Homegrown musicians from all over Africa gather at auditions for scholarships to the Berklee College of Music. The Africa Scholars Program, as the scholarship is called, offers a four-year, full scholarship, to begin in 2009. It was established by Berklee's president, Roger H. Brown, and his wife, Linda Mason, both of whom have worked extensively in Africa. Many of the students attending these tryouts come from rural musical traditions and have had little access to the sorts of skills American students might consider essential. "We're looking for their potential," says Michael Shaver, assistant director of international admissions, who has come to Accra and Durban to conduct interviews. "We're discovering that in Africa the ability to read music is very limited--but their ability to play by ear, and hear the notes, is amazing. In a classical musician, you might see the opposite."