Graduate to give singing performance
Vocalist Katie Locke is going to rock at her graduation from Boston's Berklee College Of Music.
Commencement speaker Melissa Etheridge and legendary singer Aretha Franklin will receive honorary doctorates Saturday, and Katie, a 2002 Manatee High alum, will share the spotlight in tonight's pre-commencement concert at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena.
She'll sing an Etheridge song during a tribute to the Grammy winner, and sing backup for Franklin, the Queen of Soul.
"And we're topping it off by going to a Red Sox game," said mom Becky Hollinger.
Katie is graduating summa cum laude and seeks to further her career in New York City.
Katie Locke: Press
Katie Locke is a student at Berklee who writes for the Groove. (Isn't it great to work at a place where the student newspaper is called the Groove?) Katie called shortly after the announcement of my selection as president and asked for an interview. I agreed on the condition that after she interviewed me, I could interview her.
I learned that Katie grew up in the town of Bradenton, Florida, had a happy childhood with a supportive family, but felt she never quite fit in at school. While the other students were worried about what prom dress to wear or who won the football game, she was revoicing chords to Tori Amos songs.
She discovered Berklee at the Florida all-state chorus and knew instantly it was the place for her. One teacher asked why she would throw away her 3.7 GPA to study music. But as all our students do, she persevered even though some voices around her "shouted their bad advice," in poet Mary Oliver's words, to which I will return again.
When she arrived at Berklee, she felt instantly at home, walking down Berklee Beach (which for those of you new to us, is the stretch of Massachusetts Avenue that showcases guitars, basses, impromptu a cappella singing, Mohawks, and assorted avant-garde grooming trends).
She took a trolley to the Fordham Road practice facility that first week of school with dozens of students who jammed for hours in a small room on every conceivable instrument. Katie thought, "I'm home, they love this as much as I do!"
Many of our students relate to this story. They come to Berklee and discover there is nothing wrong with them, that they are swans who have been swimming with ducks.