Top: Carlos Camacho is professor of percussion and Director of the School of Music of the University of Panama
Award winning percussionist and composer, Dr. Carlos Camacho (b. 1989), is professor of percussion at the University of Panama, where he has also served as director of the School of Instrumental Studies and as director of the Music Department. Prior to his appointment to UP, Camacho taught at Ohio Wesleyan University and in the preparatory section of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Some notable activities include appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, the Chattanooga Symphony, the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Festival Orchestra, Alia Musica Pittsburgh, and the Orchestra of the Americas on their tour of Central America and South Korea. Camacho has been a guest artist at festivals such as the Eastern Music Festival, the Santa Catarina Music Festival (Brazil), the Honduras International Percussion Festival, the Pittsburgh Festival of New Music, the Rome Music Festival (Italy) and the Guaranda International Music Festival (Ecuador) where he works annually as a percussion instructor. Among awards and recognitions, he is the recipient of a Grammy Award and two Latin Grammys for his participation in the production Salswing! by Rubén Blades and Roberto Delgado and Orchestra, and an Emmy for his participation in the recording of River of the Last Valley by composer Michele Josia. As a composer he has twice won the Roque Cordero National Composition Competition and the Fisher Tull Composition Competition (USA). His interest in contemporary music has led him to collaborate with a large number of national and international composers, resulting in many pieces written specifically for him. He is the founder of the percussion group “3(r) Three by Radio” from Cincinnati, a group dedicated to promoting avant-garde music for percussion and Latin American composers. Camacho holds a bachellor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in percussion from Sam Houston State University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, respectively. He also has a master’s degree in music research from the International University of Valencia. Camacho has conducted research on the percussion music of Leo Brouwer, Roque Cordero and Panamanian composers. He is currently researching the traditional drumming from the Peninsula of Azuero in its historical and sociocultural context as recipient of a grant by the National Secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation of Panama (SENACYT). Camacho is a member of the Percussive Arts Society as president of the Panama chapter and is a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Educators Network. He has recorded under the Centaur and Ablaze records. His compositions are published exclusively by Cayambis Music Press and he is proudly an artist for Dream Cymbals and Gongs. For more information visit www.carloscamachomusic.com.