Students fine tune Latin Grammys

By: Mariana Yern/Contributing Writer

 

Internships from the School of Music were few and far between; the wait for the most recent one racked the nerves of two of its students.

But after a month, close friends Lina Borda and Jorge Canovas were told they would represent the school as interns for the Latin Grammy Awards.

Borda, senior music technology major, and Canovas, senior jazz performance major, will work with the production team of the Latin Grammys, the acclaimed and popular award ceremony while having the opportunity to meet top Latin artists.

“Even though I never expected to be one of the semifinalists, I always kept my hopes up,” said Borda.

The story of Borda and Canovas began when the School of Music sent an email to all music students saying the school had partnered with several music industry companies. In the email, the school assured the companies would offer full internships to students who applied and were chosen.

“I got too excited when I read that email because I had previously tried to apply to internships, but the School of Music either did not offer any or too few,” said Canovas. “I had lost all hope until I got the email. As usual, all the internships required different qualifications to apply.”

The Latin Grammys specifically required its recipients be bilingual, a prerequisite that didn’t get in the way of Borda or Canovas – Borda is Colombian and Canovas is Cuban.

Applications were sent to Lasin Richards, trombone and music business professor, who chose the semifinalists with other music professors. The applications of the semifinalists were sent to the Latin Grammys staff members who were responsible for whittling the long list of semifinalists to just four finalists.

Both Borda and Canovas were notified that they were among the semifinalists. The close friends had no idea they were both striving for the same goal until they were called for an interview.

“I will never forget the shocked faces we made when on the day of the interview, during our ensemble rehearsal, we found out that we were each other’s competition because we were both wearing formal clothes,” said Canovas.

To their surprise, the Latin Grammys decided to take them both as interns because of their strong resumes and optimal performance in the interviews.

“It was very weird to see Lina every day and wonder who would win. I was super happy when they gave me the good news that we were both in it because, since we are very close friends, we will help each other,” said Canovas.

As Borda stated, she was not expecting to be given such a great opportunity while also being able to work with her friend, which made the news even better.

The families of these two music students were ecstatic with the news of success.

“My family and friends in both Miami and Colombia were expecting the best to happen. They were very proud, happy and supportive,” said Borda.

According to Canovas, his family could not believe that he had been chosen and were happy and proud. “My mom’s ‘wow’ expression had it all,” said Canovas.

Among the several internships offered to them, Borda and Canovas revealed the reasons why they chose the Latin Grammys. The Latin Grammys honors the music produced in places other than the U.S. and was formed in 1997. The first Latin Grammy Awards took place in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2000. Today, the Latin Grammys are at the top of the music industry.

The company comprises all music fields and genres without focusing on something specific or characteristic, which makes it stand out from all the others. Both students agreed that since they are both Latinos, it would be a great honor to be part of the group of people who expose Latino music to the world.

During the internship, one part of these students’ job will be to work with the members of the recording academy who vote on the Grammy winners. The other part of their job will be to help with the production of several events the Grammys will be involved in as the award ceremony approaches. They will work at the Latin Grammys office in Miami for a month and then travel to Las Vegas for the main event.

“Sometimes I still cannot believe that I am going to be at Las Vegas producing the actual Latin Grammy Awards,” said Borda.

Both Borda and Canovas have high expectations for this internship.

“I expect to gain experience not only in my field but in all the professional tracks around me by getting out of my comfort zone,” said Borda. “Even though I am going to do my best on the job, I know I will probably get screamed at. I expect to learn from this experience and to have fun all the way. Who knows if I could get a job after doing this internship,” said Canovas. Both students said they will work hard and give their best every step of the way.