BOSTON -- Many people whose livelihoods make up the backbone of New Orleans are just beginning to figure out how to start over with virtually nothing.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Boston's Berklee College of Music is helping the Crescent City find its harmony again.

There was a piano on fire at Berklee Monday -- under the virtuoso hands of New Orleans jazz great Henry Butler, who escaped the wrath of Hurricane Katrina but lost everything, including his beloved 1925 Mason and Hamlin grand piano.

"When you lose lots of possessions and you have to restart, it's kind of overwhelming for a while," he said.

Berklee faculty members were on stage for a jazz clinic with Butler. The pianist, blind since birth, is one of the first to arrive as part of the school's New Orleans Visiting Artist Program. The program, funded through private contributions, is intended to help jazz masters who have been displaced by the hurricane.

"Our hope is to bring musicians for a week or two, work directly with our students, and the vision for the year really is that Berklee really has a great opportunity to have a year long history lesson in New Orleans music and New Orleans jazz," Berklee College of Music's Karen Zorn said.

"This institution has done some wonderful things for musicians in the past. I've known some wonderful people who've come from Berklee so why not get my hands in it? Let's get my hands in it and see if I can make a contribution to some people's lives even if it's for a short time," Butler said.

Berklee said that its New Orleans fund has started with $50,000, which will allow for about eight visiting artists to come to Boston.