P.E.I. musician earns $19K in scholarships to study at Berklee

Deana Joka is heading to Boston to study bass at the Berklee College of Music, and she couldn't be more excited.

Joka graduated from the School of Performing Arts at Holland College in Charlottetown in 2013, but wasn't sure what she could do with her bass-playing skills.

She took a few years away from music, worked in retail, but then one day she picked up a guitar again and knew she had to pursue her music dreams.

"I just felt myself connecting and going into a whole different world whenever I played any instrument," said Joka.

"Ever since I picked up this bass I've been in love with it. I haven't wanted to stop playing it. It's like this drive that's within me."

From campus tour to audition

She made the connection with Berklee through an agreement the school has with Holland College.

It was amazing because, Berklee, it's the dream. It's where I want to go and I'm still in shock. Deana Joka

She went on a tour of the Boston campus, and knew she had to try to study there. But her marks weren't strong enough, so she returned to Holland College and retook some of her courses.

"It really does pay off to work hard," said Joka.

With her improved transcript she landed an audition at Berklee. She found herself sitting in a room with 300 other young musicians, waiting for her name to pop up on a screen. When it did, she was taken to another room where she was given some sheet music and 15 minutes to warm up.

'It was really stressful'

In the audition she was asked to play some scales and do some sight reading, and she started to loosen up.

"Overall it was really stressful up until the point I was in there and then it was just awesome," she said.

"One of the guys picked up a guitar and just started playing with me, so that was really cool. I played one of my original songs for them too and they seemed to really like it.

Apparently. On the strength of her audition Berklee gave her a $9,000 scholarship. She was later awarded a Berklee International Network Augmentation Award of $10,000.

"It was amazing because, Berklee, it's the dream. It's where I want to go and I'm still in shock," she said.

The scholarships are a huge help, said Joka, because money was her biggest concern when she decided to return to her studies.

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