Tango with Juan R.

Juan Ruiz became involved in music at the tender age of 11. He learned to play Latin American percussion in his hometown of Caldas (Antioquia) in Colombia. At the age of 14 he was handed a clarinet not a saxophone like he wanted, so here began his clarinet study. While in Colombia Juan performed folkloric Colombian music, classical music, and latin american music in various festivals. In 2006 he earned a scholarship to study English and Music in the United States. Giving him the opportunity to perform clarinet and saxophone with prestigious groups such as The Pacifica Quartet and great musicians as Marco Granados, Oscar Stagnaro, Gregorio Uribe to name a few. As a composer Juan has some different pieces that were commissions by New England Conservatory faculty Kenneth Radnofsky and has worked as arranger for the New England Conservatory wind ensemble. His recent music is being performed in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, China and around United States. One of Juan’s big challenges is to picture his homeland ‘’Colombia’’ in his music but also to create a fusion that is influenced by all the music from Latin America and the American jazz. Recently, Juan was invited to play with the famous Brazilian guitarist Guinga as a guest artist at the Berklee performance center. Currently Juan is working with guitarist Jose Allende on various projects around the Boston area and as a Resident artist at Conservatory lab charter school in Brighton. *** Specialties *** I specialize in Classical, Jazz, and Latin genres.