Tod Oliviere, Berklee Director of Scholarships and Student Employment, blogs about the Michel Camilo Scholarship Competition in Santo Domingo. For more info on scholarships, check out www.berklee.edu/scholarships.
Michel Camilo jams with one of the applicants.
The second edition of the Michel Camilo Scholarship Competition was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Thursday and Friday, June 7th & 8th. I traveled with Greg Badolato, Assistant Vice President of International Programs and Jason Camelio, Director of International Programs to conduct the auditions and interviews for aspiring Dominican musicians to compete for the prestigious Michel Camilo Scholarship, which covers full tuition to Berklee, housing, and the laptop fee.
Over sixty students submitted an application with a demo CD and we selected the top thirty-one musicians to compete for this scholarship, as well as other partial scholarships to Berklee. We were privileged to have Michel Camilo himself participate in the audition process, and he even played with a couple of the students. What a treat for those students! Many of the students were humbled by the opportunity to perform for such a master musician, which also provided them with incredible motivation to continue to improve their skills as young musicians.
