Berkleemusic, the online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music in Boston, has named Debbie Cavalier as its new CEO, overseeing strategy and vision for the online school. Cavalier, a Berklee alumna and the principal behind the award-winning children’s band, Debbie and Friends, brings a wealth of experience to her new position at Berklee.
In her previous role as Dean of Continuing Education at Berklee, Cavalier oversaw the development of the school’s entire online curriculum and was instrumental in building the online catalog from the four online music courses that launched in 2002, to the more than 130 online courses and multi-course certificate programs covering all areas of music education, including performance, music production, orchestration, music business, songwriting, liberal arts, and more.
The appointment comes as Berkleemusic celebrates its 10th anniversary, and its recent selection by Google Inc. to join the inaugural group of YouTube Marketing Ambassadors, one of only nine organizations worldwide to be tapped for this honor.
“When we launched Berkleemusic in 2002, there was a fair amount of speculation that it simply wasn’t possible to teach music online,” says Cavalier. “We have not only proven it’s possible, we’ve been recognized by our peers for the quality of our curricula. Our online courses have won UPCEA’s ‘Best Online Course,’ award, which judges the quality of online courses from all colleges and universities representing all disciplines, for eight years running.”
Berkleemusic reports an enrollment of more than 30,000 students from more than 150 countries, and nearly 35,000 subscribers to its YouTube Channel, with more than 17 million video views, ranking fifth among more than 400 universities in the U.S. and Canada.
“The music industry is in the middle of a massive shift,” says Cavalier. “Our goal at Berkleemusic is to support this evolution, and prepare musicians worldwide for the industry of the future.”
Berkleemusic’s next term begins on September 24.
Read more about Cavalier at Billboard.biz.
Visit Berkleemusic at berkleemusic.com.
