Academia de Bachata is proud to share an important organizational milestone: we became fully independent in January 2026! The Academia began in 2013 as a music program within the DREAM Project. Over the years, we have developed into a flourishing standalone music school, and in January completed the last steps to operate as a fully independent legal entity operated by the newly minted Fundacion iASO (DR) and iASO Cultural Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3). We invite you to view o

This month, we launched a new campus in Haiti’s Cap-Haïtien! With classrooms provided by Institution de Madame Rose, the Konpa Akademi will focus on konpa and other Haitian traditions. The Konpa Akademi’s director, Emmanuel Civil, studied at the CEMUCHCA School of Music and has been teaching with us for three years. Our Konpa programs have 10 teaching faculty and 120 daily students enrolled. The areas of study include drums & percussion, guitar, bass, piano, voice and music t

Emely Díaz began taking classes at Academia de Bachata in 2010, studying guitar, percussion, voice, and contemporary piano. Soon, she was attending classes daily from 2PM-6PM. “It was the place where I found my Dominican roots and saw myself as a girl on stage, something that… [I had been told] wasn’t appropriate for me,” she said. “The Academia had a fundamental influence on my path. It became my community, my family. Here, I can represent my story and share it with others.

This holiday season, on behalf of our students, our faculty and listeners around the world, we thank you for being part of our community! We invite you to join us in furthering our mission and to c elebrate your holidays with service. Our young musicians need your support. Donate here: https://givebutter.com/bachata Celebra sus fiestas con servicio. Nuestros jóvenes músicos necesitan su apoyo. Contribuya aquí: https://givebutter.com/bachata Percussion class at Academia de Ba

Academia de Bachata partnered with the Ministry of Tourism to produce Puerto Bachata 2025, a free concert series that joined our student bands with big stars of bachata and merengue. Over five Sundays in February and March 2025, Puerto Bachata drew more than 14,500 attendees to Puerto Plata’s La Puntilla Amphitheater! La Puntilla came alive with music and dance featuring performances by Ala Jazá, El Prodigio, El Varón de la Bachata, Ramón Torres, Luis Miguel del Amargue and M

Esthefani Polanco, a talented young Academia percussionist, has joined Berklee College of Music’s Aspire program in Boston MA. Esthefani’s tuition and housing have been provided by a scholarship from AES Dominicana. At Berklee, Esthefani is studying jazz performance, songwriting, music production, and music theory. Over the course of her five weeks with Aspire, Esthefani is also sharing her Dominican music with exceptional young musicians from all over the world. In this vide

Our guitar students are receiving virtual classes from renowned Jam band guitarist Ricky Giordano. Ricky, a California-based artist of Dominican heritage, is synthesizing bachata with funk and jazz techniques to provide our advanced guitarists with new skills.  Ricky first connected with the Academia as an organizer of Jam Cruise’s 2023 visit. Since then, he has volunteered in person at our Cabarete campus for several teaching residencies totalling more than two months of ful

Pide Tu Bachata, a band led by Academia alumnus Raylin Cuevas, competed in this year’s Dominicans Got Talent. Raylin began studying at the Academia at 10 years old. In 2023, Raylin received a full scholarship for Berklee College’s 5-week program. Now, at age 21, Raylin plays bass and guitar, sings and leads a group made up of current and former Academia students and faculty. The group performs frequently and has appeared on national television many times. Reflecting on Academ

We serve 530 students in the Dominican Republic, including 180 at our main campus in Callejón de la Loma, 50 in la Ciénaga and an additional 300 Montessori students at the DREAM Project in Callejón de la Loma. We have 12 student bands. We have 29 dedicated teachers, including 24 in-person teachers and 5 virtual teachers. Our instructors taught an estimated 27,000 hours in 2025. At our main campus in Callejón de la Loma, Cabarete, students receive classes in music theory, chor