Top Females in Music Visit Berkelee Women's Empower Symposium

On March 27, Boston's Berklee College of Music, the world's leading college of contemporary music, welcomes a number of international female role models from the world of entertainment, media, and music for its first ever Berklee Women's Empower Symposium, with the theme Portraits of Success. The symposium will explore various topics, showcase entrepreneurialism in the music industry, and generate debate on the subject of gender diversity in the music industry.

"Today's entertainment industry is led by a collection of powerhouse leaders. However, the women in these leadership roles aren't acknowledged as they should be," explained Michelle Golden, President of the Berklee Women's Empower Symposium and student in the GEMB master's program. "As the next generation of female entrepreneurs, we thought it was necessary to take the discussion on the subject of diversity -- and gender -- one step further in the hope of recreating the narrative through these portraits of success."

The event takes place on Friday, March 27, at Berklee College of Music, Valencia, Spain campus, located in the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in the City of Arts and Sciences. It will be streamed live between 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
The symposium, an initiative organized and led by female students in Berklee's Global Entertainment and Music Business (GEMB) master's program, will welcome high profile music industry executives as they discuss strength through diversity.

"Differences are strengths -- as our guest speakers will illustrate -- with the ability to empower both individuals and communities. We hope for a day when events like these are no longer necessary, but until that day comes, Berklee will continue to make a space for diversity to flourish," Golden concluded.

Guest Speakers include Yvette Noel-Schure; Founder, Schure Media Group (PR for Prince and Beyonce) (United States); Leila Cobo, Executive Director Latin Content Programming, Billboard Magazine (United States); Angela 'Angie' Martinez, Executive Producer, MeccaLani Universal Music Group (United States); Judy Cantor-Navas, Music Journalist and Critic; Content Creator for Streaming Services, including Rhapsody (Spain); Victoria Morales-K�hne, CEO of Victoria Records (Mexico); Allie Silver, Founder & CEO, Free Radical Productions (Buenos Aires); Christine Krzyzanowski, Founder & President, ARK Publicity, LLC (United States); Jeanine Cowen, Film Composer and Composer (United States); Alf Olofsson, Artistic Director (Sweden); and Patrice Rushen, Multi-Grammy Nominated Artist, Composer & Producer (United States).

The day-long event will comprise individual talks, workshops and panel discussions by empowering women covering topics such as Taking on the Latin Market and The Makings of a Superstar. The symposium is meant to inspire men and women alike and demonstrate that embracing diversity empowers individuals and the community.

"Diversity is frequently described as the main ingredient of creativity," commented Emilien Moyon, Director of the GEMB master's program. "And diversity -- whether international, cultural, social or gender-driven -- is inherent to the Berklee philosophy. As such, we are proud to be presenting this symposium, not least because it is an initiative led by our students and future female leaders of the music industry."

Billboard Latin Music Conference is the media partner for the Berklee Women's Empower Symposium. Supported by Berklee's Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the college's International Career Center, the event's sponsors also include Victoria Records and LiveXMusic.

The symposium will be streamed live at UStream.tv/channel/women-empower-symposium between 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. CET (5 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT).