BOSTON -- 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. On Thursday, April 10th, Camilo will perform in concert with some of the college's top students at the Berklee Performance Center. The event, which is open to the public, begins at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are $5, $2 for seniors, and are available at the Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston (617-747-2261).
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.
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
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