Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Celebrate 30th Anniversary A special concert event will be held on June 5 to commemorate the milestone.
By
Colette Greenstein and Kelly Wong
February 10, 2025
Berklee in Puerto Rico 2024
Image courtesy of Make Music Happen
Berklee in Puerto Rico is now accepting applications for the program's 30th anniversary, which will be held June 2-8, 2025, at Escuela Libre de M sica Antonio Paoli in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
This year, Make Music Happen celebrates the 30th edition of Berklee in Puerto Rico, and we do so with great satisfaction, recognizing the outstanding talent that has participated in the program, said Luis lvarez '83, founding president of Make Music Happen and a former Berklee trustee. We wholeheartedly thank Berklee for their trust and unquestionable support during these 30 years. Our gratitude goes to the sponsors who made this unique educational opportunitys uninterrupted expansion possible. The results of Berklee in Puerto Rico are real and concrete and will be celebrated during the 30th anniversary concert on June 5.
Image courtesy of Make Music Happen
Image courtesy of Make Music Happen
This partnership is very dear to Berklee. A number of prominent alumni have emerged from this program, and we are deeply grateful for Luis lvarez's unwavering commitment to nurturing the incredible talent from the island, says Jim Lucchese, Berklee's president. We are excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary and look forward to many more years of collaboration and shared success.
Since its inception in 1995, more than 4,000 students have participated in the program. The Berklee in Puerto Rico experience provides students with access to Berklees music syllabus, including music theory, ear training, improvisation, ensemble performance, and instrumental instruction. Over the course of six days, Berklee faculty and special guest artists will provide master classes on composition, arranging, and songwriting. Students will also have the opportunity to audition for admission to the college and scholarships to attend Berklee.
Berklee in Puerto Rico is the second-oldest partnership of the college, said Fernando Huergo, the program's academic director and a professor in the Bass Department. Its impact on a generation of musicians in Puerto Rico and on the Berklee music community is immense. I look forward to being a part of the historic 30th anniversary of the program.
Berklee in Puerto Rico is open to high school and early college-aged students who are residents of the island. Participants must be at least 15 years of age by the start of the program, and have at least six months of study in their primary instrument or voice.
The program will take place daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a team of Berklee faculty, including Fernando Huergo, professor of bass and Berklee in Puerto Rico academic director; Rebecca Cline, professor of piano and a 1997 Berklee in Puerto Rico program student; Yoron Israel, chair of percussion; Eguie Castillo, professor of percussion; Nadia Washington, assistant professor of ear training (vocal instructor); Jeff Claassen, associate professor of harmony and jazz composition (brass instructor); Jim Kelly, professor of guitar; Lauren Sevian, associate professor of woodwinds; Jonathan Suazo, alumni artist (woodwind instructor) and a 2005 Berklee in Puerto Rico program student; and Jason Camelio, assistant vice president of Berklee global programs and partnerships; and special guest artists. The weeklong program will conclude with a final student concert ceremony on June 8 in San Juan at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Caguas.
In addition, Berklee's admissions team will hold auditions for interested applicants for the college's full-time undergraduate program, while other selected students may qualify for scholarships to attend the Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive summer program. Since 2008, Berklee has awarded in excess of $16 million in scholarships to students who have participated in the Berklee in Puerto Rico program. Over 2,000 students from across Puerto Rico have attended the program since 2012, with 139 students enrolled at Berklee as full-time students, and 93 students have attended summer programs.
Notable past participants include Nannette V lez, senior director of programs for the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation; Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning artist Miguel Zen n '98, who is also a 2024-2025 Ken Pullig Visiting Scholar in Jazz Studies; renowned drummer Tony Escapa; and cuatrista and Berklee alumna Fabiola Mendez 18; among others.
Tuition is $95 for the program's standard performance program and $300 for the college-credit performance program. Applications for the Berklee in Puerto Rico 2025 program are now open, with a closing date of April 4. Applicants will receive a decision on April 21. Visit the program page for details on how to apply to the program.
Throughout its existence, Berklee in Puerto Rico has received the support of several entities that have allowed the program to continue its educational mission, including Fundaci n Banco Popular, Liberty Foundation, and the Municipio de Caguas. Other collaborators include Delta Air Lines, HUB International, ALFA 2.0, Good Bunny Foundation, AIREKO Foundation, Cedrela Consulting Group, Supermercados Selectos, RIMAS Music, RIMAS Publishing, Departamento de Educaci n de PR, and PR Links Communications.
ABOUT MAKE MUSIC HAPPEN:
Make Music Happen is a nonprofit organization (501-c3) that aims to cultivate and strengthen the musical talents of Puerto Rican youth. The entity offers a variety of options that provide opportunities to develop the innate musical ability that lies within the island's young people. For more information, visit makemusichappenpr.com.
Related Categories
News
Most Popul
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Celebrate 30th Anniversary A special concert event will be held on June 5 to commemorate the milestone.
