Theme: Changing Currents

In The Spirit Of Innovation And Community, The Theme For TEDxBerkleeValencia 2015, Changing Currents, Speaks To Several Notions Of Change: Paradigm Shifts; Movement, Both Physical And Societal; And New Tendencies Across Multiple Disciplines.

Aula Magistral
Av. del Professor López Piñero
Valencia, Valencia / València (ca), 46013
Spain

Amy Israels and Friends

Amy Israels is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter, free spirit, creative artist, and explorer of many cultures, inspired by the unknown and love for the divine. Sergio Martínez, Madrid, is a Multi-percussionist specialized in Flamenco music. Versatile as a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, 22-year-old Olivia Dawn Mok combines her refined classical technique with her knowledge of contemporary and world music to create dark, cinematic and uplifting music. George Karpasitis was born in 1987 on the island of Cyprus. In 2010 he went to London Centre of Contemporary Music to study with Blake Wilner, Roland Perrin, Dave O’Higgins and Mark Armstrong amongst others. The song “Sage” written by George Karpasitis and Amy Israels is a blending of styles in Americana songwriting and Mediterranean folk, inspired by Sergio’s Flamenco rhythms workshop at Berklee Valencia.

Chloe Pandora and Ricardo Curto

Chloe Pandora is a 23-year-old singer/songwriter born in London (UK). She has performed countless festivals and gigs in England, with her folk-pop band Pandora’s Box, including Camp Bestival, Secret Garden Party and Strawberry Fair. In 2010 she founded a ‘Number 1 Covers’ project which has over 1.3million views on Youtube. Chloe has also written and directed two modern musicals, earning 5*s with The Melody Blog at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2011) and has been placed in many national songwriting competitions. She studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Ricardo Curto is a jazz pianist, composer and producer from Spain who usually mixes jazz and electronic music. He has released four albums as a leader, featuring mainly his original compositions, and has shared the stage with musicians such as Eddie Gomez, Perico Sambeat, etc. At the moment, Ricardo is the artistic director of the Yamaha Music School Valencia.

Kristina Bijelic & André Pazmiño Betancourt

Kristina Bijelic is a multilingual, multi-genre vocalist whose passion is Balkan and Mediterranean music. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, she graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a degree in musicology. Trained in classical voice and violin since childhood, Kristina performs in a vocal style which reflects her musical and cultural backgrounds, as well as in various other contemporary genres and styles. Ecuadorian guitarist and composer André Pazmiño Betancourt has played with some of the most influential artists of his country. He attended the Conservatorio de Liceu in Barcelona and later graduated from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, majoring in contemporary performance. His musical background is primarily in rock and jazz, and his compositions and playing style aim to combine contemporary harmony with elements of rock.

Schipper & kTunes

kTunes (Kareem Clarke) & Nicolas Schipper met at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. Upon realizing that they had different but unique musical tastes they decided to begin a project and applied as performers to the 2nd Annual TedxBerkleeValencia event.kTunes and Schipper seek to “Change Currents” by combining the unique sound of the bagpipes with electronic rhythms and turntablism. The performance is accompanied by visuals created by Nick Berstein (Music Technology program).

Alán Hensley

Alán Hensley, from Stockton, California, is a Mexican-born 23-year-old who immigrated to the United States at three years old. After overcoming an adverse upbringing in the beginning years of his life, Alán learned to find inspiration from his humble roots and apply it to his work. At the age of 14, Alán learned how to play drums and almost become the second coming of Travis Barker, but luckily for Mr. Barker, his interest was taken by the business side of music (watch out Jimmy Iovine). Alán Hensley, from Stockton, California, is a Mexican-born 23-year-old who immigrated to the United States at three years old. After overcoming an adverse upbringing in the beginning years of his life, Alán learned to find inspiration from his humble roots and apply it to his work. At the age of 14, Alán learned how to play drums and almost become the second coming of Travis Barker, but luckily for Mr. Barker, his interest was taken by the business side of music (watch out Jimmy Iovine).

Ashley Graham

Ashley Graham, 27, was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and discovered in a mall at the age of 12. Her natural beauty and effervescent personality led to her signing with an international modeling agency at the age of 13, launching her successful, diverse career. Ashley has worked in numerous areas of the fashion industry including editorial, catalogue, runway, commercial, television and film. Recently she stared in #CurvesinBikinis, a campaign with swimsuitsforall that made her the first plus size model to appear in an ad in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition. Recently, she was one of five models included in Vogue.com’s “The Best Lingerie Comes in All Sizes” feature. As a role model and body activist, Ashley is regularly invited to speak at numerous high schools and girls’ groups about body image, self-acceptance and female empowerment.

Carmen Pellicer Iborra

Theologian, Educationalist and Writer, Carmen Pellicer is the president and founder of 'Fundación Trilema', dedicated to holistic Educational Change Management. Carmen has worked as a teacher at different secondary schools, as well as a Professor for several years in Teacher Training Colleges and at the Faculty of Business Studies at Valencia University. Currently, she is involved as a lecturer in different master's degrees in School Direction and Management. She directs a team of professional trainers that run Professional Development Programs in more than a thousand educational institutions as well as Educational Coaching and Performance assessment models with teachers and management teams, both nationally and internationally. She has also written books such as 'Evaluación del Aprendizaje, Cómo evaluar Competencias' and 'Aprender a Emprender', as well as many articles, teaching materials and school textbooks in the main educational publishing companies.

Damian Drăghici

Damian Drăghici is a politician and militant for Roma rights and social inclusion and a former international artist. He is the first Roma Romanian Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He holds several degrees in arts, philosophy and public administration. During the years, Drăghici led numerous non-governmental projects to promote Roma inclusion and fight discrimination.In 2006 Drăghici returned to his homeland and started the cultural project known as "Damian and Brothers", in order to raise awareness about Roma discrimination and change the perception and stereotypes which makes this minority very vulnerable. Drăghici was assigned as an Ambassador for the European Year of Equal Opportunities (2007), the European Year of the Intercultural Dialogue (2008) and for the European Year of Volunteering (2011) initiated by European Commission.

Hannah Fraser

Hannah Fraser is a passionate, driven adventurer, with an ability to emanate a gentle feminine power in the most challenging conditions. She is credited with inventing a whole new vocation, becoming the first ‘Freelance Mermaid,' working as an ocean environmentalist, underwater performance artist and model. Fascinated by mermaids since she was a child, she created her first tail when she was only 9 years old. She now creates exquisite mermaid tails and travels the world performing underwater as a mermaid for film, television, advertising, events and environmental activism. Hannah uses her unique link to the ocean to inspire and educate people on the importance of marine life. She is a strong role model of self empowerment for young woman across the globe who see that she has made her dreams a reality, no matter how unlikely the odds!

Hannah Mermaid

Hannah Mermaid (also known as Hannah Fraser) is a passionate, driven adventurer, with an ability to emanate a gentle feminine power in the most challenging conditions. She is credited with inventing a whole new vocation, becoming the first ‘Freelance Mermaid’, working as an ocean environmentalist, underwater performance artist and model. Fascinated by mermaids since she was a child, she created her first tail when she was only 9 years old. She now creates exquisite mermaid tails and travels the world performing underwater as a mermaid for film, television, advertising, events and environmental activism. Hannah uses her unique link to the ocean to inspire and educate people on the importance of marine life. She is a strong role model of self empowerment for young woman across the globe who see that she has made her dreams a reality, no matter how unlikely the odds!

Karen Korellis Reuther

Karen is the Creative Director and Brand Psychologist for Cast, a design consultancy working at the intersection of creative visioning and business strategy for private equity, venture capital and leading corporations including the TJX Companies, PUMA, Dunstan Surfwear and Pantone. Her experience includes, 12 years at NIKE, owning a design firm in Munich, Germany and at Ziba Design. As Global Creative Director at NIKE, she led teams that developed major product, merchandising and brand strategies solidifying NIKE at the top of its industry. Karen led the creative vision and implementation of design strategies from product creation to merchandising across NIKE footwear, apparel and equipment including, an industry-leading organization that leveraged the power of trend, color and materials. She is an Adjunct Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston with a focus on design thinking, innovation and a consumer-centric approach.

Kathleen M. Howland

Kathleen M. Howland is a certified music therapist and licensed speech language pathologist. For the past 30+ years, she has worked with a variety of clinical populations using music to enhance speech, language, cognition and movement in habilitation and rehabilitation settings. Her doctoral studies in music and cognition have informed and supported her interest in bridging the communities of science and art in order to identify best practices. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory in music therapy, neuroscience and positive psychology.

Koen Suidgeest

Koen Suidgeest is a documentary filmmaker, writer and photographer. A graduate of the Film Department of the University of the Creative Arts in England, Koen started as a cinematographer working on commercial campaigns, feature films, corporate projects and documentary film. Following a life-long dream, in 2002 he turned exclusively to creating his own documentary projects. Koen’s interest resides in socially engaged projects with a strong focus on human rights. He likes to observe without judging and is known for his ability to get very close to his characters. With his documentary Casting (2006) he became the first Dutch filmmaker to be nominated for a Spanish Academy Award (Goya). His multiple award-winning Karla’s Arrival (2011) was selected for more than 40 film festivals, broadcast in 14 countries, and won him widespread international recognition.

Liz Teutsch

Hailing from the Midwestern United States, Liz Teutsch grew up in a home saturated with music, from her parents’ Beatles records to her multi-instrumentalist grandmother’s square-dance fiddling. This early exposure led her through studies in violin, piano, cello, percussion, drum set, bass and guitar, and eventually led her to Berklee College of Music’s Boston campus where she majored in Music Production and Engineering. Her studies in Boston led to a plethora of collaborative, creative ventures in music production, sound for visual media, and of course, teaching. Liz is the Assistant Director of Academic Technology and Associate Professor of the Master’s program in Music Technology and Innovation, Berklee College of Music, Valencia campus.

McKenna Smith

McKenna Smith, 23, grew up in Santa Clarita California. Her two passions included music and softball and she spent one year playing NCAA Division 1 softball at the University of Toledo before transferring to Humboldt State University in order to focus on music. As a trumpet player she had many performance opportunities there, including playing for “The Temptations” in Northern California and “The Young Americans” at Boyne Highlands Ski Resort in Northern Michigan.McKenna had more passion for the compositional side of music, however, and graduated with a Bachelor degree in music composition. She is proud now to be pursuing her Master’s Degree in Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games at the Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus.

Neil Harbisson

Neil Harbisson is a Catalan contemporary artist, composer and cyborg activist best known for his ability to hear colours and to perceive colours outside the ability of human vision. Neil was born with achromatopsia, a condition that only allowed him to see in greyscale. In 2003, he took part in the development of the eyeborg, a cybernetic eye permanently attached to his head that allows him to hear the frequencies of colours through bone conduction (including infrareds and ultraviolets). Harbisson started to feel like a cyborg, a union between his organism and cybernetics, when he started to hear colours in his dreams. Since then, he creates sonochromatic art works and performances that explore the relationship between colour and sound, and the relationship between bodies and cybernetics.

Nicolas Altobelli

Dr. Nicolas Altobelli obtained his master degree from the French ‘Grande Ecole’ Supelec and his doctoral degree in Physics/Astrophysics from theUniversity of Heidelberg (Germany) in 2004. His specialization field is planetology, performing research in the field of ‘small bodies in the Solar System’, in particular cosmic dust and planetary rings. During 2.5 years of postdoctoral position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-CALTECH), Nicolas worked on the analysis and modelling of the thermal properties of Saturn’s main ring system. He joined ESA in 2007, working on the preparation of the science operations of the ESA Mars Express spacecraft for 3 years. He later joined the Rosetta Project in quality of Liaison Scientist and Project Science Liaison. In addition, Nicolas is the ESA Project Scientist for Cassini since 2011 and is co-investigator of the Cassini-Cosmic Dust Analyser instrument and team member of the CIRS infra-red spectrometer, and Co-I on the Rosetta Cosima instrument.

Shain Shapiro

Shain Shapiro is the founder and MD of Sound Diplomacy. Sound Diplomacy is the leading music market development agency, managing music conferences, providing music strategy and research and running its own artist and label service company. In its first two years, Sound Diplomacy has expanded to four offices, working with over 30 clients in 20 countries. In this role Shain has been instrumental in the coordination of festivals in 10 countries, has provided extensive reports to Arts Council England, Sound and Music, Music Nova Scotia, authored a course for Berklee College of Music and has given lectures in workshops across North and South America, Europe and Africa. Shain is also the co-founder of Music Cities Convention, the first music conference dedicated to music industry development and city issues.