Olga Román

Program Director

Affiliated Departments

Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration)

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Program director Olga Román is an accomplished musician, songwriter, recording artist, and educator, recognized with a Berklee scholarship and a Fulbright grant. She has released four albums as a solo artist, three of them with her own compositions: Vueltas y Vueltas (2001), Olga Román 2 (2005),Seguir Caminando (2011), and De Agua y Laurel (2012), a tribute to Argentinean folklore composer Gustavo “Cuchi” Leguizamon. Román has collaborated with notable artists, such as Danilo Pérez, Jorge Drexler, Joaquín Sabina, Luis Eduardo Aute, and Juan Carlos Baglietto, among many others. She spent eight years in Boston, where she performed extensively with her quartet in jazz festivals in the U.S. and Canada, and she has toured Spain, Latin America, and Puerto Rico. Her song "Again” (included in Vueltas y Vueltas) was the main theme for the movie The Open Sky, which was nominated for best original song at the Spanish Goya Film Awards. Her song "Quero" was featured in the Goya Award–winning film Nothing to Lose. Her song ‘No da igual’ (included in Olga Roman 2) was the brand song for the television channel LaOtra when the new channel was created.

Courses Taught (4)

Private Instruction - Voice: All Levels

PIVC-XXX

Multi-Instrumentalist Lab

PS-512

Masters Performance Forum: Production

PS-619

Culminating Experience in Contemporary Performance

PS-695

Career Highlights

Recipient of a Berklee scholarship and a Fulbright grant
Released four albums under her name with her own compositions: Vueltas y Vueltas (2001), Olga Román 2 (2005), Seguir Caminando (2011), and De Agua y Laurel (2012)
Collaborated with many great musicians and top singers in live concerts and/or recordings, including Danilo Pérez, Oscar Award–winner Jorge Drexler, renowned Spanish pop-rock singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina, Luis Eduardo Aute, and Argentinian singer Juan Carlos Baglietto, among many others
Composed and/or sang many songs for films, and her song “Again,” from Vueltas y Vueltas, was the main theme for the movie The Open Sky (Miguel Albaladejo)
"Quero" was the main theme for the Spanish Goya Film Award–winner Nothing to Lose (Rafa Russo)
Tours throughout Spain, Latin America, and Puerto Rico
Currently teaching at Berklee Valencia; past teaching experiences include Escuela de Música Creativa and Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio, Madrid
Conducted and hosted “Madrid a Otro Ritmo,” a small section of the radio program Hoy por Hoy Madrid at Cadena SER (2014–2018)
Worked on a project called Growing Harmonically with business coach and advisor Fernando Botella (CEO at Think & Action) and collaborated with Fundación Theodora

Awards

Fulbright Grant to study at Berklee College of Music
Nominated for Best Original Song at the Spanish Goya Film Awards 2002 in the Best Original Song category for "Again"

In Their Own Words

"I have an individual approach to each student, and I try to offer them a safe environment to feel comfortable and free to explore and learn. My goal is to help my students find their own voices, their uniqueness, and give them tools in order to manage as a musician in the professional world. After 30 years in my musical career, I try to teach what I think is most important for a vocalist."

"A musical piece, a song, can be approached from different perspectives: lyrics, melody, rhythm, harmony. For a singer it’s very important to work on all of them, but we have to emphasize the importance of ‘telling’ the lyrics, telling the story, the commitment with the emotional flow of the composition, the importance of intention and attitude."

"We work on vocal technique and on rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ear-training exercises. I want them to understand what’s going on underneath the melody. A singer should understand all the layers that support the melody and not care only about the leading line. That will allow them to move freely inside a song, to improvise, to hear and sing vocal harmonies, and to develop their own version and arrangement."