Birth name Alberto Porro Carmona Years active 1980- Also known as Al Carmona Name Alberto Carmona | Origin Merida, Spain Role Conductor Instruments Saxophone | |
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Born October 17, 1980 (age 43) ( 1980-10-17 ) Occupation(s) Conductor, Bandleader, Musician, Composer, Teacher Genres Art music, Classical music, Musical improvisation, Pedagogy | ||
Alberto Porro Carmona (born 1980) is a Spanish conductor, composer, author, music lecturer, teacher and saxophonist. He has led several important European and American orchestras. Currently he works as music conductor at Akureyri School of Music (Iceland). He has received numerous awards and prizes in different countries.
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Early life
Carmona began his musical education at the age of 9 years old studying saxophone with Antonio Flores at Merida Conservatory, and finishing the Bachelor of Music in Saxophone with professor Cecilia Garcia Grijota (ten-year degree). At the same time, he played as soloist at the Music school's Orchestra of Merida (OCGM) and with the local orchestra of the same city. Furthermore, he was a member of bands and other groups linked to this conservatory.
In 2002, he finished a three-year bachelor's degree in education and teaching in the University of Extremadura, taking part in its Modern Orchestra for two seasons. In 2003 he won the Special Price award (accesit) in the Young Performers of Extremadura funded by the Extremadura Government. He studied composition with Jose Ignacio de la Pena, some of which songs were played by the school orchestra.
Carmona directed Grupo de Camara Verdi in 2001 for four years. This group plays classical and jazz music in venues all over Spain as well as for television channels in Spain and Portugal.
In 2005 Carmona finished a four-year degree in the History and Sciences of Music (MMus) at the University of Salamanca. While studying in Salamanca, he took lessons from the North American teacher Bobby Martinez, taking part in master classes and courses with Paquito D'Rivera, Ramon Cardo, and Bob Sandss. He played concerts in Spain, France, Iceland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Cuba, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Faroe, and Tunisia.
In 2004, he began to conduct the University of Salamanca Modern Orchestra. He invited and conducted Bart Van Lier, Yaure Munoz, Roman Feliu O'Reilly, Diego Ebbeler, Albert Bover, German Kucich, Perico Sambeat, Pepe Espinosa, Owe Larson, and John Goergini. He trained and was involved as a conductor in several courses with Noman Hogue, Tony Heimer, and Cheryl Walkers. During the previous academic year (2004–2005), he won a scholarship and worked in the Cultural Activities Service of the University of Salamanca.
Musical maturity
He continued to study at the Institute of Fine Arts in La Havana (Cuba). He finished a one-year postgraduate degree in Orchestral Conducting and another in Composition, receiving classes from Orlando Sanchez "Cubajazz", Alejandro Vargas, Ignacio Diaz, and Ana Miriam Santana. As saxophonist, he studied a third postgraduate course with Javier Zalba (member of "Buena Vista Social Club").
He conducted the Modern Music Orchestra of the Institute of Fine Arts, Havana Jazz Band from October 2005 to May 2006. He was invited as conductor by the National School of Art (Havana, Cuba) where he conducted ENA Jazz Orchestra for six months with Javier Triana.
In October 2006, he received a scholarship from Institute of Drama, Music and Audio-Visual Arts (CEDRAMA) of his region. This scholarship was dedicated to develop specialization and improvement in music in EMBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina (October – December 2006). He was a member of EMBA Orchestra as soloist and conductor.
Carmona worked as musician and conductor at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Scotland) as guest with the Spanish dance and music company AF. He worked at the City of Edinburgh Council at the school department during 2006 and 2007 teaching classic and jazz saxophone. He also made recordings with several music bands and the British TV National Channel BBC.
Present
He works as conductor, composer and teacher in Akureyri (Iceland) at TONAK Music School for the Icelandic Government (Tónlistarskólinn á Akureyri). He also works at University of Akureyri from January 2009. Carmona teaches as visiting professor master-classes at Universities in Europe and America during summer. He have been conducting international orchestras especially in America and Europe during 2008-2011. Carmona received the Education Honor Award 2010 from the education commission (Akureyrarbæjar) for excellent work and positive impact on the educational community.
Carmona is researching a new methodology in music with an international team of experts and artists from different Universities (Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina and Iceland). This project is supported financially and sponsored by the Icelandic government through Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, Kennarasamband Íslands (KI), Menningarsjóði Akureyrarbæjar, Lúðrasveit Akureyrar, Tónlistarskólinn á Akureyri, KEA, Bautinn, Ásprent, Holdur Bílaleiga Akureyrar, Eymundsson, Epli, Fréttablaðið, Norðurorka, Landsvirkjun and Samtök íslenskra skólalúðrasveita (SÍSL). Mainly based on learning music focusing on emotions rather than academic content. First book was released in April 2012.