Michel Camilo

Michel Camilo is an acclaimed jazz and classical pianist from the Dominican Republic who has attained international fame for his lively piano style, which features a Latin influence. He has a long list of recordings including 'Spirit of the Moment' (2002), which went to number 35 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart and 'Triangulo' (2002), which peaked at number seven and earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

He studied at the National Conservatory in his homeland as a teenager and joined the National Symphony Orchestra aged 16. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music and made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1985. He has performed with major artists from Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock to Paquito D'Riviera, George Benson and Toots Thielemans. Concert appearances have taken him all around the world and he has performed his own pieces and classic works, both classical and jazz. His first recording, 'French Toast', was released in 1984 and he has released albums almost every year since.

His 2003 release 'Live at the Blue Note' won him the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. He was artist in residence at the Vienna Konzerthaus from 2016-17, performed his commissioned work 'Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 - Tenerife' in Tenerife, Spain in 2017 along with his new 'Concerto for Jazz Trio & Orchestra', which was commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His first solo release, 'Live in London', recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, came out in November 2017.