Berklee a Les Arts: A Room in the Desert

Join us for the 2024–2025 season of Berklee a Les Arts, a dynamic collaboration between Berklee Valencia and the Palau de Les Arts that blends music and other artistic disciplines in unique and captivating ways. This series of performances offers a fresh perspective on classic operas, as Berklee’s talented students and faculty create innovative interpretations inspired by the iconic works performed at Les Arts.

This season’s first Berklee a Les Arts show will reinterpret Jules Massenet’s opera, Manon.

A Room in the Desert is an exploration of the evolution of female autonomy through the lens of artistic expression. The show juxtaposes the life of young Manon Lescaut, whose fate was dictated by men, with the liberating narratives found in Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

While Lescaut is trapped in a world where her decision-making is limited by societal norms and lack of financial independence, Woolf presents protagonists that seek autonomy over their lives and creative expression. 

A Room in the Desert honors female artists that started their career around the same age as Lescaut (16 years) and that defied societal expectations to carve a space of their own. Through the music of Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Nina Simone, and Madonna, to name a few, the show illuminates the stark contrast between a past where women were often silenced and a present where they can possess the freedom and resources (or tools) to shape their destinies. 

Coming up on October 16 and 17, 2024, at the Sala Martín i Soler of Les Arts.

Tickets are now available at Les Arts website for 7 euros.