for U2, The Edge has been on board for 14 albums and 22 Grammy wins. In 2005, he co-founded Music Rising, a charity that provides musical instruments for musicians, schools and churches in the Gulf Region.
The Berklee College of Music began issuing honorary doctorates in 1971 when they awarded Duke Ellington the school’s first.
Originally Published
