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.
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.
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.
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