From Academia de Bachata to University: Alumni Take the Next Step

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. And the discipline, the persistence that [my

teachers] taught me, I now bring with me. It’s all thanks to the Academia.”

Emely will graduate in April 2026 from UNPHU in Santo Domingo with a degree

in music composition, arrangement, and production. In December 2025, she

completed her thesis, titled “Analysis of the Musical Transformation of Bachata

in Four Representative Works of the Genre (1964-2002-2010-2021).” As part of

her program, she is now completing an internship at the Ayni Green School in

Ecuador, where she teaches music theory, arrangement, and production to

students ages 3-17. Emely’s students are preparing a performance of the Jungle

Book, The Musical for the end of December. We are delighted to share that

Emely will be returning to Academia de Bachata as an instructor in January

2026.

We are proud to share that Miguel Rivas, a longtime student and young bass

teacher of Academia de Bachata, has received a scholarship to study music at

Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU). Miguel will be the

seventh Academia de Bachata student to pursue higher studies in music at

UNPHU in Santo Domingo and the Conservatory of Puerto Rico.

Adriel Polanco began taking classes at Academia de Bachata when he was 12 years old, first picking up the bongó, güira, and tambora. “At first, it was something new and exciting,” he shared, “and then music gave my life purpose.” Today, Adriel is a complete percussionist. Adriel studied, and eventually taught, at Academia de Bachata for six years. In 2021, he earned a scholarship to study Jazz and Caribbean Music at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. Since beginning his studies at the conservatory, he has toured and performed in Chicago, Chapel Hill and Washington, D.C., as well as recorded original music and an album with a band that plays bachata, merengue and reggae. “Music makes me happy. You have to work on what you love,” Adriel shared. “I don’t know what my life would be without an instrument in my hands.”