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Michel Camilo |
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BOSTON, April 1, 2003 — Next week, piano virtuoso and composer Michel Camilo will begin his appointment as a Herb Alpert Visiting Professor at Berklee College of Music. Hailed by jazz and classical connoisseurs alike, Camilo is also one of today's most prominent figures in Latin jazz. During the week he will present master classes for piano faculty and students as well as clinics for all Berklee students.
Camilo's 2000 Verve release Spain won Best Latin Jazz Album in the first-ever Latin Grammy Awards. In 1987, Michel Camilo won an Emmy Award for his composition, The Goodwill Games Theme. And his 2002 CD Triangulo (Telarc Jazz) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Camilo received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee in 2000, and in 2001, he was awarded the highest honor from the President of the Dominican Republic — the Silver Cross of the Order of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella. Camilo is the fourth Herb Alpert Visiting Professor, following previously appointed pianist/composer Alan Broadbent '69, bassist Abe Laboriel, Sr. '72, and most recently guitarist/composer Pat Metheny.
The Alpert Professorship was established in 2000 with the support of the Herb Alpert Foundation, the philanthropic organization launched by A&M Records cofounder and seven-time Grammy-winning recording artist Herb Alpert. The Alpert Visiting Professorship Program brings to Berklee a steady stream of world-class performance and music industry leaders. Each year, a person who has achieved major recognition as a performer or prominent figure in the music industry will be appointed Herb Alpert Visiting Professor, agreeing to a three-year commitment to Berklee, for two weeks each academic year.
As a member of Berklee's board of overseers, Herb Alpert has had an important advisory role with the college and was in a position to recognize the benefits of extending — and deepening — the communication between visiting artists and Berklee. The Alpert Professorship reflects Alpert's view that students will benefit tremendously if given the opportunity to interact with the masters of the music industry.
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| Michel Camilo |
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Michel Camilo
Pianist and composer Michel Camilo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1954. He composed his first song at age five, then studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory and at 16 joined the National Symphony Orchestra. Camilo moved to New York in 1979, where he continued his studies at Mannes and the Juilliard School of Music. Camilos' composition "Why Not?" was recorded by Paquito D'Rivera as the title tune for one of his albums, and The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award for their vocal version in 1983. Camilo—s first two albums were titled Why Not? and Suntan/In Trio.
Camilo made his Carnegie Hall debut with his trio in 1985. Since then, he has performed regularly in the United States, the Caribbean, Japan, and Europe. In 1987, he made his debut as a classical conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra. That year, he also became the musical director of the Heineken Jazz Festival in his native Dominican Republic, a post he held through 1992.
His self-titled 1988 album Michel Camilo (Sony) marked his debut on a major record label. The album held the top jazz album spot for eight consecutive weeks. His next recording, On Fire, was voted one of the top three Jazz Albums of the Year by Billboard, and 1990's On the Other Hand was a top-ten jazz album. All three releases reached the number-one position in radio airplay.
In 1996, Camilo debuted at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and Carnegie Hall in New York. Camilo served as co-artistic director in 1998 for the first Latin-Caribbean Music Festival at the Kennedy Center, which featured performances by his trio and big band, as well as the world premiere of his Piano Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The following year, he toured with Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdés, and performed with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Camilo has also composed and recorded a number of Spanish film scores over the years and appears on the soundtrack CD for the acclaimed 2001 Latin jazz film Calle 54, directed by the Oscar-winning Spaniard Fernando Trueba.
In August 2001, Decca released in the UK Camilo's Concerto for Piano & Orchestra, Suite for Piano, Strings and Harp & Caribe, recorded in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin, to celebrate his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Decca released the CD in the US in February 2002, to coincide with Camilo's guest appearance with the NSO conducted by Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Besides Berklee, Camilo holds honorary degrees from his alma mater, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and UTESA University of Santiago, Dominican Republic, where he's the youngest person to ever receive the distinction. In 1992, he was named a Knight of the Heraldic Order of Christopher Columbus by the Dominican Government.
Herb Alpert
An extraordinary musician, Herb Alpert's trumpet playing has earned him seven Grammy Awards, fifteen gold albums, fourteen platinum albums, and five #1 hits. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass propelled Latino music into the pop music limelight, at one point outselling the Beatles two to one. His recent recording Herb Alpert and Colors, co-produced with Will Calhoun '86 and Doug Wimbish, received a 1999 Grammy nomination.
Through their commitment to artists with personal vision, Alpert and his partner Jerry Moss guided A&M Records from a humble Hollywood garage operation into the largest independently owned record company in the world. Great performers such as Carole King, Cat Stevens, Styx, Supertramp, The Carpenters, Sting, and Janet Jackson were evidence of the consistent quality and diversity of the A&M Records roster.
Herb Alpert has utilized his gifts and drive to explore other artistic avenues. During the last two decades, Alpert has emerged as a critically acclaimed abstract expressionist painter and sculptor, exhibiting internationally. He has also chosen to involve himself in the world of Broadway theatre. His producing credits include the Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize winning production of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America." He has also co-produced "Jelly's Last Jam," Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass," and August Wilson's "Seven Guitars."
Alpert's most serious contribution may yet be his most important. The Herb Alpert Foundation assists educational and arts programs dedicated to the training of young people, helping them to discover their own potential and unique energy. An example of the Foundation's work is the 1998 bequest rededicating Berklee's Stan Getz Media Center and Library to the memory of master saxophonist Getz. Alpert received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee in 2000. He joined the college's Board of Overseers in 1999.
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.
For media information, please contact:
Toni Ballard
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2247 or tballard@berklee.edu
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