‘Detach Yourself from the Herd’: Fito Páez Inspires at Berklee

Berklee’s Mediterranean Music Institute (MMI) hosted 11-time Latin Grammy–winning musician Fito Paéz for a master class on Monday, April 14, on the Boston campus. Paéz, who is in the middle of a US promotional tour for his 29th studio album, the rock opera Novela, (which he began in 1988 and completed in 2024), was looking for an opportunity to engage with young artists while he was in the country.

MMI’s artistic director, Javier Limón, opened the class by welcoming Paéz. “Our guest is the most influential composer, artist, pianist, and singer in the Latin world today, as well as being an intellectual, a great man, a philosopher, and a musical visionary,” said Limón. “I would have loved to be your age to learn from these lectures and apply them to your professional musical careers.”

Paéz, who was awarded Berklee’s Master of Latin Music Award in 2015, shared part of an essay he’s been working on for the past three years, a personal reflection on music in the 21st century. Students were lined up hours ahead of the special event to listen to the artist, who spoke for nearly two hours and answered student questions on his unedited personal work, his career, and his music.

Paéz closed the event by offering advice to students on how to pursue a musical path in today’s world, which included the following:

• “Listen in silence to music that you do not know for an hour, turning off any distracting device.”
• “Dance to music you like.”
• “Detach yourself from the herd.”
• “Learn from the masters. Teachers are not only musicians. Anyone can teach you something about life, and you will apply that to your musical experience. It does not fail.”
• “Listen to nothing but your heart, your desires. Feel. That will reveal to you that something lived before you and will awaken your curiosity for new ways that you do not know.”

On his visit and experience with the students, Páez said, "I know that Berklee will always be my home because it is a place of freedom. . . . Teaching, learning, and free will are all together as a maxim of excellence to open us to forge a better world. Long live music!”

About Fito Paéz

Fito Paéz, born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1963, is one of the world's greatest musicians. Throughout his extensive career, he has performed in concerts throughout the globe in emblematic venues, including Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the Fillmore in Miami, the National Auditorium in Mexico City, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He has also performed at major festivals such as Vive Latino, Rock al Parque, Lollapalooza, and Viña del Mar, including eight sold-out shows at Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires. In early April 2023, he played to over 70,000 people during two historic nights at Velez Sarsfield Stadium. He has shared stages and recording studios with countless colleagues from Elvis Costello and Pablo Milanés to Caetano Veloso and Alejandro Sanz, among numerous others. 

In 2021, his album The Conquest of Space was a won a Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album (his second nomination 20 years after Abre in 2000). The Latin Recording Academy presented him with the 2021 Award for Musical Excellence in recognition for the exceptional artistic significance of his contributions to the field of recorded music. He is also a screenwriter and director of two films, Vidas Privadas and De Quién Es El Portaligas. In addition, he is the author of four books published throughout the Americas: La Puta Diabla, Diario De Viaje, Los Días De Kirchner, and Ïnfancia y Juventud.