Berklee Meets Lorca Presents Poet’s Work Set to Music by Students Under the Direction of Javier Limón

Berklee Meets Lorca is a reimagining of the poetry of Federico García Lorca, celebrated as one of the most important Spanish poets of the 20th century. For this special event in New York, students from the Mediterranean Music Institute (MMI) composed music to Lorca’s poetry as part of their course work for Songwriting in Spanish, a class conceived and taught by Javier Limón, MMI's artistic director and a multiple Grammy Award-winning composer, producer, and performer.

The concert, a collaboration among the MMI, Casa Limón, Instituto Cervantes, Spain Arts & Culture, and Herederos García Lorca, will be presented in two parts. The first will feature Lorca’s poetry set to the student compositions. For the second half, composer, performer, and film director Emilio Aragon, flamenco singer Alba Molina, and flamenco guitarist Ricardo Moreno will perform new and unpublished songs composed to Lorca’s writings. Videos and recordings of the performances by the Berklee students will be made for release in 2018.

Berklee Meets Lorca takes place at the Instituto Cervantes, 211 East 49th Street, New York, on October 18, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 and are on sale now. Visit Instituto Cervantes for more information.

Lorca’s writings have had great influence around the world and significant influence on American culture. A songwriting course based on his work is a new offering of the Mediterranean Music Institute, where performers, artists, teachers, scholars, and students engage in cultural and music research, and study and perform the diverse music of the Mediterranean. The institute was launched in 2011 with a mission to study Mediterranean musical traditions, contribute to the cultural exchange of folk-based music from the various regions of the Mediterranean, promote this music internationally, and support young and emerging talent from the area.

Limón began his career as a composer, working with various flamenco artists. Raised in Spain, he traveled to New York City at an early age to train in American arts schools, where he was discovered for his potent lyricism and composition. Employed by powerhouses of the flamenco world such as Enrique Morente and Remedios Amaya, Limón has proven that he has the ability to weave fairy tales with his unique twists on the genre. A multiple Latin and Grammy Award winner, he was awarded the Latin Grammy for Producer of the Year for his work on five records in 2004. Although he has mainly focused on composition and the production of albums, film scores, and television shows, he is also noted for his work as a communicator and teacher.