“The harp or the instrument that I play is a traditional instrument from Columbia (I’m from Bogota, Columbia). We have traditional music there called Janetta music. It’s the music from the plains of Colombia and Venezuala. It’s like the cowboy music… I met the harp when I was seven years old. That’s the first time I saw this instrument. I was like–Wow! I knew I was born to play the harp that day!”
Colombian-born harp virtuoso Edmar Castaneda has forged his own path in music by bringing the harp into an unexpected genre–jazz. Castaneda’s style mixes jazz with the South American folk style harobo, and other Latin American styles. He has four acclaimed albums as a leader and several others in collaboration with artists like trombonist Marshall Gilkes and pianist Hiromi. He has performed with Sting, Wynton Marsalis, Paco De Lucia and many other acclaimed musicians.