Speak for Music 2015 – Album Release

We are pleased to announce the release of Speak for Music 2015 !!! This album combines the spoken word poetry of high school students at Escuelas Pias Malvarrosa with music from Berklee Valencia musicians. Thank you to Paloma Ruiz and her classes 4ºA & 4ºB for collaborating with us on this project.

Thank you Chloe Pandora, Luke Dennis, Emily Newton, John Broaddus, Jose Manuel Gordillo, Jon O’Hara, Brent Hamker, Miles Gordon, Travis Smilen, Ryan Khoury, & Sandra Duran for contributing beautiful music. Thank you to the engineers Billy Cumella & Luke Dennis for recording 44 students’ spoken word poems. Arcis Marisol Perez & Liz Teutsch – thank you for coordinating the high school students’ field trip to the Berklee Valencia studios. Lastly, thank you Deacon Creative, Fer Gomez, and Ian Barin for the design contributions.

…and the final product is ready!

School days are wrapping up and the amazing students at 4ºA and 4ºB of Escolapios Malvarrosa received their Speak For Music recording on the last day of school… before they started their summer holidays and a change, for every student, to a new school or a new life decision.

Transcriptions of the student’s poems: part 2

Here you can find more transcriptions of the students poems. Odes to friendship, worries about change, struggles for independence and the simple things of life. They all have a spot in these poems: “The future is frightening/ The school is finished/ Where am I going to go?”; “And I want to stay with you a minimum of one life”.

Transcriptions of the student’s poems: part 1

Here you can find some of the transcriptions of the students poems. We’ve selected quotes such as “One Wednesday like the others/But now I understand the strength of the world/But I don´t know how this world can overcome a man/And leave him alone.” or “Something in my head that doesn’t stop, a sound./ Who am I? And what do I want to become? /The eternal answer that can´t be found”. Themes like solitude, friendship, family situations can be found, as well as very interesting metaphors: life is like a video game!

Day 5: Visiting Berklee Valencia Campus

   …and the day finally came! A bright Friday morning rolled around and both classes of Escolapios walked out the door and into the waiting bus. It was time to head to Berklee Valencia Campus for their recordings.

Day 4: Giving the final touches

The final day at the classroom setting was one of intense work. Student were reminded of all the diverse points of view and new ideas they had practiced for writing (automatic writing, changing the perspective of the voice, metaphor and simile work, prosody tools, etc.).

Day 3: Excerpts of students’ work

Class B created an “exquisite cadaver” as part of their activities with David Trashumante. You can find the final result here:

Day 3: Spanish-speaking guest poet David Trashumante

For our third day teaching at Escolapios Malvarrosa, David Trashumante came in as a featured poet to perform some of his work and speak about creativity and modern poetry.

Introducing our second guest: David Trashumante

David Trashumante is a poet, writer, and activist from Spain that currently resides in Valencia. He has been involved in poetry and organizing literary events since 1997. He has published three official poetry books, El Amor de los Peces (Unaria Ediciones, 2014), Tacto de Texto (Ediciones del 4 de Agosto, 2014) and A Viva Muerte (Baile del Sol, 2015) as well as several self-published works. He is renown for his work coordinating poetry, literary and social events throughout Spain, including Intramurs Festival, Vociferio and Ja!Museum and has received several poetry awards.

Day 2: Excerpts of students´work

Find some of the pieces the students created during the class with guest Chloe Pandora.

ABOUT LIGHT:

“It´s the dress of the sun”

– Rafa Plaza