Fifty-Fifty Jazz and Poetry Festival Highlights Berklee Talent

By Laura Carrasco November 22, 2021

Viktorija Pilatovic Quintet at Fifty-Fifty Jazz and Poetry Festival - Photo by Manuel Carranza

Faculty vocalist Viktorija Pilatovic and alumni saxophonist Alexey León Reyes taught and performed at the festival in Avilés, Spain, November 18–21.

Berklee Valencia was well represented at the first-ever Fifty-Fifty Jazz and Poetry Festival, with faculty member Viktorija Pilatovic and alumnus Alexey León Reyes teaching and performing at the event, which took place around the city of Avilés in Asturias, Spain, from November 18 to 21.

In addition to presenting master classes at Julián Orbón Conservatory, Pilatovic, a Lithuanian singer and songwriter, and Reyes M.M. ’14, a Cuban jazz saxophonist, each had the opportunity to perform their latest works in a pair of concerts on Saturday, November 20.

Pilatovic and her quintet, which includes fellow Berklee Valencia faculty Albert Palau Garcera (piano) and Mariano Steimberg (drums), along with Ales Cesarini (bass) and Víctor Jiménez (saxophone), presented a set of original jazz tunes at Teatro Palacio Valdés. Reyes performed "Lecuona Duo," his latest project with Galician pianist Antía Couto, at the Teatro de la Factoría Cultural. A tribute to the renowned Cuban classical pianist Ernesto Lecuona, "Lecuona Duo" also incorporates adaptations of Astor Piazzolla's music for piano and saxophone.

Berklee’s involvement in the event was the result of a collaboration agreement with the festival to showcase the talent of the campus’s faculty and alumni.

The Fifty-Fifty Jazz and Poetry Festival was created to provide a meeting point for established and emerging poets and musicians, mainly from the field of jazz. The festival is supported by the City Council of Avilés, the Ministry of Culture of the Principality of Asturias, and the Ministry of Culture. The event’s other collaborators include the Escuela de Música Creativa de Madrid, Fundación Once, Sociedad de Artistas Intérpretes o Ejecutantes de la música (AIE), Fundación José Manuel Lara, and the Wom@rts project.