Makes Second, Week-long Visit as Herb Alpert Visiting Professor

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	Michel Camilo
	Photo by Bill Gallery

On Friday, November 7th, the 19-piece Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, and Camilo's own, incendiary trio will perform in a highly anticipated concert at the 1,200-seat Berklee Performance Center, as part of Song's Nothing Conservatory About It Concert Series at Berklee. This unique concert series, sponsored by Delta Air Lines' new low-fare subsidiary, Song, pairs masters of contemporary music, such as Camilo and Pat Metheny, with musical giants of tomorrow, Berklee students with the skills and star power to hold their own with the best. Tickets for the Camilo performance are $20 and $30; seniors are $15 and $22.50. Show time is 8:15 p.m.

Over the last several years, Michel Camilo and Berklee have become more and more closely involved. In 2000, he was given an honorary doctorate of music from the college, in honor of his many contributions to contemporary music, as a performer, composer, and arranger. In 2002, he created the Michel Camilo Scholarship Fund at Berklee, in order to make college possible for young people from Latin America who need financial support. The November 7 concert's proceeds will benefit the fund.

"Each time I am at Berklee, I feel especially alive with the possibilities in these young musicians," Camilo said. "The place has a fire and a feeling of purpose that is intoxicating. This time, in addition to the master classes where we share so much, I will rehearse the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra to play my work in concert. And also my trio, with Charles Flores, and Cliff Almond, will perform. The concert will help the scholarship fund grow. Supporting these young, Latin musicians is very important to me. I look forward to this a great deal!"

Last spring, Camilo came to Berklee as 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 agreeing to a three-year commitment to Berklee, for two weeks each academic year.

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. Camilo's 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 won an Emmy Award for his composition, The Goodwill Games Theme, and 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's 2000 Verve release Spain won Best Latin Jazz Album in the first-ever Latin Grammy Awards. And his 2002 CD Triangulo (Telarc Jazz) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

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 ever to receive the distinction. In 1992, the Dominican Government named him a Knight of the Heraldic Order of Christopher Columbus. His most recent release is the acclaimed Live At The Blue Note, also on Telarc Jazz. For more on Camilo, see his web site.

Song is an innovative, low-fare service, which provides non-stop flights between the Northeast and key Florida leisure destinations, plus Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Juan, with over 142 daily flights on 36 Boeing 757 aircraft. All Song flights are operated by Delta Air Lines. Song airline tickets can be purchased by visiting www.flysong.com. For more on the concert series, see prior press releases or the Song's Nothing Conservatory About It Concert Series section of the web site.

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 further media information:

Rob Hayes
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617-747-2566
rhayes@berklee.edu

Toni Ballard
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617-747-2247
tballard@berklee.edu

Bruce Bobbins
Dan Klores Communications
212-981-5190
bruce_bobbins@dkcnews.com