Recording Project Mastering
2019 Fall Grantee
Carmela Ramirez
Ana Carmela Ramirez Contramaestre combines a solid classical musical training with the art of singing and composition. Exploring various genres and sounds, her artistic uniqueness is rooted in the need of a better future for children and youth in Venezuela.
At just nine years old she was part of the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela (El Sistema) as a violist, playing concerts as a soloist in prestigious theaters like Teresa Carreño. In her adolescence she began to develop a self-taught singing technique of Venezuelan folk music, and continues her formal education with teachers Maria Eugenia Atilano (composition) and Magdalena Leon (voice).
Carmela’s career grew quickly. She was involved in various musical projects like Ensamble Gurrufio, Aquiles Baez, Edward Ramirez (C4 trio), Aldemaro Romero Trio, Juan Manuel Trujillo and Gabriel Chakarji. In 2014 she was nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards Academy for her vocals recording on the album “Tiempo” of Linda Briceño. As a special guest she performed with the folkloric group Vaare in a concert with the Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela. As a composer she was featured in a concert by Simon Bolivar Jazz Big Band led by maestro Pablo Gil.
The Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC has awarded its a 2019 Fall music grant for Carmela to complete her work on her upcoming project “Outcast”.
“Outcast” is a contemporary vision of the sounds from South America, specifically from Venezuela.
Combining elements of electronic music with ancestral rhythms and poetry, weaving the past with the present, the rural with the urban, Carmela is aiming to create a unique pathway so that people from all over the world will be able to connect to their roots.
Carmela Ramirez performing with another Café Royal Cultural Foundation 2019 Music Grantee Gabriel Chakarji.
Carmela Ramirez-Voice and composition. Gabriel Chakarji-Piano, Yilmer Vivas - Drums / Perc, Orestes Gomez - Drums / Perc. Recorded at the Municipal Theater of Chacao. Caracas, Venezuela by Germán Landaeta and Vladimir Quintero.
Ramirez is currently living in New York City, studying under scholarship at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. She was invited to teach for one of the most important institutions in Latin America, Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla-Colombia) in June 2018. She also earned a full scholarship to the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music directed by Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey.
Carmela continues to perform with internationally acclaimed artists, Luis Perdomo, Ugonna Okegwo, Rodney Green, Manuel Valera, René Perez Joglar (Residente-Calle 13), Nella Rojas and many more.