Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/180042
A Successful Liftoff in Valencia By Mark Small '73 A new milestone: 74 graduates receive the frst-ever Berkleeissued master's degrees in Spain. On July 15, a fresh crop of graduates walked across the stage at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofa in Valencia, Spain, to receive the frst master's degrees bearing the Berklee imprimatur. Among the many noteworthy aspects of the event is that it took place in Spain and not at Berklee's Boston campus. In addition, the new graduates who participated in the inaugural year of Berklee Valencia's one-year graduate programs are an unusually diverse group musically and culturally. They include seasoned professionals, graduates from prestigious international conservatories, and some who earned undergraduate degrees from Berklee's Boston campus before continuing their educational journey in Valencia. All came in search of a unique cross-cultural, musically rich experience. They arrived as strangers but leave as a tight-knit group, transformed musically and personally. Upon hearing about the latest developments in Valencia, some questions have come to the minds of Berklee observers. Why Valencia? Why now? Why these majors? In the pages that follow, we'll shed light on these questions and the contours of the Berklee in Valencia experience. Pioneer Celebration In his remarks to the charter class of Berklee Valencia at the July graduation, President Roger Brown stated, "The world's great innovators, pioneers, entrepreneurs, and artists all have something in common with you: You are prime movers. You had a lot of courage and drive to come join a new program offered in a location new to Berklee." Brown charged the graduates to bring courage and innovation to their work and not to lose sight of the sense of family that they had developed. Indeed, the 74 grads from 27 different countries have forged strong musical partnerships and close personal bonds during nearly 11 months working and learning together in the fedgling program. All shared the feeling of accomplishment and camaraderie of explorers after traversing unknown territory together. Stephen Webber, the program director for the master's degree major in music technology innovation, also addressed the grads at the ceremony. "This is a young campus," he noted. "It has the pulsating, youthful energy of a start-up." Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost Larry Simpson spoke of the administration's goal to create something in Valencia that is very different from the educational offerings of the Boston campus. "The programs you have matriculated through didn't exist before," Simpson said. BecomingTruly Global As with most audacious ventures, there were some bumps on the road to creating Berklee's second campus. For seven years, parties in Spain and Boston worked tirelessly to see the vision coalesce. President Brown speaks of a 2005 visit to his offce by Spanish composer José Mariá Cano as pivotal for solidifying the partnership between Berklee and Valencia. A modern renaissance man, Cano was a member of the Spanish supergroup Mecano and has penned a string of international hits as well as an opera. He is also a celebrated visual artist. Recalling Cano's visit, Brown says, "He convinced me and others that a collaboration between Berklee and Valencia would be a constructive opportunity." Fittingly, Cano was the commencement's guest speaker at the midsummer ceremony. Before Brown and Cano's meeting, however, Larry Monroe, as vice president of Berklee's Offce of International Programs, was bringing Berklee to other cultures and had met with people in Spain who hoped Berklee would build a campus in Valencia. After all, Valencia has deep music traditions and a musical association with 200,000 members. Fully half of Spain's musicians reside in the region. Its proximity to northern Africa, the Middle East, and the rest of Europe could offer musicians in these locales easier access to a Berklee education. President Roger Brown saw the initiative as an opportunity to further develop Berklee's international profle. Various challenges arose in the succeeding years (including the worldwide economic collapse of 2008) making it clear that the approach needed rethinking. Guillermo Cisneros, Berklee's current vice president for global initiatives, and a native of Spain, began leading the Valencia Campus project as its executive director. His task was to redefne the Valencia strategy according to the new environment. After adjusting the project's goals and scope, Cisneros and others agreed that the site for the new Berklee's campus should be the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofa. The celebrated arts complex is a locus for classical orchestras, opera, and ballet, and Berklee—representing contemporary music— would add a new dimension. "It's such an inspiring place," says Cisneros. "It instantly felt like the right home for the campus." In 2010, Berklee's board of trustees approved the Valencia project and as the project gained momentum, others joined the effort. Trustee Ann Kreis invited Susan Solomont, Farah Siraj, and Frank Gelardin, among others, to join her and trustee Luis Alvarez on an advisory board for Berklee's Valencia campus. "Both Luis and Ann had tremendous faith in this project," Cisneros says. "They were an inspiration to the team when we faced obstacles. Ann was really helpful in developing our marketing and our advancement efforts in Spain to draw in sponsors and supporters to help establish funds for scholarships." The architects of the strategy for the Valencia campus decided that the primary emphasis should be graduate programs but that Valencia would offer studies abroad for Berklee undergraduates and summer programs too. Having determined that the music of the Mediterranean area would fgure prominently in Valencia's educational offerings, a Mediterranean Music Institute was launched in 2011 at the Boston campus as Photos by Histeria Producciones Fall2013 23