Juan Felipe Mayorga
Hailing from the bustling metropolis of Bogotá, Colombia Juan Felipe Mayorga began his music career playing drums at the age of 17. Having gotten the music bug later in his teenage years, when Mayorga realized he had a passion for the drums, he immersed himself completely into intense training and worked on developing a unique style and technique. His dedication and hard work would soon gain him a BFA in music from Universidad El Bosque in Colombia and subsequently would take him to New York City where he would pursue post-graduate studies at The Collective School of Music.
Enamored and seduced by the cultural diversity and by the unique musical richness of New York City, Mayorga soon joined the local scene, which without a doubt exposed him to an infinite variety of musical idioms. To further enhance his career and musical experience, Mayorga pursued work in the world of musical theater, soon acquiring a position as one of the sub drummers for Broadway’s multiple Tony award winner and nominee, “Hamilton: An American Musical” playing at the Richard Rodger’s Theater in New York City.
Being artistically nurtured by many rich musical rhythms, Mayorga explores and fuses different sounds and influences into his music as both a drummer and composer. These range from straight-ahead jazz, Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Colombian, Brazilian, rock and pop music. Mayorga has shared the stage and recorded with acclaimed musicians, many of which have been Latin Grammy Winners, Grammy Winner and/or nominees. This list includes luminaries such as Samuel Torres, Hector Martignon, John Benitez, Manuel Valera, Luis Perdomo, Yosvany Terry, Peter Brainin, Alex Brown, Mike Eckroth, Boris Kozlov, Peter Slavov, Cristina Pato, Jon Davis, Edward Perez, Terraza Big Band, Chiemi Nakai, and Ross Nolan among many others. He has performed in many prestigious festivals and venues throughout Colombia, the Northeast United States, and Chicago including Jazz Al Parque, Rock Al Parque, Festival de Jazz del Teatro Libre with Grammy nominated Hector Martignon, Branford Jazz Festival, Stowe Jazz Festival, Smalls Jazz Club, 55 Bar, The Shrine, Zinc Bar and Terraza 7 to name a few.
Juan Felipe Mayorga continues residing in New York City, where he teaches at the Greenwich House Music School, as well The Collective School of Music in the Latin Jazz program. Mayorga continues to cultivate his career as drummer and composer in both the jazz and Latin Jazz scenes. He is currently preparing to release his first album,” Earth,” which is produced by Mayorga himself and consists of an all-original repertoire of his own compositions.