Steven Lipman

Unmatched expertise in music education

Steve Lipman is Founder and President of Steve Lipman Associates, and Inside Music Schools, a college consulting firm founded in Boston, MA. 

Specializing in the field of both classical and contemporary popular music, this  boutique consultancy collaborates with student and their families, private music schools, colleges, summer music camps, music festivals and associations to set goals, drive growth, and help them reach their full potential. The primary activity of SLA/IMS  is working with music students and their families to define dreams, make college choices, and prepare them for the college admission and audition process.

Steve Lipman
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With 40 years of direct experience, Steve most recently served as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Berklee College of Music located in Boston.  It was in this capacity for the past 15 years that he was responsible for developing and overseeing the Admissions Office, Financial Aid Office, and the Office of Scholarships and Student Employment.

Steve is widely known and acknowledged to be the architect of Berklee’s modern-day Admissions Office that he headed up as Director of Admissions from 1976 through 1995.  Under his leadership the college experienced unprecedented growth

as the student body increased from 2,100 students to over 3,000, and now stands at just over 4,000 full-time students.  In addition, Steve was instrumental in organizing and developing the college’s Alumni Admissions Representative Program, expanding its Summer Programs offerings, and helped to found Berklee’s International Network, now comprised of 16 overseas partner schools.

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Steve credits his earlier years as a public school music teacher and then later as a Berklee faculty member, teaching Harmony, Ear Training, and Ensembles, with providing him a unique perspective and vantage point from which to launch a second impactful career in music education and guiding and advising young talent. 

He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the Massachusetts Educators Association (MEA), and the Jazz Educators Network (JEN), and has served on the Advisory Boards of the Association for Popular Music Education (APME), the Chapman Music Institute, and the Lagond Music School.  Steve has been a contributor to In Tune magazine, School Band and Orchestra magazine, and has written blog posts for majoringinmusic.com.

Steve was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY where he attended the New York College of Music with a concentration in classical clarinet before moving to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music from which he received a BM degree in Music Education.

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HISTORY OF SUCCESS

As Berklee's head of Admissions, Steve Lipman enrolled such Grammy winners & nominees as:

  • WILL CALHOUN
    Drummer • Living Color
  • TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON
    Jazz & Studio Drummer
  • VINNIE COLAIUTA
    Studio Drummer
  • AL DIMEOLA
    Jazz Guitarist
  • MELISSA ETHERIDGE
    Pop Vocalist
  • BILL FRISELL
    Jazz Guitarist
  • JAN HAMMER
    Film Composer
  • DONALD HARRISON, JR.
    Saxophonist • Actor “Treme”
  • LALAH HATHAWAY
    R&B Vocalist
  • NEIL JACOBSON
    President • Geffen Records; Interscope
  • DIANA KRALL
    Jazz Vocalist
  • JOEY KRAMER
    Drummer • Aerosmith
  • ABRAHAM LABORIEL, JR
    Rock drummer • Paul McCartney
  • ALEX LACAMOIRE
    Orchestra Arranger • Hamilton, In the Heights
  • DONNY MCCASLIN
    Jazz Saxophonist • David Bowie
  • NATALIE MAINES
    Vocalist • The Dixie Chicks
  • BRANFORD MARSALIS
    Jazz Saxophonist
  • JOHN MAYER
    Pop Guitarist/Songwriter/Vocalist
  • BEN MCKEE
    Bass • Imagine Dragons
  • CHARLIE PUTH
    Singer/Songwriter/Producer
  • KURT ROSENWINKEL
    Jazz Guitarist
  • JOE SATRIANI
    Rock Guitarist
  • JOHN SCOFIELD
    Jazz/Prog Guitarist
  • HOWARD SHORE
    Film Composer
  • DEREK SIVERS
    Entrepreneur • CD Baby
  • STEVE SMITH
    Studio Drummer • Journey
  • ESPERANZA SPALDING
    Bassist/Vocalist/Composer
  • SUSAN TEDESCHI
    Rock/Country/Blues vocalist