Berklee Abu Dhabi

Berklee College of Music – the preeminent institute of contemporary music and the performing arts in the US – has collaborated with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi to bring a Middle East outpost to Abu Dhabi. 

Berklee Abu Dhabi is located in the Cultural District of Abu Dhabi’s beautiful Saadiyat Island – a world-class leisure, residential, business and cultural hub housing the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural assets, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The former Foster + Partners-designed pavilion, with its instantly recognisable sand dunes shape, has been renovated to house the Berklee Abu Dhabi campus. This gorgeous landmark offers 42,000 square feet of performance space, recording studios, rehearsal studios, practice rooms, ensemble rooms, a multimedia tech lab and more. 

The aim of Berklee Abu Dhabi is to raise the profile of performing arts in the Middle East while empowering students with the skills to forge a career in music, dance and theatre. 

Berklee Abu Dhabi offers world-class educational experiences through workshops, masterclasses, courses, ensembles and labs, all led by world-renowned artists and instructors. They also host live performances from students, alumni and global artists. Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Gael Hedding is the Director of Berklee Abu Dhabi, and singer-songwriter and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mayssa Karaa is serving as Artistic Director.