Michel Camilo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; he studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory earning a degree of “Professorship in Music” and at the age of 16 became a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of his country.  He moved to New York in 1979 where he continued his studies at Mannes and Juilliard School of Music. Since his 1985 Carnegie Hall debut, he has become a prominent figure performing regularly at festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, Asia, Middle East, South America and the Caribbean.

 

His 21 recordings to date have been recognized with a Grammy award, an Emmy award, three Latin Grammy awards, two Grammy award nominations and two Premios de la Música (Spain). He has recorded in solo, duo, trio, sextet, big band and with symphony orchestras, as well as film soundtracks. He moves with ease between the worlds of jazz, Latin and classical music.

Highlights of his career include his two-year appointment as jazz creative director chair of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, his participation at the 55th anniversary celebration of the Newport Jazz Festival, a five-year tenure as musical director of the Heineken Jazz Festival (Dominican Republic) and president of the jury at the Montreux Jazz Solo Piano competition. Other highlights include jury member at the Jacksonville Great American Jazz Piano competition; feature in the award-winning Latin Jazz documentary film Calle 54; JazzWeek Artist of the Year; artist-in-residence at the Klavier Piano Festival Ruhr; voted among the Top 10 Jazz Pianists of the Year at the 69th annual DownBeat magazine readers poll; a three-year Herb Alpert visiting professorship at Berklee College of Music; Meet the Composer and NYSCA composition grants; co-artistic director of the first Latin-Caribbean Music Festival at the Kennedy Center performing the world premiere of his Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 1 with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin (commissioned by the NSO); and his Rhapsody for Two Pianos and Orchestra (commissioned by the Philharmonia) performed by Katia & Marielle Labèque at the Royal Festival Hall. On March 13 and 14, 2009, Camilo performed the world premiere of his Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 - Tenerife (commissioned by the Tenerife Auditorium) as guest soloist with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lü Jiá.

Guest engagements with prestigious symphony orchestras include the National (NSO), Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta, Gulbenkian, BBC, Nacional (Spain), Orchestre National d’Lyon, New Japan, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Arhus, Madrid, RTVE, Barcelona, Euskadi Orkestra, Navarra, Cadaqués, Seville, Bilbao, Málaga, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Galicia, NorrlandsOperan, Antalya State, Magna Grecia, Zagreb Philharmonic, Evergreen, Puerto Rico, Queens, Long Island, Nacional (Dom. Rep.), Andrés Segovia Chamber Orchestra and Indiana University Philharmonic, among others.

He has recorded his compositions with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin (Decca/Universal), and Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue and Concerto in F with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (Telarc) conducted by Ernest Martínez Izquierdo. In 2009, Camilo performed at Carnegie Hall as a guest of Hungarian gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos.

In 2010, he conducted several tours of Europe, the United States, Japan and the Caribbean in solo piano, trio, big band and performances with the Arhus Symphony Orchestra, the Andrés Segovia Chamber Orchestra and a tour with the Euskadi Symphony Orchestra, as well as duo projects with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés and Flamenco guitarist Tomatito. Camilo’s CD/DVD box set, titled Caribe – Michel Camilo Big Band (Calle 54/Sony Music), was released in Europe and Japan. This live concert was filmed by Academy Award-winning Spanish director Fernando Trueba.

In 2011, Camilo performed his Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 - Tenerife at the National Theatre of his native Dominican Republic with the Festival Symphony Orchestra conducted by Philippe Entremont and at the Royal Academy of Music with the Copenhagen Philharmonic conducted by Grant Llewellyn. In June, EmArcy/Universal Music released his album Michel Camilo – Mano a Mano celebrating his concerts at the 57th Newport Jazz Festival, as well as in Turkey, Spain, Italy, Taiwan and Japan.

In October 2011, Camilo performed the U.S. premiere of his Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 - Tenerife with the Detroit Symphony, as well as the premiere in France of his Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 1 with the Orchestre National d’Lyon, both conducted by Leonard Slatkin, and in Croatia with the Zagreb Philharmonic conducted by Ernest Martínez-Izquierdo. He also was guest soloist with Jesús López-Cobos and the Orquesta Nacional de España performing Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 3 and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

In 2012, the Michel Camilo - Mano a Mano world tour included festivals and concerts in the United States, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and South America. Camilo was guest soloist for a five-city tour in the Basque region with the Euskadi Orchestra performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Also, he performed as a duo with Tomatito in Spain, Switzerland and Japan.

In 2013, his latest album Michel Camilo – What’s Up? (OKeh Records/Sony Music) won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. The year included festival and concert performances at the Klavier Ruhr, Umbria Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Luxembourg, Alicante, Malta, Vilnius, Santo Domingo, Santiago, Izmir, Sofia, Bern, Istanbul, Antalya, SFJazz and Newport. Camilo performed Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm Variations and Rhapsody in Blue with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. He had a two-week engagement with his big band at the Blue Note Jazz Clubs in New York and Tokyo. He was also invited by the Evergreen Symphony (Taiwan), Antalya State Symphony (Turkey) and Tenerife Symphony (Canary Islands).

Highlights in 2014 include guest appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Duisburg Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Musikkollegium Winterthur Symphony; concerts with the Luxembourg and Danish Radio Big Bands; duo with Tomatito in France, Italy and Japan; duo with Hiromi in Italy; Michel Camilo Trio in Mexico, Spain and Italy; as well as solo piano recitals in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Also, Camilo will be one of the pianists prominently featured in the upcoming documentary film Playing Lecuona.

Camilo’s honors include honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music (Boston), Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña and UTESA University of Santiago, as well as an honorary professorship and honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and the Crystal Apple from the mayor of the City of New York. The Dominican Government awarded him its highest civilian honors, the Silver Great Cross of the Order of Duarte, Sanchez & Mella, Cultural Personality award and Knight of the Heraldic Order of Christopher Columbus.