Marcus+

Edmar Castaneda has already had stars like John Scofield playing on his albums. This August in Gdańsk the young Colombian will be one of Marcus Miller’s secret weapons. Apparently there is a real danger of him stealing the show.

Edmar Castaneda

Edmar was born in Bogota in 1978. Since moving to New York in 1994 he has gained enormous respect in the music industry as harpist, reinventing his instrument to the New York jazz circles and changing world’s approach to it in the process. Castaneda is a virtuoso, known for his skill of playing difficult lines with ease and delicacy. His musical imagination was recognized by the New York Times, who characterized Castaneda as "almost a world unto himself". JazzTime magazine recently concluded that the sound of this colombian musician’s harp is so uniquely enchanting, that he shall not fear any competition. The artist performed on world’s most prestigious stages (Carnegie Hall) and at celebrated jazz events (DC Jazz Festival, previously known as Duke Ellington’s festival, Jazz in the Lincoln’s Center, Tanglewood). He also ran workshops in Latin American music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Recently Castaneda has also gained recognition as a composer. Commissioned by Camac Harps (the company produced a special line of Colombian Harps in honour of the artist), together with the Argentinean composer Carlos Franzettti, he wrote Memorias del sur for the colombian harp, classic harp and chamber orchestra. Samples of Edmar’s music that can be found on his website should be enough to convince the most skeptical listener that their author is a truly outstanding musician.
edmarcastaneda.com

Photo: Emra Islek