Marco Godoy Repeats Win of BMI Foundation’s Peermusic Latin Scholarship

Ralph N. Jackson, President of the BMI Foundation, Inc., has announced that Berklee College of Music student Marco A. Godoy is the winner of the third annual peermusic Latin Scholarship, a competition for original Latin songs and instrumental compositions. The 23-year-old Venezuelan songwriter, who also won the prestigious honor in 2004, reclaimed the title and took home $5,000 for his song “Para Mi Eres Todo.” The scholarship presentation took place during the recent BMI Latin Awards ceremony held in New York City, where the young musician got to share the stage with some of the biggest names in Latin music.

Peermusic Scholarship winner Marco Godoy (center) is congratulated on stage by BMI’s Del Bryant, peermusic’s Kathy Spanberger, BMI’s Diane Almodovar and Elizabeth Ann Peer, daughter of Ralph Peer II. 

Godoy, whose instrumental “My Latin Feel” earned him the Foundation’s inaugural peermusic Scholarship two years ago, won his first singing competition at the age of six, led his own rock/pop band at 13, and was hired to be the arranger and director of a 15-piece salsa band at the age of 16. With a dual major in Music Production & Engineering and Contemporary Music & Production, Godoy was also a finalist in the SGAE Premio de Jazz Latino, won first place in the Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition, and has been honored by Berklee with its Achievement Scholarship and the Peter Kaleta Award for his contributions to the college’s Contemporary Writing and Production department.

Peermusic Scholarship winner Marco Godoy shows off his award plaque to BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson. 

The BMI Foundation’s peermusic Latin Scholarship was established in 2003 through the generosity of music publishing titan Ralph Peer II and the peermusic companies for college students throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The judging panel included Sony/BMG’s Angel Carrasco, LARAS President Gabriel Abaroa, EMI’s Nestor E. Casanou, peermusic’s Julio Bague, Sirius Satellite Radio’s Elizabeth Rodriguez, El Especial’s Fernanda Garcia, Venevision Music’s Fidel Hernandez and Tu Casa Entertainment’s Maribel Schumacher. Founded by Ralph Peer in 1928, peermusic is a global network of music publishing companies operating from 33 offices in 27 countries. With well over a quarter of a million titles in the company’s catalogue, and songs that vary from country, blues, jazz and pop to Latin, concert and rock ‘n’ roll, peermusic is the largest privately owned company of its kind in the world.

Photos by WireImage/Lester Cohen