Special Feature. Paco de Lucía, Doctor Honoris Causa
of the Berklee College of Music
“This honor legitimizes
flamenco, the art that I have been defending all my life”
S.C./Flamenco-world.com, May 2010
Paco
de Lucía is now Doctor Honoris Causa of
Boston University’s Berklee College of Music. The
Cádiz-born guitarist and composer is the first Spanish
musician to receive this international award and, more specifically,
the first flamenco musician to achieve it. Therefore, the
art born in Andalusia is the final receiver of this honor.
And the Algeciras-born maestro wanted to highlight it as
such in his speech during the commencement which took place
on May 8th, 2010 at the Agganis Arena, together with other
honorary doctors of this academic year: Kenneth Gamble and
Leon Huff, Angelique Kidjo and Kenny Barron. That night,
they all joined the ranks of a list which already shines
with the names of Duke Ellington, David Bowie, Count Basie,
B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Pat Metheny…
Paco de Lucía, Doctor
Honoris Causa of the Berklee College of Music (Photo
@ Arthur Pollock) |
During the commencement ceremony, Paco
de Lucía, donning a cap and gown, emphasized at the
podium that his earliest memories of flamenco were listening
to his father and neighbors in his hometown, but “now
its sound has been extended all over the world, including
here at Berklee”, according to the official report.
And then he stated, “Today flamenco music is celebrated
at the most important music college in the world. I feel
that today is a triumph of revolution. This honor legitimizes
the art that I have been defending all my life. When recognition
is born from knowledge and understanding, nobody doubts
it”.
Paco de Lucía, Doctor Honoris Causa of
the Berklee College of Music (Photo @ Arthur
Pollock) |
|
Presented by Berklee president Roger H.
Brown, the honorary doctors of this academic year, in which
over 850 students from over fifty countries have graduated,
uttered their respective words. Besides the flamenco guitarist,
they were Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, African singer and
composer Angelique Kidjo and jazz pianist Kenny Barron.
According to Allen Bush’s article for Berklee’s
website, all of them were recognized “for their achievements
in contemporary music, for their enduring contributions
to popular culture, and for the influence their careers
and music have had over Berklee’s international student
body”.
‘Zyryab’ and ‘Sólo quiero caminar’
were heard
And as proof of it, at the commencement
concert which took place on Friday, May 7th at the Agganis
Arena, the most accomplished students paid tribute to the
honorees, performing songs representative of their careers.
In Paco de Lucía’s case, a twelve-piece band
with students from Spain, Israel and Brazil performed ‘Ziryab’
and ‘Sólo
quiero caminar’. They thus paid tribute to Paco
de Lucía and to flamenco, demonstrating the value
and universality of an artist and an art within this prestigious
academic context.
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