Krystal Banfield

Krystal Banfield was appointed last semester as director of Berklee City Music Boston. Banfield will provide broad oversight and direction for academic and service components of City Music Boston, as well as the music mentor program. In addition, she will provide specific oversight for the faculty outreach initiative and scholarship programs.

“It was important for us to find someone with the right experience, vision and national presence to take the Boston program to its next level, as the college introduces City Music on a national level,” said J. Curtis Warner, Jr., Berklee College of Music assistant vice president for external affairs and executive director for Berklee City Music.

A native of Detroit, Banfield previously served as director of education and community partnerships for the internationally prominent St. Paul, Minn.-based choral arts organization VocalEssence. She has also assisted in producing national and international concert and education projects at Indiana University-Bloomington with the African American Arts Institute and the Latin American Music Center, and with the Charlin Jazz Society in collaboration with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Washington Performing Arts Society.

Banfield has performed as a concert recitalist and opera soloist across the United States, Canada and Europe, and she has recorded on the INNOVA label. She holds a bachelor of music education degree from Howard University, a master’s of music degree from Indiana University-Bloomington, and a doctorate in education with concentrations in curriculum development and educational leadership from the University of St. Thomas-Minneapolis.