Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Host 30th Anniversary Concert The event will feature Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning artist Miguel Zen n BM '98, cuatro player Fabiola M ndez BM '18, and other musical guests.
By
Colette Greenstein
April 23, 2025
Students performed at the Berklee in Puerto Rico concert in 2024.
Image courtesy of Make Music Happen
The Berklee in Puerto Rico program will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with a concert headlined by Berklee alumn and Guggenheim and MacArthur fellow Miguel Zen n BM '98 on Thursday, June 5, at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferre in the Sala de Festivales Antonio Paoli in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Produced by Luis lvarez '83, founding president of Make Music Happen, the concert will be led by Berklee alum and musical director Edmar Col n BM '15, MM '16. It will feature a host of Berklee alumni, including cuatro player Fabiola M ndez BM '18, who recently performed with Bad Bunny on NPR's Tiny Desk concert series; multi-percussionist Marcos L pez BM '11, who is currently on tour with Marc Anthony; composer, arranger, and producer David Antonio Rosado Ortiz BM '24; electric bassist Aldemar Valent n PD '99, BM '03; drummer David Rivera '08; flutist Kalani Trinidad '12; vocalist Jeremy Bosch '12; saxophonist Mario Castro '11, and percussionist Zayra Pola Ocasio '13. The evening will also include a performance by a special surprise guest artist.
Listen to a playlist of artists performing at the Berklee in Puerto Rico 30th Anniversary Concert:
With this magnificent concert, we are celebrating the virtuosity of these unique musicians and, most importantly, their commitment to becoming outstanding performers, said lvarez '83, a former Berklee trustee and current vice chair of the Berklee Valencia Advisory Board. They have become best-in-class with conviction, relentless resiliency, inexhaustible energy, and self-discipline. In doing so, they prove to the next crop of young artists that there are no limits to what can be achieved with energy and discipline. This is what we celebrate with the 30th anniversary concert of Berklee in Puerto Rico; this is how we make music happen.
I'm very excited to be part of the concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of Berklee in Puerto Rico, said Zen n. I was part of the very first class in 1995, and it's been a real joy to see the program grow over the last three decades, becoming such an important platform for up-and-coming Puerto Rican musicians. Looking forward to the concert in June.
Berklee faculty will also be well-represented on stage, including Fernando Huergo, professor of bass and the program's academic director; Rebecca Cline, professor of piano and a 1997 Berklee in Puerto Rico alum; Yoron Israel, chair of percussion; Grammy Award-winning percussionist Eguie Castillo; Nadia Washington, assistant professor of ear training (vocal instructor); Jeff Claassen, professor of harmony and jazz composition (brass instructor); Jim Kelly, professor of guitar; Lauren Sevian, associate professor of woodwinds; Jonathan Suazo MM '17, alumni artist (woodwind instructor) and a 2005 Berklee in Puerto Rico student; Caio Afiune, a Brazilian guitarist and composer and associate professor of ear training; and Jason Camelio, trombonist and assistant vice president of global programs and partnerships.
The concert will also feature Berklee in Puerto Rico legacy professors Ron Savage, an acclaimed drummer and vice president and executive director at Berklee College of Music; trumpeter Greg Hopkins, professor of harmony and jazz composition; and Oscar Stagnaro, a Grammy Award-winning bassist and Berklee professor.
Since its inception in 1995, more than 4,000 students have participated in the Berklee in Puerto Rico program, which is anchored by a foundation in Berklees core areas of music instruction, including music theory, ear training, improvisation, ensemble performance, and instrumental training. Over six days, Berklee faculty and special guest artists lead master classes in composition, arranging, and songwriting, while students also have the opportunity to audition for admission to the college and for scholarships to attend Berklee. All artists performing in the concert have participated in the program.
The Berklee in Puerto Rico program changed my life. It opened a new door of possibilities and dreams I didnt even know I had, said Fabiola M ndez. Being a cuatrista and growing up with traditional music, I didnt think of myself as an instrumentalist that was capable of exploring other genres, studying with non-cuatro teachers, or expanding the harmonic and melodic language of my instrument. The program allowed me to challenge these notions about myself, to audition to Berklee and eventually earn a scholarship to attend the college, which then opened a multidimensional path of opportunities and growth that was totally unimaginable.
lvarez, who has been instrumental in creating the program, is also a scholarship donor, supporting talented and deserving students in attending Berklee's full-time programs. He has helped provide more than $350,000 in scholarships to the institution. In recognition of his significant contributions to the Berklee community, lvarez will receive the Berklee Alumni Achievement Award at the 30th anniversary concert. This prestigious honor is presented to alumni for their outstanding accomplishments and lasting impact on the performing arts and beyond. Previous recipients include Abraham Laboriel Jr. '94, Terri Lyne Carrington '83 H '03, and Juan Luis Guerra '82.
I owe a great part of my early musical development to the comprehensive work realized during my time at the Berklee in Puerto Rico program, which I had the opportunity to attend on three occasions, said Col
North America Stories
25/04/2025
YouTube is celebrating its 20th birthday with stats showing how popular the platform has become and by announcing some new features, including the ability for u...
25/04/2025
BALTIMORE Sinclair, Inc. has announced the retirement of Dave Schwartz, its corporate senior vice president/station operations, effective June 30....
25/04/2025
The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has released its popular CertPreview practice exams in a new, online format. SBE CertPreview allows people preparing to...
25/04/2025
ARLINGTON, Texas Two months after naming Tegna station KFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth its exclusive local broadcast partner for WNBA games, the Dallas Wings are expa...
25/04/2025
LOS ANGELES, Calif. Allen Media Group has announced that all 223 U.S. Markets covered by its Local Now FAST Channel are now available on the Vizio WatchFree+ st...
25/04/2025
Working with Shutterstock's AI Editor to Create Unique Images
Brie Clayton April 25, 2025
0 Comments
What's better than a stock image source? ...
24/04/2025
We're huge fans of shining a spotlight on the documentaries that empower, en...
24/04/2025
Highlights*
Revenue of $5.1 billion
Operating margin of 10.2%; Adjusted segment operating margin of 15.6%
Diluted EPS of $2.04; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $2.4...
24/04/2025
For more than 50 years, the company's commercial approach to delivering resi...
24/04/2025
Sonnet Announces Solo5G USB-C to 5 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Brie Clayton April 24, 2025
0 Comments
Compact, Bus-powered Adapter Adds Instant 5 Gigabit...
24/04/2025
Sony Electronics Launches FE 50-150MM F2 GM
Brie Clayton April 24, 2025
0 Comments
The World's Firsti Telephoto Zoom Lens with a Maximum Focal Len...
24/04/2025
Branded cinematic shorts and documentaries have surged in popularity as more companies strategize out-of-the-box ways to connect and engage with audiences. Whil...
24/04/2025
Compact, Bus-powered Adapter Adds Instant 5 Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity to Computers With USB-C or Thunderbolt ports
What's New:
Sonnet Technologies tod...
24/04/2025
Black Box , a leading digital infrastructure solution provider, today announced that its Emerald DESKVUE PE is a remote production category winner in the 2025 ...
24/04/2025
Interra Systems, a leading provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, today announced that its ORION content monitoring ...
24/04/2025
FingerWorks Telestrators continues to be at the forefront of live sports broadcasting with its cutting-edge solutions, supporting major events like NASCAR, the...
24/04/2025
IBC announces the launch of the IBC2025 Innovation Awards, which recognise pioneering advances in technology and social impact in the media and entertainment (M...
24/04/2025
Beam Dynamics will make its MPTS debut this year, showcasing its all-in-one platform designed to streamline workflows across live production, OB, broadcast, and...
24/04/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced that Czechia-based Comprimato, a leader in high performance software encoding and tran...
24/04/2025
CueScript, the leading developer of professional teleprompting solutions, took home two awards from NAB 2025 for its simple yet revolutionary solution that stre...
24/04/2025
Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products and a founding partner in the openGear initiative, added anot...
24/04/2025
Dot Group, European specialists in IBM technologies for the media and entertainment industry, announces its participation at the Media Production & Technology S...
24/04/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage for the AI era, today unveiled a first-of-its-kind unified software appliance developed in collaboration wit...
24/04/2025
Expanded applications for precise timing measurement across broadcast and professional AV sectors
Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audio/video alignment ...
24/04/2025
The Trump administration's efforts to shut down the Voice of America broadcast network were handed a setback this week when a federal court judge ordered th...
24/04/2025
BOSTON and NEW YORK The sports network NESN has announced that it has selected ViewLift provide solutions and technologies to upgrade the viewing and streaming ...
24/04/2025
YouTube is celebrating its 20th birthday with stats showing how popular the platform has become and by announcing some new features, including the ability for u...
24/04/2025
Warner Bros. Discoverys Max streaming service has announced a new U.S. product update introducing an Extra Member Add-On feature....
24/04/2025
Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Host 30th Anniversary Concert The event will feature Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning artist Miguel Zen n BM '98, cuatro...
24/04/2025
Detach Yourself from the Herd': Fito P ez Inspires at Berklee In a session hosted by the Mediterranean Music Institute, the influential Argentine musician...
24/04/2025
April 24th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils Games Program
Featuring World Premieres and Playable Demos of Official Games Se...
24/04/2025
April 24th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announce...
24/04/2025
April 24th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Audio Storytelling Lineup
The Audio Storytelling Program To Kick Off With A L...
24/04/2025
Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertai...
24/04/2025
Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay a...
24/04/2025
Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...
24/04/2025
Back to All News
Crafting a Killer Goodbye to YOU'
The cast of YOU' pictured with fans outside the Mooney's pop-up in New York City. (Credit: Ne...
24/04/2025
Back to All News
You Read That Right: We're Introducing a New Way to Experience Subtitles
Product
24 April 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Fifty ...
24/04/2025
Let me take you behind the scenes of a live sports production that came this close to not making it on air.
It was a quiet Monday-until I got a call from one ...
24/04/2025
Advancing AI requires a full-stack approach, with a powerful foundation of computing infrastructure - including accelerated processors and networking technologi...
24/04/2025
Get the controllers ready and clear the calendar - it's a jam-packed GFN Thu...
23/04/2025
WBD's Max viewership climbs 6%, boosted by The White Lotus' and The Pi...
23/04/2025
March shows a further downward trend of time spent watching television; following the February period when winter holidays contributed to a shorter time spent. ...
23/04/2025
During March, audiences in Mexico increased their streaming usage by 2.1 points compared to the previous month, accounting for 24.4% of TV viewing.
Disclaimer:...
23/04/2025
AANHPI audiences over index the total U.S. for share of time spent with Netflix ...
23/04/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has announced new TVs, new streaming devices and significant upgrades to its user interface and software platforms that are designed to st...
23/04/2025
COW Job Listing: Opportunity for a Passionate Feature Film Editor - London-Based...
23/04/2025
RM Equity Partners Acquires MAGIX Software, Appoints Robert Rutkowski as CEO to ...
23/04/2025
All Men Are Wicked Western Shot with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton April 23, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks were put to the test...
Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Host 30th Anniversary Concert The event will feature Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning artist Miguel Zen n BM '98, cuatro player Fabiola M ndez BM '18, and other musical guests.
