BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Berklee College of Music alumnus and Berklee trustee Josh Gruss B.M. ‘97 gifted the College $1 million dollars to establish the Josh Gruss/Round Hill Music Endowed Scholarship Fund. This scholarship will support financially and academically deserving students majoring in Music Business and Management.
Gruss is the CEO, chairman, and founder of Round Hill Music, an independent music publishing and record-company and the sixth largest music publisher in the United States. Gruss has a background in finance, having worked in investment banking at Bear Stearns & Co., before founding his own private investment firm, Gruss & Co., in New York City. He has experience in the music industry, having worked at Sony Music, Atlantic Records, and Clear Channel’s Live Music Division. Gruss became the first Berklee alumni to take a company public on the London Stock Exchange, with Round Hill Music’s IPO in November of 2020.
"Josh has always been a staunch advocate of the Music Business/Management Department and music business education in general,” says Tonya Butler, chair of Berklee’s Music Business/Management Department. “My work with him on the MOOC course Copyright and Revenue Streams for Musicians, as well as this incredibly generous gift, are just two of many examples of how much he cares about our students and is willing to contribute his time and money to see them succeed.”
An active member of the Berklee community, Gruss attended Berklee on campus from 1995 to 1998 to study guitar and music business. He has since taken over a dozen Berklee Online classes. Gruss has been a Berklee Trustee for seven years, where his influence and leadership has helped guide Berklee into a new era of success. He has personally supported the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs), where students will be able to sample the Berklee experience for free. Gruss has utilized his extensive experience in the music industry, participating in numerous panels and webinars for the College. Gruss’s Round Hill Music company employs a number of Berklee alumni and student interns annually. He also plays guitar in the Boston-based rock band Rubikon, and has performed at The Red Room on Berklee’s Boston campus. Gruss also helped establish Berklee’s partnership with Rimon School of Music, a program that enables students to begin their music education at Rimon in Israel, and complete an undergraduate degree at Berklee in Boston.
The Josh Gruss/Round Hill Music Endowed Scholarship Fund will aid multiple students on an annual basis with financial assistance in pursuing Music Business and Management degrees. The Fund seeks to assist students from underrepresented groups who are financially and academically deserving, and will be chosen on a committee basis.
“After all that Berklee has done for me, to help develop me as a musician and a music business person, it’s a thrill to be able to give back,” says Gruss. “Diversity and equality are core values of Round Hill, and so it is wonderful that the Round Hill scholarship will help ensure underrepresented students get financial aid to come to Berklee.”
For more information on all available scholarship programs at Berklee, please visit the Berklee Scholarships Website.
About Berklee
Berklee is the preeminent institute of contemporary music and the performing arts, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs at its campuses in Boston, Massachusetts, and Valencia, Spain, and through its award-winning distance learning program, Berklee Online. Dedicated to nurturing the creative and career potential of the world's most inspired artists, Berklee's commitment to arts education is reflected in the work of its students, faculty, and alumni—hundreds of whom have been recognized with GRAMMY®, Tony, Oscar, and Emmy Awards. At Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, students explore interdisciplinary approaches to music, dance, theater, film, business, healthcare, education, technology, and more. Our pioneering youth programs reach underserved classrooms throughout the U.S. and beyond. With students and alumni from more than 100 nations and educational partners across the world, we are forging new connections among art forms, musical traditions, and technologies to build a dynamic, diverse, and collaborative global arts community. Learn more at berklee.edu.