Berklee’s Songs For Social Change Awards 2020 Contest Winners

The Songwriting Department and Berklee’s Songs for Social Change initiative announced results of its 2020 Songs for Social Change Contest. This year, the contest received 90 submissions of original student songs from around the world. Winning songwriters and those acknowledged in the contest’s showcase, honorable mentions, and judges shout outs hail from 16 U.S. states as well as Australia, England, Hong Kong, India, Macedonia, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, and Spain.

The Songs for Social Change Contest, which has been held annually for more than 10 years, encourages Berklee students to write songs expressing their convictions about social issues of concern to them and promoting positive social change.

Gayathri Karunakar Menon, a double major in contemporary writing and production and songwriting from Doha, Qatar, won first place for her song “Privilege to Dream.” Second place was awarded to songwriting major Alexandra Riordan, from Newcastle, Australia, for her song “Listen and Love.” Third place resulted in a tie, with awards to songwriting major Samuel Foster from Issaquah, WA, for his song “Ghost on the Sidewalk,” and professional music major Madison Simpson of Concord, NH, for her song “Quilt too Big to Fold.”

"It's an honor to have my story heard and acknowledged. It is a sign that our community is open-minded and willing to listen to those with diverse stories,” said Menon of winning the contest. "My family immigrated to Qatar [from India] in the 90's. This song is about our experiences as people who aren't citizens of the country they call home. While we love our lives there, we're deprived of rights like complete ownership of property and business. Much of our status there depends on our livelihood, and we live in constant uncertainty."

The contest, originally established by a gift from the Luongo family, has received endowed funding from Berklee faculty member Kevin Block-Schwenk, associate professor in the Liberal Arts Department. Block-Schwenk has donated more than $175,000 to the contest—the largest financial donation Berklee has received from a current faculty member. He created an endowed fund in order to increase the top awards to $1,500 for the first place song, $1,250 for 2nd place, and $1,000 for 3rd place, and to provide a $300 honorarium for artists chosen for the showcase.

“The extremely high quality of showcase performers reflects the talent and inspirations of the students, as well as the robust judging process led by professor Mark Simos and assisted by many other faculty judges,” said Block-Schwenk. “Their process, by now a complex and finely-tuned machine, ensures that we get to see the best of the best.” Block-Schwenk has also made an additional matching fund grant up to $15,000 for contributions to the Songs for Social Change Contest through the end of 2021—$5,000 towards the match has already been donated by faculty member Pat Pattison.

Listen to some of the top songs in the Songs for Social Change 2020 playlist.

Normally, the contest and a live event showcasing the winners are held during the spring semester. When the coronavirus forced the world to operate remotely, adhering to the original contest timeline and showcase plan became impossible. Simos and the other organizers— including fellow faculty members Joe Bennett, Daniel Cantor, and Christiane Karam—quickly adapted by extending the submission deadline and organizing a Facebook live event to showcase the winners. Watch the Songs for Social Change 2020 showcase.

Read the full story about all of the Songs for Social Change winners.