Kids display confidence, dedication at Berklee

(NECN: Scot Yount, Boston, Mass.) - For over five years, faculty and alumni from Berklee College of music have been working side by side with students in Boston Public schools. Their goals: To refresh those music programs that have fallen by the way side due to a lack of resources. Tonight -- those students who have benefited put their talents on display. There have been countless studies that show that learning to play music increases brainpower. But it also inspires confidence and a kind of dedication that is hard to describe. All of these things on display on this night on a Berklee stage. Careful rehearsal. Dedication and discipline. They are the hallmarks of any intense study. But these kids from Boston’s Public schools have found much more. It is called Berklee City Music, and it is a program where the popular musical college goes out into the community, in this case five Boston Public schools, to find talent and nurture it. The program sends Berklee staff out in the community to supplement school music programs that are being cut now, more than ever. For its part, Berklee pumps about $145,000 into the program each year, students get private lessons, directed ensembles and the chance to perform, which can be a life changing event. Gregory Suplice is a case in point. He had been expelled headed down the wrong path by his own admission, until he discovered that that horn, could speak for him. And so on this night, kids from all over the city come together to celebrate their opportunity and talents. "Just very exciting to have all the schools come together and have all the schools come together and continue to learn from one another." And pass it on.