Canada’s Joni Mitchell was presented with a honourary doctorate this week from Berklee College of Music.
The 78-year-old icon was described by Berklee president Erica Muhl as “a force for change in the industry, blazing the trail for women in music” during a ceremony at a private home in Santa Monica, California.
“Well, luckily I'm too old to get a swelled head,” Mitchell said. “It's a beautiful event. Words can't describe it.
“I wish my parents were alive. My mother in particular would be really proud of this because she wanted me to go to college. I went to art school and I quit after a year. She thinks of me as a quitter. So to see this achievement would be really impressive to her. I wish I could share it with her.”
Mitchell also reflected on an early piano teacher who chided her for not following sheet music.
“[She said] ’Why would you want to play by ear when you can have the masters under your fingertips!’ And she whacked me across the knuckles with her ruler,” said Mitchell. “So I said to her, ‘But the masters had to play by ear to come up with that stuff.’ And she whacked me again. I wonder if she saw any of this. It’s my moment of revenge.”