To anybody who found their way on this page, hello!

First and foremost, thank you so much for taking the time to read this. It means so much to have your support as I embark on this new chapter as a student at Berklee College of Music.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Clara Bianchi. I'm 24 years old and from a small village in Tuscany, Italy. I am delighted to share with you that at the Umbria Jazz Festival 2025, during the Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics, I was selected through audition for a full-tuition scholarship to attend Berklee’s undergraduate program.

My tuition is covered by Berklee. My remaining need is for the required non-tuition costs that allow me to actually attend: housing, meals, health insurance, fees, books/software, travel, and basic living expenses. My first-year funding goal is $29'150 by January 2027 for the I-20 / visa process.

Why Berklee

Berklee is widely regarded as one of the best music schools in the world, with alumni such as Quincy Jones, Charlie Puth, Alan Silvestri, John Mayer and so many more.

No words can describe what it means to me to receive this recognition from the institution of my dreams.

Whilst I’m still processing that it’s real, going to Berklee is something I feel I have been gradually working toward for a long time. My entire life has been dedicated to music, when at eight years old I approached the saxophone in the Siena Jazz youth program, then attending the pre-academic course, music high school and Siena Jazz University.

I participated in Umbria Jazz from 2017 to 2019 with the Berklee Clinics, winning a scholarship to attend the five-week Aspire program in Boston in 2022, where I got my first approach to songwriting. That same year, I continued my studies at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona with a scholarship from the Erasmus program.

Moving to Barcelona expanded my world, and with it, my love for music. Years working in a recording studio and collaborations with film students got me into music production, composition, film scoring and sound design.

In the spring of 2025, I decided to return to the Umbria Jazz Clinics for one last time.

To give absolute credit where it is due, if it wasn’t for my dad I never would have gone. I was in Barcelona working my way in the music scene and I never thought for a second what would happen if I got a full-tuition, not in a rational way anyway. Or that I could ever afford to live in Boston.

At the end of the award ceremony, hearing my name get called onto the stage felt like a hazy fever dream.

Why I need your help

Berklee College of Music has been my dream since I was a child, and I owe it to myself and all the work that has brought me this far to find a way to catch this train.

However, with this life changing offer, comes the high cost of attendance. Whilst it is a difficult task to ask kind strangers for money in this situation, I simply can’t let this pass me by.

To begin the student Visa process by January, I must demonstrate the financial means to complement the scholarship, this entails showing proof of funding for at least the entire first year of study.

I therefore need to raise the first-year living and Visa-required funds by January 2027, so I can complete the I-20/F-1 Visa process and begin my studies in Boston in May 2027.

While my scholarship and acceptance initially were for the Fall 2026 semester, in order to collect the funding necessary in time to go I had to defer to the last possible semester to ensure my dream stands a chance to be realised: Summer 2027.

This is my only chance to seize this shooting star of an opportunity.

The total expected fees to attend Berklee for a year are $83’170. The full-tuition scholarship I have been awarded covers $54’020 of it. Which leaves me $29'150 short, still a great way off.

What the funds will help cover

Your donation will help with:

• Housing and meals in Boston

• Berklee health insurance

• Student fees

• Books, softwares and materials

• Laptop and school supplies

•Travel and basic living expenses

_ You can find the full fee breakdown shared by Berklee in the pictures _

As an international student, it’s nearly impossible to get student loans in America.

I will also be on a F-1 student Visa, which means my working options will be extremely limited. As of my current situation I will therefore need to renew the campaign for each of the four years of study.

This is a huge amount of money for anyone to raise, so anything you can do to support me, no matter how small, will really change my life. I’m still pinching myself that I have the opportunity to attend this school. Now I just need the chance to go.

How You can help

Please consider making a donation and sharing this campaign with your community: musicians, teachers, artists, jazz lovers, Italian and American circles, local businesses, clubs, foundations, and anyone who believes in helping young artists step into their future.

If you cannot donate, sharing this page is already a meaningful gift.

Share this link as far and wide as possible, you never know who might stumble across it.

This is the moment where a dream becomes possible, not through one miracle, but through many hands, many hearts, and many people saying: yes, go.

Thank you for believing in me, my music, and this next chapter.

With gratitude,

Clara x

If you'd like to read more about Berklee: https://college.berklee.edu/film-scoring/bachelor-of-music-in-film-scoring

If you'd like to read more about the fee breakdown: https://www.berklee.edu/financial-aid/cost-attendance