Most definitely! In fact, none of the accomplishments mentioned could have been possible without Berklee. While it’s true that having a lot of talent opens doors for you, you still have to find the doors, open them and walk through them yourself, which can be a difficult task…especially if you don’t have the key. I’m sure most, if not all, students would agree that Berklee has opened at least one door for them that they normally wouldn’t have been able to do so alone. The professors are some of the top musicians, producers and composers in the industry and the school has unbeatable ties to the largest and most respected music organizations, performers and events in the world.
Q:What skills are you learning at Berklee that will help you manage your own music career?
I’m definitely getting lessons in leadership and management from excellent professors, as well as expertise that I couldn’t find anywhere else. My approach to running projects and my standards of excellence have changed a lot since I’ve started at Berklee. Sometimes I’ll be in a session with a professor and they’ll mention something is wrong musically or professionally that I would never even begin to think about. I notice that in sessions outside of school, things my professors mention are the first things I check for.
One of the major skills you acquire at Berklee is collaboration. Berklee has a way of involuntarily forcing talented students and professors to collaborate. Even if you try your best to do everything yourself and keep it all yours, you still somehow end up mixing it with some great idea your roommate had. After a while you realize that two heads are better than one, three better than two and so on… In my music career I will make sure to seek out and involve other great minds to enhance my ideas and skills to create something that’s better than I originally envisioned.
Q: Another major feather in the cap of Díle is performing at the Kennedy Center. Tell me about that experience. What was it like to play there?
Honestly, the week that Díle was in D.C. was probably the most stressful week of my life! I’m naturally a worrier and up until the second that we walked on stage I was convinced that we were going to flop. A few minutes after we walked on stage we had everyone in the room shaking in their seats, clapping, singing, and joking with us. It was so intimate. I had a woman come up to me after the show who said that even though there were 500 people in the audience she felt like I was speaking directly to her the entire time. The experience was also very surreal for me. After the show, groups of people lined up to get my autograph and were asking to take pictures with me, and all I remember thinking was what is going on? This can’t be real! It was also very comfortable. Once the audience started showing that they were having a good time, I immediately felt like a little kid giving a performance for his parents.
I have performed many large venues but the Kennedy Center was the first where I feel like I touch people with my music. A lot of the people that attended the show were tourist that happened to stop by and had never heard salsa violin, or maybe even salsa for that matter. I’d like to think that they went home that night and search the web for some CD’s.
Q: You’re entering your third year at Berklee now – what are your plans for the future?
Above all I want to become a better musician. It physically pains me to hear an amazing musician and think that I’m not also capable of creating the beautiful sounds they make. A lot of it comes with time and work and that’s why I plan on continuing to study with great violin and voice teachers and play as much as possible.
Aside from playing I have a current business goal of launching a salsa sheet music company that provides inexpensive, high quality standardized sheet music, making salsa accessible and capable of being performed by any individual or group that can read music.
Finally, I’m currently writing a book on contemporary Afro-Cuban violin and working on my first solo album entitled Salsa for Strings.
Q: Where can everyone hear Díle and learn more about you?
My website Juan Chavez.com is probably the best place. If you want to see some videos you can check out YouTube and for direct contact my MySpace page.
