Students at Berklee Valencia Open the 9 d’Octubre Celebration Week

October 3, 2019

This is the fourth time that Berklee’s campus in Valencia has participated in celebrating the 9 d’Octubre, within a series of events hosted by Generalitat Valenciana.

The Generalitat Valenciana, Comunitat Valenciana’s government, again invited Berklee Valencia to take part in the celebration of October 9, a day celebrating the Valencian community, in a program including a variety of cultural events. The institution had the opportunity to showcase its music in front of the Valencian audience on October 1.

“For Berklee, it is a privilege to share our music with Valencia and the Valencian people, and even more so, in such an emblematic location and in such an important celebration for the region,” said María Martínez Iturriaga, executive director at Berklee Valencia. "We want to thank the Generalitat Valenciana for their invitation and for this opportunity to get closer to Valencians."

This year, Magda Giannikou, director of the Master of Music in Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration) program, and a group of Berklee Valencia students took the stage to perform a repertoire of original compositions. Giannikou, has more than 15 years of experience as Banda Magda’s bandleader. A singer, accordionist, producer, conductor, and music director, she has worked as a director of multidisciplinary projects in the global music industry, bringing her Mediterranean and innovative approach to each of them.

On an evening where numerous attendees filled the Patio Gótico at Palau de la Generalitat, Giannikou and the students used improvisation as a creative resource to rediscover art. The band drew on its creative roots to explore how string instruments are transformed with voice and percussion.