Grammy Winner Tommy Torres Visits Valencia Campus

Tommy Torres, the Puerto Rican Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning producer, singer, and songwriter, was the first visiting artist this academic year to visit Berklee's campus in Valencia, Spain. During a three-day visit between September 16-18, 2013, Torres ran various clinics, working sessions, and master classes for students for all four of the college’s second-ever graduate master’s programs.

“We are delighted to welcome Tommy Torres for the first time to our Valencia campus and are extremely grateful for the time he is dedicating to both Berklee and this year’s master class during his visit,” commented Guillermo Cisneros, vice president for global initiatives, Berklee College of Music and executive director, Berklee in Valencia. “As a Berklee alumnus, he understands and appreciates the value and importance gained by students in receiving insight into the knowledge and experience of visiting artists and with his vast experience in the international music industry and success on the global stage, he has a lot to share.”

“I am very happy that I’ll get to spend this time with the students and share what have been my experiences so far. It seems it was only yesterday I was a Berklee student and as a matter of fact I still consider myself a student of music.  =There will be as much learning this week for me, as there will be for the students. Looking forward to this week!” said Torres upon arriving in Valencia.

Torres is the multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning artist, composer, and producer from Puerto Rico, also named Hot Latin Tracks Producer of 2007 by Billboard Magazine and Composer of the Year at the 2010 ASCAP Latin Music Awards. He learned to play the violin and keyboards at an early age and composed his first piece during high school, before attending Berklee College of Music in Boston and graduating magna cum laude with a dual major in music production and engineering and commercial arranging. Internationally acclaimed for his work, as well as composing, recording, and producing his own music, Torres has also composed and produced for some of the biggest names in music, including Ricardo Arjona, Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Eros Ramazzotti, and Ednita Nazario. Some of these artists feature special guest performances for his latest album, 12 Historias.

During his three-day visit to the college’s international campus, Torres held master classes including: hybrid recording for students for the master’s program in music technology innovation; and production for musicians—exploring artist intention through music, lyrics, and arrangement—for the contemporary performance program. He also ran open recording sessions on the campus’ scoring stage and produced a song submitted by one of the singer-songwriter students. In addition, he shared his experience about the production of one of his many records during a public presentation on Pro Tools to all 115 of the graduate students attending the Berklee master’s programs this year.