As light snow fluttered onto Boylston St. on Feb. 10, ethereal acoustic guitar echoed throughout the Red Room at Cafe 939 on Berklee College of Music’s campus. Five Berklee student songwriters were lined up on stage, sharing their original compositions with an audience in the cozy, crimson-walled venue.

Multiple times a year, Berklee’s student-run live music venue, the Red Room, showcases four to five student artists in a songwriters roundtable format, modeled after the famous in-the-round events at Nashville’s Bluebird cafe. Student organizer Chiara Hertsgaard, a member of Berklee’s Songwriting Leadership Council, said she has loved bringing the event to life after performing in one herself the semester prior. She said her role has given her invaluable experience in the live music industry.

“It’s really cool that a lot of the people who work, even the tech in the Red Room, are students,” Hertsgaard said in an interview with The Crimson. “It’s much more fun to be able to work with other students, I think, than to work with faculty.”

Performing at the Red Room gives budding musicians a chance to showcase their work in a professional setting. On Feb. 10, the hour-and-a-half long performance featured student-artists Georgia Mintz, Isabel Arriaga Ayala, Taha Ghazipour, Eden Leach, and Elia Em Schreiber. Though all five performers wielded only an acoustic guitar, their music spanned genres from alternative rock to indie folk. The musicians sang about lost love, coming of age, and being understood — all hallmark themes of the quintessential college experience.

Each artist brought their own touch to their music, weaving their personal histories and styles into their compositions. The night was Schreiber’s second Berklee Songwriters Round event, where learning from her fellow songwriters seemed to be a joy.

“They’re so much fun. I love sitting with all the cool songwriters and listening to everyone play their music, and learning about everybody and their stories. It’s really awesome,” Schreiber said.

Schreiber, 20, grew up in a musical family playing the fiddle. Since arriving at Berklee, she has mostly traded in her fiddle for an acoustic guitar, though wants to return to her bluegrass roots soon. Inspired by Noah Kahan, Schreiber hopes her music can serve listeners in the way they need it most.

“I hope that my music gives people a place to feel safe and like a place to connect, whether or not they’re willing to talk about it with other people,” Schreiber said. “I hope that maybe [by] hearing one of my songs, they can resonate with it and feel comforted.”

Leach, 20, explained that writing music allows them to convey their feelings more easily than they can through talking. After a recent autism diagnosis, they said songwriting has been a “vessel” through which others could understand their experience, even more so than before their diagnosis.

“My siblings were very into sports, and I was [from] a big sports family, and I didn’t really vibe with that,” Leach said. “I just wanted something that was just mine.”

Leach further elaborated on their childhood, where they had to get creative when connecting with others. Here, an appreciation for music began to bud.

“I had a lot of trouble communicating as a kid, and songwriting became a way for me to communicate my feelings to other people,” Leach said.

Arriaga Ayala, 22, aptly wearing a fish t-shirt and seashell necklace fitting their Spanish nickname and stagename, “Pez,” shared the importance of conservation, nature, and connection through her songs. A Game and Interactive Media Scoring major at Berklee by day, she started her lyric songwriting journey last year and has quickly come to love the way she can express herself through words.

“I feel like with the guitar, I’ve been able to be more authentically myself,”Arriaga Ayala said. “Not just with music, but also with lyrics. I’m really proud of the fact that I can do that.”

Ghazipour, 21, is from Iran and had dreamed of coming to the U.S. to pursue music since he was six. He said musicians like Taylor Swift inspired him to share his story and voice through song. Ghazipour said he was looking forward to Berklee Songwriters Round to convey his message of love and freedom to both his fellow songwriters and the audience at the event.

“[It] could be a great opportunity to share stories while playing with other great songwriters, and having enough opportunity to express that vulnerability, even at times that it is hard,” said Ghazipour.

The young talent at the Berklee Songwriters Round was evident to its audience, and the session concluded with raucous applause seeming like it came from more than just the concert’s limited attendees. During the set, Arriaga Ayala played her recently-released single “Loving is Lightning,” and Schreiber debuted her song “Hollow Hills” which is set to be released on Feb. 27. Arriaga Ayala reflected on the intimate experience of the Red Room at Cafe 939 venue.

“Usually the way that I show my music is just, my friends and I are hanging out, then I’m like, ‘Oh, I have a song. Do you want to hear?’” Arriaga Ayala said. “I feel like this is a similar vibe where it’s just, ‘Oh, listen to my songs and let’s all share together.’”

—Staff writer Avani Shah-Lipman can be reached at [email protected].