Help Get a St David’s Old Boy to Berklee

Dear St David's Community

In April this year, I received the exciting news that I have been accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA with a $16 000 scholarship!

Berklee's tuition and fees are a whopping $45 660, and with the addition of room and board and other living expenses, the cost of attendance comes to $68 680 per year. Incredibly, through the scholarship, together with personal family contributions and sponsorships to date, I have accumulated $46 000 and am now in search of the rest. I need to raise half of this money for the first semester by 1 August 2019, and the remainder for the second semester by 14 May 2020.

You can find a detailed per-semester breakdown here

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About Me

Music has been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember. I am primarily a drummer, with a love for Jazz, Afro-cuban and funk music. I have played in many bands over the years, from high school bands at St Davids, to the Johannesburg Youth Jazz Ensemble and Johannesburg Youth Orchestra, to Musical Theatre productions, and my own projects.

Recently, drumming has taken a back seat and I've been focussing on composition and arranging. I run a small composition company specialising in narrative orchestral music for TV, Radio and Online advertising commercials. Click here to view some of my work.

In addition to working professionally, I am also passionate about teaching. I am a drum kit instructor and band director at St Davids Marist Inanda, where I am committed to inspiring and igniting a love for music in my students. Although my dream is to continue writing music and to eventually work in the film music industry, the need to teach and convey knowledge and musical inspiration will always be an integral part of who I am.

Click here for a detailed write up about myself, my story and my ambitions.

About My Journey With St David's

I am an Old Boy and current staff member of St Davids Marist Inanda. During my time at St Davids, I was thoroughly involved in everything music. I was part of all of the schools music activities and productions, and in my matric year, lead most of the schools musical activities.

Since matriculating, I have been a member of staff at St Davids, taking the marimba bands, teaching drum kit, and arranging for and conducting the school bands and choirs.

The St Davids music department played a huge roll in nurturing my musical development and I wish to always contribute the the future of music at St Davids.

For more detail about my involvement at St Davids as well as some info about my character, see these write-ups by St Davids Head of Music, Chris Luke and Director of Cultural Affairs, Jaco Ferreira.

About Berklee

Berklee College of Music is considered the worlds leading contemporary music college. Berklee has been on my radar since my early years of high school and I have always envisioned myself studying there. As somebody who has already worked professionally in the music industry and has a good idea of what I enjoy doing, Berklee's unique education model is perfectly suited to my needs. It is the only music college in the world to offer a film scoring major at an undergraduate level and so allows me to specialise right from the start of my degree. The Berklee faculty includes professional composers working in the American movie music industry, as well as unparalleled studio and classroom facilities. Beyond all of this, one of the most exciting prospects of becoming a Berklee Student is access to a melting pot of the most talented and driven music students in the world. It is a place where I can collaborate and be on the frontlines of global musical innovation.

You can find my Berklee Letter of Acceptance and Berklee Scholarship Offer here.

Buy an Artwork to Support my Campaign

My stepfather, Gregg Price, has kindly donated 25 prints to this campaign. You can purchase one of these prints by donating $450 or more. You can view a picture of the print in the slideshow at the top of this page.

Gregg Price is a Johannesburg based artist who is represented by the Lizamore and Associates gallery in Rosebank and Art@Africa in Cape Town. He recently opened the Gregg Price gallery in the Karoo town of Nieu Bethesda. This digital drawing is titled "Best Foot Forward" and is one of 25 exclusive unframed prints. Please click here if you are interested in purchasing the print.

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Every contribution, big or small, is a step towards helping me get to Berklee and beyond. Thank you for taking the time to consider my campaign.

Yours in music,

Ciaran de Chaud

*Social media disclaimer: Please refrain from sharing this campaign on social media. Considering the South African context and the amount of need in our community, it feels uncomfortable for me to aim this crowdfunding campaign towards the general public. My intention is to target communities that I am a part of or that I currently contribute to and that I can continue to impact in the future.*