He highly valued the practical application of classroom instruction, yet he guided the development of the curriculum to enable the school to become an accredited, degree-granting institution.
Born and raised in Boston's West End,[1] Berk began playing professionally as a pianist at the age of 13 in dance orchestras led by Ruby Newman, Meyer Davis, and Joe Rines.
[2] With few engineering jobs available during the Great Depression, he moved to New York City, where he became a staff arranger at NBC[3] and studied with music theorist and teacher, Joseph Schillinger.
[5] Under his direction, enrollment in the first nine years increased tenfold,[6] the curriculum expanded to include music education,[7] and alumni began appearing in nationally famous orchestras such as Stan Kenton's.
[6] In the next few years, Berk added jazz musicians such as trumpeter Herb Pomeroy (1956),[8] saxophonist Charlie Mariano (1957),[9] drummer Alan Dawson (1957),[9] and reed player John LaPorta (1962) [10] to the faculty.