The Dominican has a natural talent for music and when faced with a stimulus such as the opportunity to develop that aptitude in international study centers, he has the chance to magnify.
That is what a group of people from the artistic and business area are looking for, for which they have created scholarships to carry out short studies at the Berklee College of Music, in the city of Boston, in the United States.
The AES Dominicana Foundation has an alliance with the center for musical studies in which it has allowed some 30 Dominican students to obtain scholarships.
This beautiful adventure began in 2014, Javier Vargas, Director of Popular Music National Conservatory of Music, invited Edwin de los Santos, president of the AES Dominicana Foundation, told him about the scholarships offered each year by the Boston school, and from there They began to see how the entity that heads the second could get involved. “We saw an opportunity to support these talented young people,” said De los Santos, who, along with Vargas, visited LISTÍN DIARIO.
They explain that these scholarships for summer studies are for courses that have a duration of five six weeks, but after which students can audition to opt for others of longer duration.
Something that has happened successfully. “Berklee makes a contribution on its side, matching the contribution of the foundation, to be able to award more scholarships and have a greater reach,” adds De los Santos.
Vargas understands this injection of opportunities that are given to talented young Dominican students as something very positive. “All those guys who graduate, are working in the jazz part or music for movies, or in commercial projects, they are taking center stage,” says the teacher.
But Vargas does not have his wishes set only on shaking hands with those who want to complete his preparation. He is more ambitious and believes that now there must be a commitment to these new professionals when they return to their country.
“Society has to take responsibility, so that a brain drain does not occur, of looking for professional opportunities for these boys, that they can return to the Conservatory as teachers, an opportunity for good jobs,” Vargas hopes.
He is of the opinion that the Dominican Republic has to become a platform for talents already trained, and that they can be projected from here to other markets, whatever the area of the music business the artist wants to enter.
For Vargas, the fact that all these young people are being trained is not only reflected in the artistic aspect, but it goes beyond entertainment. “This is also a contribution, so that our society is maintained, with all the problems it has, within the limits of decency,” he considers.
As a sample of the talent that young people have, the Christmas Concert was held, with 173 students from the National Conservatory of Music, last Saturday 25 of this month.
With the sponsorship of the AES Dominicana Foundation, the ITABO Electricity Generating Company, the Ministry of Culture, the General Directorate of Fine Arts, the National Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music, the concert was recorded by Panamericana Films, and directed by Desiree Reyes.
“For me the most important thing is the dimension that is given to the work that the Conservatory does, and it is a celebration of Dominican talent,” says Reyes, when talking about this audiovisual.
Concert
The Christmas Concert consisted of 13 songs performed by 11 groups, among them a symphonic, a 60-voice choir, jazz ensembles, guitars, and recorded in the Manuel Rueda hall of the Fine Arts Schools.
Background
In 2013 an agreement was made between the Ministry of Culture, the National Conservatory of Music and the Berklee College of Music, for the realization of Summer Scholarships, for which professors come from Boston.
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