Andrew Hill - Honorary Doctor of Music

Berklee College of Music President Roger Brown will present the first couple of Latin pop, Gloria and Emilio Estefan; U2 guitarist and songwriter The Edge; and legendary jazz pianist Andrew Hill with Honorary Doctor of Music degrees at Berklee College of Music's Commencement on Saturday, May 12 at the Agganis Arena at Boston University. Commencement speaker Gloria Estefan will address more than 850 Berklee graduates and their invited guests at the 7,000-seat venue.

This year's Honorary Doctorate recipients - the Estefans, The Edge, and Hill - are being honored for their achievements in the world of music, and for their enduring contributions to American and international culture. Past recipients include Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Dizzy Gillespie, Patti LaBelle, Steven Tyler, Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Nancy Wilson, David Bowie, Michel Camilo, Chaka Khan, Loretta Lynn, Quincy Jones, Bonnie Raitt, and Ahmet Ertegun.

On commencement eve, as is Berklee's tradition, students will pay tribute to the honorees by performing music associated with the Estefans, The Edge, and Hill at the Agganis Arena.

Legendary pianist and composer Andrew Hill has been defying categorization for over four decades with his enigmatic and sophisticated musical style. He has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the 1960's jazz heroes,” and is alternately referred to as a genius and a master by critics and colleagues alike. He has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America, received the JAZZPAR Award, and has been named Jazz Composer of the Year four times by the Jazz Journalists Association, most recently in 2006. A champion of Hill's music, the late Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion proclaimed Hill his “last great protg” and produced his early classics for the label, including Point of Departure. Hill's latest release, Time Lines (Blue Note,), was voted Best Jazz Album by DownBeat magazine. This year, Hill joined the ranks of such lauded composers as Stravinsky, Copland, Elliott Carter, David Benoit, and Chick Corea, by signing with renowned music publisher Boosey & Hawkes.

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