2008 Ecuador – U.S. Jazz Envoy Program
The Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C. presents the 2008 Ecuador - U.S. Jazz Envoy program. This cultural program aims to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of Ecuador and the United States through a jazz exchange, education and performance program.
Four Ecuadorian music students were selected by an impartial audition process to form the “2008 Ecuador – U.S. Jazz Envoy Ensemble.” The U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, will sponsor this ensemble to travel to the U.S. from June 28 to July 12, 2008, where they will participate in a Jamey Aebersold summer jazz workshop to improve their playing and improvisational technique, and travel to Washington, D.C. for cultural activities and to perform on stage at the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center on July 7. Upon returning to Ecuador, the U.S. Embassy in Quito will sponsor the Ensemble to conduct a series of performances and workshops around Ecuador to share their jazz music and their U.S. experience with Ecuadorian audiences and jazz students.
The four musicians were selected through a rigorous audition process conducted by a panel of adjudicators from various Quito music institutions. The 2008 Ecuador – U.S. Jazz Envoy Program is sponsored by the United States Embassy in Quito, Ecuador; Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ); Jazz Masters en Ecuador; and Jamey Aebersold’s Summer Jazz Workshops.
In Washington, D.C., Partners of the Americas, a volunteer-based non profit organization, is assisting with the program of the Ecuador –U.S. Jazz Envoys.
2008 Ecuador - U.S. Jazz Envoys, L-R: Juan Posso, Drums; Giovanni Bermúdez, Bass; Alexandra Cabanilla, Vocals; Victor Hugo Espinosa, Piano.
2008 Ecuador – U.S. Jazz Envoy Ensemble Musician Biographies
GIOVANNI BERMUDEZ, Bass
Giovanni Bermudez was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1982. He studied electric bass and contrabass with Professor Cayo Iturralde at the George Gershwin Conservatory in Quito where he currently studies music theory with Professor Jose Angel Perez. Giovanni also teaches electric bass at the same institution. He has played with several bands in Quito such as Giro Jazz, Alberto Caleris, Anjoa, Afroamerica, and Caribbean Tropical Show. He has also played with renowned artists such as Nestor Zurita, Raymon Rovira, Carlos Alban, Michel Ferre, and Andy Sebastia. He is currently the bass player for the Suroeste Jazz Ensemble.
ALEXANDRA CABANILLA, Vocals
Alexandra Cabanilla was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1988. She studied piano and guitar before she began singing. At age 14, she represented her high school in a music contest where she won first prize. She devoted her free time to music and later obtained a scholarship to FOSJE (Youth Symphonic Orchestra of Ecuador Foundation). One year later she entered the National Conservatory in Quito to study classical music and jazz. She has shared the stage with famous Ecuadorian pop singers and toured throughout Ecuador. Alexandra has participated in a contest to find the new voice of the Ecuadorian music style “pasillo,” and produced a demo song that still plays on the local radio. She is a student at the Instituto de Musica Contemporanea, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which is part of the Berklee International Network. Alexandra has also created her own jazz quartet.
VICTOR HUGO ESPINOSA, Piano
Victor Hugo Espinosa was born in Pasaje, Ecuador in 1977. He started studying music at age 13, and two years later began taking private piano lessons with Professor Anibal Romero in Machala. After two years at the Machala National Conservatory, he traveled to Cuenca to study at the Jose Maria Rodriguez Conservatory, where concert pianist Esteban Montesdeoca was his teacher. He also studied with pianist Raymon Rovira. He has taught piano at Machala National Conservatory and other music institutions in El Oro province. He has been the pianist for bands such as Oasis, Banda Canela, Los Príncipes, Wilson Rojas y Su Orquesta, and Arena Caliente. He is currently the pianist for the F-Band and Jazz Tree groups, and studies piano at the Dra. Teodora Licaciu Institute in Machala.
JUAN POSSO, Drums
Juan Posso was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1982. He has been the drummer for various solo artists and Ecuadorian bands such as Mandala, Muscaria, Quito Ensemble de Percusion, Sonkocho, Anjioba, Cayo Iturralde, Raymon Rovira, and the National Symphonic Orchestra in Quito. He has performed in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Venezuela with the Muscaria Trio. At age 22 Juan entered the Mozarte Conservatory in Quito, where he studied symphonic percussion and drums with Carlos Alban, and where he was a teaching assistant and won the Best Solo Performance Award in 2007. He has studied and participated in workshops with international professors such as Jean Leroy, Quincy Davis, Xavi Maureta, Ney Rosauro, and Pascoal Meirelles. Juan Posso is currently the drummer for the Metropolitan Symphonic Orchestra in Quito and studies at the Instituto de Musica Contemporanea, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which is part of the Berklee International Network.