Afropop Worldwide

When I was student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the mid-1980, it seemed like nobody there had a clue about African music. I’ll never forget bringing a Zimbabwe rumba song into my Latin Jazz ensemble and watching the puzzled faces around the room as instructor and students listened. The response was simply, “That’s not Latin music.”

That was then, and this is now. Over the years, a number of African music instructors have taught at Berklee and the school’s Afropop ensemble is no joke. Among the African artists who studied at Berklee, and went on to great success, is no less than Nigerian superstar Tiwa Savage, who studied there on a scholarship. Savage told CNN, “That experience changed how I saw music. It made me realize that talent alone isn’t enough. Structure, education, and exposure are what allow creatives to compete globally.”

So now, the Tiwa Savage Music Foundation is partnering with Berklee College to expand access to world-class music education in Nigeria. The “Berklee in Nigeria: Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Program” is the school’s first event to happen in West Africa. This is another sign of the ongoing ascendance of African music, and with one of Africa’s leading women in popular music leading the way. Go Tiwa!

Applications for the Berklee in Nigeria: Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Program open February 24, 2026, and close March 20, 2026. The program is fully funded with no tuition required for accepted participants.