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Kismet (Live) 4:100:00/4:10
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The Bridge (Live) 4:100:00/4:10
Biography
Roberto Villeda
A Multicultural multi-instrumentalist
Roberto Villeda is a Guatemalan pianist/organist, composer and educator currently based in the Washington, D.C. area. His experience with multiple musical styles allows for multiple cross-genres to be present in his compositions and arrangements. His background includes but isn’t limited to Jazz, Bossa Nova, Afro-Latin, Neo-Soul and Classical music. Roberto is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree from the University of Maryland under the tutelage of Jon Ozment while continuing to perform professionally all over the D.C. Metropolitan area.
Roberto began his musical pursuits at the young age of 3 by watching his father who is also a professional keyboardist and accordionist. This early exposure made way for a very deep and intuitive approach to music and the understanding of it as a language. Having had no formal musical training, he was still able to secure a job as a church organist in Landover, MD at the age of 14 and continues to work as an organist to this day. He began to receive a formal musical education in high school while studying percussion, voice and bass and at the same time developing his skills on the piano on his own. Once in college, he decided to pursue a degree in jazz/commercial piano performance but still allowed his musical interests take him to sing with the National Philharmonic Chorale and Orchestra at the Strathmore Hall in Bethesda and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Roberto completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Towson University and studied under master jazz pianists including Harry Appelman, Tim Murphy (piano & pipe organ), and César Orozco. As a sideman, he has performed at many of the finest jazz venues in the DMV including An Die Musik LIVE, Twins, Jojo’s, Keystone Korner, and The National Portrait Gallery. He’s also shared the bandstand with some of the DMV’s most prominent jazz musicians including Charles and Kris Funn, Dana Hawkins, Tarus Mateen, and Donvonte McCoy.
Roberto continues to perform as a sideman and bandleader and is currently working on recording his first album. In addition to recording his own project, he is also for hire to work on other artists’ projects as a keyboardist. If you are interested in piano tracks for your project or in taking piano or theory lessons, please don’t hesitate to contact us!