Today I performed at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore during the Sunday morning service. Maestro James Houston played the organ and it was a great experience. I have always loved to play in Churches. The acoustic of this church is incredible, such a pleasure to perform in there. 

My friend Pablo Camacho came along and recorded excerpts of the performance in both video and audio. I hope we can have some videos up on YouTube!

Here is a picture from the performance:

Well, plan, rehearse, test, and record a CD isn't an easy task, specially the first one. It happened to me and I'm thrilled (for good) with the experience. 

The first time I was asked about the idea of recording a solo CD I decided to give myself 1 month in order to decided the works (pieces) that could be included. After having played so many pieces (some live) during the past years, I came up with a list of 50 best pieces. 50 pieces are just too many pieces! So, I had to decide the best of the best. I came up with a list of 21 and begun preparing them. During the preparation and even during the recording session, and I after have listened to some of the works, I decided to reduce the list of pieces to 13. Yes, 13 pieces that show my friend musicians and I at out best; 13 pieces that are unique.

400 years, 3 continents, 12 composers, 6 performers, 8 instruments, and tons of energy and inspiration.

This, my first album, is a dream come through. I hope you all enjoy it, it was recorded from our hearts and with just one destination: YOURS.

Hello,

It has been a pleasure to return to Chicago for the second time!
Last December (2013), Chicago-based trombonist Caitlin Hickey (www.chickeymusic.com) invited me to Chicago to join her for a week of shared activities: teaching at North Downers Grove High School, Chicago School for the Arts, and recording some pieces for YouTube. We had a great time and it was great to see Catie again since we generally meet once a year at the Alfredo de Saint Malo Music Festival (Panamá).
This week (March 22-27, 2014) we met in Chicago for the second time, performing a recital on Wed March 26 at St. Hilary Church with pianist Li-Ying Chang, teaching at the Chicago School for the Arts, and proudly taking part as member of the jury for the Solo Division Competition at South Downers Grove High School.
Even when our schedule was quite busy and we spent hours traveling and dealing with Chicago's rush hour traffic, we had time to tour the city, enjoy some Latin American food at "El Cafecito", and cook for friends.
On Wendesday March 26, we met the Consul of Uruguay in Chicago, Dra. Nury Bauzan de Senes, who kindly invited us for a meeting at the Uruguayan Consulate located in the John Hancock Center. Mrs. Bauzan and her husband Mr. Senes attended our recital later that evening.

I'm already back in Baltimore. Exciting performances and projects are coming up!
Feeling refreshed after spending great days in Chicago with great people.

Best,

Carlos 

Hello,

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure to visit the Highlandtown Elementary School of Baltimore.
Orchkids (an outreach project by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) is leading a very intense and valuable music program at Highlandtown and I was invited to perform and talk about the trumpet. The two groups of kids that I work that afternoon are just getting started about how to play the trumpet. I brought not only my Bb trumpet but also my flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet and performed for them. I played some expected previously selected but they also participated actively requesting famous movie and traditional melodies. It was a lot of fun!

Thank you very much to the Orchkids program for inviting me. Special thanks to Dan Trahey (Artistic Director) and Kassie Lord (Orchkids Site Coordinator at Highlandtown School) 

Best,

Carlos

Hi everyone!

My friend and trombonist Catie Hickey and I will be touring Chicago, IL and St. Louis, MO, between Nov 25 and Dec. 2. 
It means a lot of teaching and performances for us, and we are very excited about it!
We will keep you updated through this website, and if you are around, let us know and come see us!
Best,

Carlos

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to share with you my last days of this beautiful summer. After three week, the Lucerne Festival Academy ended its summer program, and I feel very honored to had have the opportunity to perform and learn so much from my coaches and colleagues. My trumpet coach was Jean-Jacques Gaudon, and I had a great time playing for him, listening to his advice, trying new things, and having his support. His stories about Maurice Andre were awesome, he used to practice with him and they prepared together for the Munich competition. One of my dreams in life was to meet Maurice Andre, and sadly I was not able to, but Jean-Jacques made me feel much closer than even to Maurice.
As a I wrote before, I was very lucky to spent this three weeks with awesome trumpet players that also participated in the Lucerne Music Festival Academy Orchestra. Mary Bowden (USA), Jonah Levy (USA), Matthew Conley (USA), Oscar Martín Martín (Spain), y Julian Goldstein (Argentina). We had a great time together, and I learn things from each one of them, it is great when you have the opportunity to share so many hours of rehearsals and talking time together. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and in this case I feel like I have grown a lot just by listening to them, and playing with them as well. Thank you guys!, I hope we will play together again soon.
Dominik, Lea, Katharina, and each one of the member of the stuff made our stay very enjoyable. I had the chance to listen to rehearsals and performance of the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Bavarian Orchestra, and many conductor and soloist, among them one of my favorite piano soloists: Mitsuko Uchida. I got to meet the trumpet section of the Berlin Philharmonic, talk to Gabor Tarkovi, and meet Sarah Willis from the horn section. I also met one of my trumpet heros: Reinhold Friedrich, and had a great impression of him as a person (something that for me is even more important than anything else, believe me). I was in contact with Professor Markus Würsch, even when we couldn't meet, but hopefully next time. I met a ton of people but I could take day to write they names down, but in resume, all of this made this summer, the greatest experience ever.

After Lucerne I spent four days in the Netherlands, at my friend Rob van den Ent's house, together with his family: Marijke, Minke, Tim, and two adorable cats (well...four and a rabbit, if we count the ones at Minke and Tim's home). They made me feel at home. I tried several traditional dishes, and I cooked some for them as well! We visited several places, and rode the Spido boat for a tour along the Rotterdam's harbor, visited the miniature city, as well as the beautiful countryside. I am definitely going back some day, I feel very lucky to get to know so many great people.

My experiences at the Basel airport, as well at the Amsterdam airport, were not so great, but I survived (well...kind of). Seems like rushing, last moment issues with cards, money, and baggage, and other unexpected issues are starting to become part of my travel schedule, haha!

Best for all of you,

Carlos

Hi everyone!,

It is a great honor for me to be part of the Lucerne Music Festival Academy 2013. So far this has been an amazing experience and the place, of course, can't be any better. This must be one of the closest places to heaven on earth! :-)

This first week we have been working on Messiaen's Turangalila Symhpony, a beautiful and huge piece, with ten movements, and a very varied collection of orchestral colors. Our conductor, David Robertson (http://www.stlsymphony.org/davidrobertson/) is not only a great musician but also a very inspiring person. The piece requires a lot of concentration/effort from the players, and Mr. Rebertson is helping us a lot to keep us together. The orchestra sounds great, and we are having quite a fun time exploring this repertoire. One of the great things about this first week, is that all the trumpets of the Festival are playing in this piece. It is a great pleasure to play together with Jonah Levy (United States), Julian Goldstein (Argentina-Switzerland), Mary Elizabeth Bowden (United States), Oscar Martin Martin Spain), and Matthew Conley (United States-Germany).

I am staying at Margrith and Thomas' house, a beautiful place about 15 minutes away from Lucerne downtown. From my window I can see mountains and, almost everyday, I can hear an accordion guy playing italian songs downstairs!

Today we had the first rehearsal of Harrison Birtwistle's Cortege (a ceremony for 14 musicians in memory of Michael Vyner) composed in 2007. It is quite a difficult piece, not only demanding but also tricky to put together. It is quite exciting to work on this piece, but please wish us the best for the performance on Sep 3 ;-)

Here some pictures. Best,

Carlos

Hello everyone!,

I just had an amazing week in Panamá. Teaching, coaching, and performing together with great friends and faculty, and for very talented musicians (in my case, trumpet, from Panamá and Colombia).
This has been my third year as a faculty of the Alfredo de Saint Malo International Music Festival. It is always a pleasure to come here and we all feel always very supported. Thank you to the Casal family for host us, and give us the opportunity to share with everyone what we love, music.

Here I am sharing some pictures from the brass faculty recital, and a view from the panamanian bay.

Best,

Carlos