Two hectic days! 30 March, 2023: The Big Band of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory of Thessaloniki under the direction of Christos Anastasiadis welcomed with beautiful music in festive manner Michael Shinn, Dean of Music at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Jason Camelio, Assistant Vice President Global Enrollment Initiatives Berklee, who made a two-day visit to Thessaloniki for the announcement of the cooperation agreement between the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. The follow-up included Jason Camelio meeting with students in the Modern Music Department to inform them about Berklee's degree programs and scholarships.
31 March: The day started with Michael Shinn's very interesting Master Class for students of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. Next was the meeting of the guests with the Epirus Ensemble of the Holy Metropolis of Ioannina, a group of young students of traditional music under the artistic direction of Vassilis Kostas. The ensemble traveled to meet the representatives of Berklee, to play for them, but also to learn more about the path followed by their teacher Vassilis Kostas from Ioannina to Thessaloniki and from there to Boston. This was followed by a presentation of young pianists from the class of Fani Karagianni who played works by young composers from the book "4 composers create for young performers". The day ended with the official announcement of the cooperation agreement between the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, an agreement that is a milestone not only for the Conservatory itself, but also for the upgrading of music studies in Greece.
The announcement was made by Michael Shinn, Jason Camelio, Leonidas Arniakos, Administrative Director of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory and Vassilis Kitsos, Artistic Director of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory of Thessaloniki, and was particularly warmly received by the guests with many questions about the Bachelor program of the Boston Conservatory and the benefits that this agreement has in store for the students of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory.