William Cepeda / William Cepeda's The Puerto Rican Jazz Orchestra

About the Project

Cepeda will create the 20-pc Big Band Jazz Orchestra of Puerto Rico to integrate Puerto Rican folkloric genres into the contemporary jazz big band format.  Partnering with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, Old San Juan Heritage Foundation, Municipality of Loiza and the Ponce Art Museum, performances and recordings will take place throughout multiple locations.

Residency Location

Puerto Rico

About the Artist

I'm an afropuertorican educator, trombonist, conch shells, composer, and producer within the Jazz and traditional folkloric music in Puerto Rico. Four-time Grammy nominee, the defense of my music, culture, and ancestral roots have permanently been embedded in my development as an artist and educator. A protégé of Dizzy Gillespie, I was a member of the United Nation Orchestra, traveling the world and performed with many jazz and Latin artists, which include: Lester Bowie, David Murray, James Moody, Steve Turre, Bobby Watson, Miriam Makeba, and Slide Hampton & The Jazz Masters. Also, equally well-known in the Latin music scene performed with legendary figures as Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony, Rubén Blades, Oscar D’ Leon, and Chucho Valdés. From 1980 to 1990 I studied jazz composition and arranging at the Berklee College of Music (Boston). I started composing and experimenting with Puerto Rican traditional music and mixing it with jazz, blues and, funk. At the time, recordings that combined traditional Puerto Rican music with jazz were nonexistent, so I was not aware that I created a new style of Afro-Puerto Rican jazz. For over three decades my ensemble has toured the world, performing in prestigious jazz and world music festivals such as Montreux, NorthSea and Tabarka, as well as performing arts venues and clubs. In addition to jazz and world music, my oeuvre includes contemporary classical music such as Bomba Sinfónica, a full-length orchestral work that mixes contemporary classical music with traditional folkloric Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms and sounds for a symphony, opera, choir, and soloists. I have been composing music for many different kinds of groupings, including chamber ensembles, big bands, symphonic orchestras, dance companies, theater and film scoring. My formal musical education includes two Bachelor of Art degrees; one in jazz composition and arranging from Berklee College of Music and another in Music education from the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico. I was awarded a full scholarship to the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York, where I received a Master's degree in Jazz Performance, and studied composition and improvisation with Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, and Slide Hampton. In 2013, I have bestowed an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. My most recent achievement was being the first Chamber Music America’s PCJ awardee in Puerto Rico 2019.