Meet our
GERAMI GROOVER-FLORES
Executive & Artistic Director, HGMA
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Musician, Producer, Scholar and Educator
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First American Recipient of the Mandela-Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders - Reciprocal Exchange
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Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music
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TEDx Speaker
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Music producer, educator, scholar, and entrepreneur, Gerami Groover began her musical journey as one of the charter students of the Ruth Hamilton-Elta Garrett Music and Arts Academy. At the Academy, she gained a strong musical foundation that later prepared her for acceptance into the Boston Arts Academy, Boston's only school for the performing and creative arts. At Boston Arts Academy (BAA), she made history as the first female pianist accepted into the school. In 2008, her senior year at BAA, Groover continued giving back to Hamilton-Garrett by creating the project, Save The Music. This fully-funded grant provided full-tuition scholarships to students from the Martin Luther King K-8 School in Dorchester, MA, to attend the Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts Academy.
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After BAA, Groover continued to advance in her musicianship by matriculating to the esteemed Berklee College of Music as a full-tuition scholarship recipient. At Berklee, she earned her Bachelors in Contemporary Writing and Production with a minor in Latin Music Performance Studies, as well as her Masters in Music Technology and Innovation. During her studies at Berklee College
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of Music, Groover began to work heavily in many musical genres, primarily focusing on Latin music. She worked as an assistant producer, composer, and music director for many of Berklee's Concerts and recording projects. Gerami has had the privilege of sharing the stage with many musical giants, including Brazil's finest, Ivan Lins; "El Príncipe de la Salsa”, Luis Enrique; Cuba's legendary pianist/composer, Chucho Valdes; world-renowned tenor and conductor Placido Domingo; and Grammy award-winning artist and producer Patrice Rushen, to name a few.
As an arts activist and educator, Groover is a scholar in the music of the African diaspora, primarily in North and Latin America. In 2016, she founded Gerami Groover Presents, Inc, a collective of global artists with a mission to preserve and present the music of the African diaspora through education and innovative technology.
Gerami is a firm believer in the power of music and arts education, always allowing herself time to give back to the current and preceding generations of youth. For years, she has traveled and worked tirelessly to provide excellent music and arts education programs to youth in the Dominican Republic, Southern Africa, and the USA. In 2016, Gerami was selected by President Barack Obama's administration as the first American fellow for the Mandela-Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Reciprocal Exchange. As a fellow, Gerami traveled to the Kingdom of Eswatini to work with YALi fellow Miliswa Mamba and the U.S Embassy, award-winning musicians, and government leaders to create an initiative called Emandla Emculo (The Power Of Music), which served as the first formal music education program in Eswatini.
Today, Groover serves proudly as the Executive Director of Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts and looks forward to realizing the organization's mission to developing Boston's next generation of innovative artists through the celebration and preservation of Black music. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Harmony & Jazz Composition Department at Berklee College of Music. When not at work, Groover enjoys spending her time outdoors with her husband and toddler daughter.
HAVE A QUESTION REGARDING OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR?
Please email Priscila Perez