Lee Eliot Berk

Lee Eliot Berk of Phoenix, AZ, former president of Berklee College of Music, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday October 21. He was 81.

Born on February 17, 1942, Mr. Berk was the only son of the late Lawrence Berk and Alma (Schlager) Berk and grew up in Brookline. Lawrence Berk, founder and first president of the school that is now internationally-renowned as Berklee College of Music. Using a reversal of the names of his son, Berklee became the official name of the institution in 1954.

Mr. Berk earned his bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1964 and his juris doctorate degree from Boston University School of Law in 1966. Following law school he began working at Berklee, serving as bursar, supervisor of the private study division, and teaching courses on music law and copyright issues. He penned the book Legal Protection for the Creative Musician, which won the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Award in 1971 as best book in music. He went on to become Berklee’s vice president, which office he held from 1971 to 1979. During that period he spearheaded the acquisition of new properties in the Back Bay for the rapidly growing school. Of particular note was Mr. Berk’s oversight of the purchase of property on Massachusetts Avenue and development of the site as a combined residence hall, educational facility, and the Berklee Performance Center. Mr. Berk was named the college’s second president in 1979, taking the reins from his father and serving as the college’s chief executive for 25 years until retiring in 2004.

Mr. Berk presided over Berklee College of Music during a period of explosive growth in both student enrollment and educational innovation. During that time, Berklee began offering groundbreaking majors in music synthesis (1984), songwriting (1987), music business (1992), music therapy (1996), and added courses in hip-hop music to the curriculum (1999). In 2002, Berklee Online was established to make the college’s unique curriculum available anywhere in the world.

Mr. Berk also expanded the college’s community outreach efforts in 1991 by establishing Berklee City Music to offer music education and scholarships to underserved youth in Boston. The program has since expanded to include young musicians across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Another initiative was the Berklee International Network (now called Berklee Global Partners) forging articulation agreements with other contemporary music schools around the world. He was also a key member of the group of Boston-area educators, parents, and public officials who founded Boston Arts Academy in 1998, the city’s first high school for the visual and performing arts.

Among the many awards Mr. Berk received for his work are the Hall of Fame Award from the International Association of Jazz Educators; President’s Merit Award for Outstanding Educational Achievement from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammys); and the NAMM Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Music Products Industry. In 2004, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan for strengthening Japanese and American cultural ties. In 2009, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Art from Columbia College Chicago.

Upon retiring, Mr Berk and his wife Susan (Ginsberg) Berk, moved to Santa Fe, NM, and continued working in music. He was appointed commissioner of music for the state of New Mexico by governor Bill Richardson and was involved in the founding of the New Mexico School for the Arts. He and Mrs. Berk also began producing concerts for Friends of Santa Fe Jazz. In 2014, after relocating to Sagewood, a senior living community in Phoenix, AZ, they partnered with other music fans to launch a highly successful concert series they named “Woody’s Place.” Their guest artists over the course of a decade included a range of local and international jazz and classical talent for performances at Sagewood.

Mr. Berk is survived by his wife and soulmate of 48 years, Susan; daughter, Nancy Langan, her husband Jake Langan, and their daughters Rachel, Julia and Louisa; and daughter, Lucy Berk-Fisher, her husband Jon Fisher, and their son Ethan.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 27 at 11:00 A.M. at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington St., Canton, MA. The service will live streamed at: www.tinyurl.com/lee-eliot-berk

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Mr. Berk to Berklee College of Music or Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Giving information can be found at: www.berklee.edu. Donations may also be directed to the Jewish National Fund. Visit www.jnf.org