One time, at band camp, 17-year-old Tasmine Ballentine auditioned
for a singers’ showcase. The Memphis native was one of five vocalists
chosen out of hundreds.
Ballentine, along with fellow Stax Music Academy students Ashton
Riker and Ricardo Canady, recently spent five weeks in Boston as part
of Berklee College of Music’s summer performance camp.
Each received a $4,000 scholarship for the camp from the Berklee
City Music Network, a group that helps inner-city youth afford the
program.
During the five-week camp, students attended private lessons and
gave live performances. Each student was taught to master a particular
style of music ranging from jazz to pop.
“This camp was geared more toward perfecting talents than
performance, like the Stax camp I went to,” Canady said. “In my first
private lesson, I was assessed and critiqued on my jazz technique. From
there, I was given musical pieces to practice.”
Riker began singing songs by Al Green when he was 4 years old. Last
year, he released his first album, “Lady Luck,” on iTunes. A recent
graduate of Ridgeway High School, he plans on taking a semester off to
work on his second album and then attend Berklee on a full
scholarship.
“Berklee is the Mecca of music schools. Thousands of musicians from
around the world come here,” he said. “It was definitely a learning
experience.”
Like Riker, Ballentine is a vocalist. “The most important thing I
learned at Berklee was to always be alert, always work hard, and always
put your best foot forward,” she said.
The only instrumentalist from the group was Canady. He plays the
alto saxophone and graduated from Central High School last year. He
plans on attending the University of Memphis for one semester and then
transferring to Berklee in the spring.
“People were competing for the same scholarships, but the
competition didn’t make people hateful to one another,” Canady said.
“Everybody was unique in their own way and learned from what others had
to offer.”
At the conclusion of camp, the three students played with 20 others
in an ensemble led by assistant professor Winston Maccow. The ensemble
played music by Michael Jackson, Beyonce, and Chaka Khan.
“The music was intense and so was Maccow. You couldn’t make a
mistake,” Canady said. “But it wasn’t like your typical band director
who was down your throat. The musicians were dedicated. We knew we had
to do our work.”
