By Colette Greenstein Berklee in Puerto Rico
composer, Álvarez envisioned a summer program aligned with the Heineken Jazz Festival—now the Puerto Rico Jazz Festival—so students could learn from Berklee faculty by day and see them perform by night. Monroe, who spent four decades at Berklee as a faculty member, department leader, dean, and vice president, helped turn that vision into a reality. Alongside Gary Burton ’62 ’89H, Monroe helped launch Berklee on the Road, the broader initiative that gave rise to Berklee in Puerto Rico. The 2025 program ran from June 2 to 8 at Escuela Libre de Música Antonio Paoli in Caguas. Each day, students buzzed between sessions on music theory, improvisation, ensemble performance, and more. Outside, they gathered in the courtyard to rehearse and connect; inside, classrooms pulsed with rhythm and discovery. For many Berklee faculty, the program is just as meaningful for them as it is for the students. Eguie Castrillo, percussionist and Berklee pro- fessor, has returned every summer since 2004. “The students are amazing,” he said. “It’s a way for me to give back.” Rebecca Cline, professor of piano, first attended the program as a student in 1996 and now returns each year to teach. “I really like finding people who are looking for the same thing I was looking for,” she said. “I have a real soft spot in my heart for the island. It’s part selfish and part wanting to give back. This place really gave me my start.” The program also serves as a pipeline to Berklee itself. Students can audition for admission and scholarships during the weeklong intensive, and many go on to attend the college. One of them is Rubén Amador BM ’01, who took part in the inaugu- ral year and now leads the Conservatorio de Artes del Caribe (CAC), Berklee’s Global Partner school on the island.
On a warm June afternoon in Caguas, Puerto Rico, 17-year-old violist Sergio Ortiz stood outside an open-air classroom, run- ning scales he’d just learned from a Berklee faculty member. For Ortiz, returning to Berklee in Puerto Rico for a second straight year felt like stepping further into his future. “I wanted to expose myself to other things,” Ortiz said, “and I was like, ‘Let’s try something new.’” A fan of jazz, he soaked up lessons in improvisation and theory—material that, he said, blew his mind. Even a class geared toward woodwind players offered unexpected insights; Ortiz adapted breath- ing techniques from instructor Jonathan Suazo and incorporated them into his own practice. For three decades, Berklee in Puerto Rico has provided exactly that kind of inspiration and dis- covery. Founded in 1995 by music educator and former Berklee trustee Luis Álvarez BM ’83, in part- nership with the late Larry Monroe ’69, the program has introduced more than 4,000 young musicians to Berklee’s signature approach: rigorous musical training paired with live performance and mentoring from top-tier artists and faculty. The idea was sparked by Álvarez’s own Berklee experience in the early ’80s, where faculty blurred the lines between classroom and stage. A bassist and
Berklee alumni and guest artists performing at the Berklee in Puerto Rico 30 th Anniversary Concert. Dariel Peniazeck (Electric Guitar) Kalani Trinidad '12 (Tenor Sax) Marcos López '11 (Timbales) Hommy Ramos (Trombone) David Antonio Rosado Ortiz '24 (congas) Julio Alvarado (Trumpet - behind Marcos)
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