Launched in 2011, the mission of the Mediterranean Music Institute is to provide a framework for collaboration in the performance, composition, and study of Mediterranean musical traditions by bringing together musicians, students, artists, and scholars from around the world.
The MMI encourages and contributes to the cultural exchange of folk-based music from the various regions of the Mediterranean, promotes Mediterranean music internationally, and seeks to enhance the global perspective of Berklee students and faculty at both the Boston and Valencia campuses.
The MMI has six main areas of activity:
1. Opportunities for Students
The MMI provides students opportunities to compose, arrange, and perform both traditional and original music from a wide variety of Mediterranean cultures. Performance opportunities include a regular spring concert in Boston, a variety of concerts in both Boston and Valencia with visiting artists and Mediterranean maestros, student-initiated concerts in variety of performance venues, and short tours in both Spain and the United States. Students will also have the chance to participate in recording projects in both Boston and Valencia.
Learn more about the MMI's opportunities for students.
2. Curriculum
At both the Boston and Valencia campuses, the MMI provides curriculum in the performance, composition, and study of Mediterranean music and culture, including classes, ensembles, workshops, and clinics. The institute currently offers a Minor in Mediterranean Music, culminating in a semester in Valencia.
3. Emerging Artists
Through scholarships and financial aid, performance and recording opportunities, and other activities, the MMI supports graduating Berklee students and recent alumni as they make the transition from students to emerging artists in the Mediterranean musical traditions.
Learn more about the MMI's emerging artists.
4. Mediterranean Maestros
The MMI identifies and develops relationships with established masters in Mediterranean musical traditions, making their work available through clinics, master classes, and performances in both Boston and Valencia, as well as through archival material collected and collated by the institute. In addition, the institute encourages and facilitates collaborations between masters of the various musical traditions of the Mediterranean rim.
Learn more about the MMI's Mediterranean Maestros.
5. Publishing and Research
As a center for teaching and learning about Mediterranean Music, the institute will bring together and archive musical scores, as well as audio and video recordings of performances, clinics, workshops and lectures. The institute will publish appropriate materials, and its record label has begun releasing important recordings of both emerging artists and established masters.
Learn more about the MMI's recordings
6. The Mediterranean Circle of Peace
Supporting the larger initiative of the college to be an agent for positive change in the world, the institute has an explicit focus on bringing together students from different parts of the Mediterranean world to facilitate and support mutual understanding along the diverse spectrum of cultures in the area.
