Boston’s Berklee College of Music was on Sophia Scott’s short list of post-secondary possibilities before she attended its five-week intensive summer program, Music Aspire, July 8-Aug. 12. And on that short list it remains. 

The idea to apply for the intensive program came from a musician friend of hers who had attended the program in 2022 and is in his freshman year at Berklee. Scott applied and was awarded a full merit scholarship – for which Scott and her parents, Guy and Cherie, are most grateful. 

Now in her junior year at Lincoln Academy, Scott vividly recalled being in math class when she received the confirmation email. “I was so excited I ran out of the room and called my parents!” 

The program, open to students 15 and older with six months or more experience playing an instrument and/or singing, has a rigorous application process. A virtual audition video is required of the student playing a variety of musical genres. Scott’s classical selection was Julio Sagreras’ “Maria Louisa;” the pop song choice was “So Big, So Small” (from the musical “Dear Evan Hansen”), one original song; and a set of scales and arpeggios. There were also ear training quizzes taken online. 

When Scott arrived at Berklee for the program, there was a placement audition to determine which Berklee class level she was. For this audition, Scott performed an original arrangement of “Remember Me” from the movie “Coco.”  

“I think (the professor) liked it,” Scott said. “She asked about my knowledge of music theory. I had just taken AP music theory at school last year, so I felt confident about it. I placed high in chord and reading labs.”  

Scott was placed in the most advanced musicianship classes and fondly remembered her days as being “super packed.” She enjoyed having classes scattered throughout the days, sometimes beginning at 8 a.m and continuing until 7 or 8 at night. Breaks in the middle of the day gave her time to spend with friends seeing Boston, and late class nights meant enjoying a late dinner with them. 

Her core group of friends hailed from Equador, Peru, Singapore and Philadelphia. 

“The variety in my schedule kept things exciting. It was like you were on your tiptoes the whole time,” Scott said. 

Her core classes focused on guitar. Electives included mobile recording techniques, film scoring and editing; and composing.  

“The culture at Berklee is incredible,” Scott said. “I was placed with a tight group of kids with the same interests, and it was easy to make new friends because we shared the same appreciation for music. We were able to collaborate because we connected on a deep emotional level.”  

Scott and friends played tourist for the first few weeks, visiting the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, checking out the view from the top of the Prudential Center, and going to the New England Aquarium. 

“At the top of the Prudential Center we saw a double rainbow and that same week I saw a second one,” Scott said. “It was magical. I thought this must be a sign! It was super cool.” 

At Berklee, special guests performed for students. Two of the weekly special guest musicians who really struck a chord or two with Scott were American saxophonist Tom Scott, whom she described as ‘one cool musician;’ and Courtney Swain, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer and sound artist from Japan, whom Scott already followed on Instagram. 

Students in the program are placed in ensembles for a “final exam” performance – hundreds happening at Berklee for the final week. The exam gave Scott, who has been writing songs for three years, the chance to arrange (for cello, bass, guitars and three vocalists) and perform an original song, “Steady,” lyrics written several months before Berklee.  

“I consider (‘Steady’) alternative/pop or singer-songwriter. It’s about the unspoken uncertainty we face when we’re young; personal to my self-growth and ways of navigating through change,” Scott said. “I used what I learned at Berklee to create a full musical arrangement.” 

On the last day of the program, Scott recorded another original song, “Ready,” that focuses on “the excitement you feel when your life is blessed with new opportunities …My experience at Berklee has changed my views on the importance of music; it’s about bonding and making others feel something they may not have otherwise.”

Scott’s five weeks at Berklee have motivated her to be more creative. Back at home in Boothbay, Scott wrote 16 songs in three days and has been recording an album in her home studio. She has also been in rehearsal for the upcoming Heartwood Theater Company production of “The Crucible,” opening Oct. 26. 

“I’ve done so much reflecting since I've been back,” she said. “My experience at Berklee led me to a place of self-discovery of who I want to be and what I want my future to look like … It’s a future I can grasp if I keep working hard and continue being strategic in how I plan my musical career.”