Associate Professor
Music
Raised in Spain, Professor José Beviá, winner of the 2010 International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition, always knew music would be at the center of his life. His father was an extremely successful civil engineer, but his real passion was the opera. “He was always playing opera and classical music at home,” recalls Beviá.
When Beviá was 5-years old, his parents gave him a melodica, which is a reed instrument with a musical keyboard on top. It was the start of what would become a very successful career as a pianist and composer.
Following his graduation from the Valencia Conservatory of Music in Spain, Beviá attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship where he earned his bachelor’s degree. His next stop was Florida State University where he earned dual master’s degrees in Music Composition and Jazz Performance and his doctorate in Music Theory and Composition.
His classical, jazz, and contemporary compositions and arrangements have been performed around the world by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, The Millennium Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He has been a composer in residence at the Visby International Centre for Composers in Sweden, and a visiting artist and scholar at the American Academy in Rome. In 2009, he released a CD of his contemporary classical music with MSR recordings, featuring the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was presented with the 2010 International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition from the National Academy of Music and the Municipal Conservatories of Neapolis and Sykies in Greece for his composition, Three Enigmas. Beviá wrote the three-movement composition for the piano duo Ferdiko of New York City.
At CCM, he teaches Music Theory, Electronic Music, Music Appreciation, and Piano, among other courses. He also is director of the County College of Morris Chamber Ensemble.
“What I love about teaching at CCM is that you can really provide students with one-on-one attention,” says Beviá. “The attention students receive here is much more individualized than what they would get at a large university. Here you can make a real impact as you help students to grow and develop. Then you get to enjoy their success when they are able to transfer to top schools such as Berklee and New York University and colleges across New Jersey.”