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Olman Eduardo Piedra
Olman E Piedra is the assistant professor of percussion and jazz studies at the University
of Toledo. Mr. Piedra left Costa Rica in 1998 to further his music studies and pursue
a musical career in the United States. He has performed with a variety of ensembles,
including the Sphinx Orchestra (Detroit, MI), the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa
Rica, the Waco Symphony Orchestra (principal percussion), the American Wind Symphony
Orchestra, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, the Ensamble de Percusión Costa Rica, the Detroit
Chamber Winds and Strings, the Toledo Symphony Percussion Trio, Italian pop artist
Patrizio Buanne, NOMO afrofunk band (toured around the United States, Canada, and
Europe) and Roland Vazquez' Latin Jazz Combo (Percussive Arts Society International
Convention, Louisville, KY). Olman has also been performing alongside Grammy Award
winning artists The New York Voices at Bowling Green State University’s vocal jazz
camp since 2009.
As an active and versatile jazz, contemporary, Latin American, and concert musician, he can be heard on William Bolcom's Grammy award winning album "Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience" with Leonard Slatkin, conductor, on His Name Is Alive's "Detrola”, and “Sweet Earth Flower, a tribute to Marion Brown”, NOMO’s “New Tones”, “The Dreamer” by jazz guitarist/composer Paul Cohn and with the University of Toledo Jazz Faculty ensemble CrossCurrents on their debut album on Summit records.
A recipient of the Avedis Zildjian Percussion Scholars Scholarship (2003-2004), Olman E Piedra has studied under Fernando Meza, Bismarck Fernández, Manrique Méndez, Larry Vanlandingham, Michael Udow, Michael Gould, Ellen Rowe, and Roger Schupp. He holds two Master's in Music degrees, in Percussion Performance and in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, and a BM from Baylor University. He is currently a DMA candidate in Contemporary Music at Bowling Green State University.
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