By john mirisola Berklee Clinics at Umbria Jazz If you had been strolling the courtyard of Perugia’s San Paolo school any day in mid-July, you might have witnessed this: A young woman picking intently at her acoustic guitar on the cloister's stone bench, rehearsing for an admissions audition. Down the bench, another student holding a phone playing music up to the ear of a third, who is matching the song's saxophone solo note for note on his own instrument. A glorious cacophony of ensembles seeping kick drum–first from classroom doors kept ajar to cool the centuries-old former convent. More young people, from some 30 countries, chatting in various languages, exchanging contact information, favorite musicians, alternate guitar tun- ings, and aspirations. The inimitable voice of Professor Dennis Mont- gomery crossing impossible expanses of pitch to demonstrate for an ensemble of more than 20 sing- ers every vocal part to the 1979 disco smash hit "Ring My Bell." (Montgomery watches the class as he accomplishes this feat. "The look on your faces is priceless," he says. "Don't worry, you'll get used to me." The way their laughter follows—you can tell that's already happening.) Cicadas grinding on overhead like pepper mills in an endlessly shifting minimalist phase. A crowd of students clustered around Zahili Gonzalez Zamora's piano classroom, where an impromptu jam session has erupted from the end of a lesson on the importance of under-cele- brated women jazz pianists. Riffing on Tania Maria's "Yatra-Ta" are three students at three upright pianos, Gonzalez Zamora at an electric piano, and a drummer who'd been passing by the classroom and couldn't resist sitting in. Perhaps the drummer had taken to heart a story bassist Matthew Garrison ’94 shared that week, about his habit at Berklee of carrying his amp around rehearsal spaces and (with permission) hopping into practice sessions that looked like they could use a bass. In short, you would catch a glimpse of the musical ambition, community, and joy that's been overflowing from Berklee's clinics at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, for decades. And you would understand that, even before all the skills gained and scholarships granted and lives transformed, these would be reasons enough to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Berklee's longest continuously running global partnership.
Fabiola Méndez BM ’18, performing at the Berklee in Puerto Rico 30 th Anniversary Concert.
Many students, like Amador once did, return multiple times—testing the waters in year one, dig- ging deeper in year two, and eventually preparing to apply to Berklee. “By the third year, they’ve decided they want to continue their education at Berklee,” he said. “And because of the ecosystem, they get to Berklee prepared.” The program culminated in a 30th-anniversary tribute concert on June 5 at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré in San Juan. The celebration fea- tured performances by alumni and faculty, headlined by saxophonist Miguel Zenón BM ’98, an alum of the college and Berklee in Puerto Rico. Musical director Edmar Colón BM ’15 MM ’16 led the concert, with a lineup including Fabiola Méndez BM ’18, Marcos López BM ’11, David Antonio Rosado Ortiz BM ’24, David Rivera ’08, and Zayra Pola Ocasio ’13. In the audience were students, families, and friends of the program, along with very special guests: Rita Monroe, Larry Monroe’s widow, along- side their son, daughter-in-law, and Rita’s sister, Paula, all gathered to honor Monroe’s legacy following his passing in 2024. During the event, Álvarez was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award for his decades of dedication to the program and to music education in Puerto Rico. As Berklee President Jim Lucchese said at an alumni reception the night before the concert, “The soul of Berklee is deeply connected to Puerto Rico, and it’s also clear—as we’ll see tomorrow night—that the music and soul of this place is deeply connected to Berklee.” Reflecting on the students, Cline shared what she hopes they take away: “Probably the same thing that I was excited about as a student—which is just knowing that there’s a community of people insanely interested in studying music, just like I was. And the knowledge that they’ve found their people.”
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