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 30th anniversary with a concert headlined by Berklee alum 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. Im 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); 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 who 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 for 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 n. I can attest to how transfo
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
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.
