Omar Carmenates is the Charles Ezra Daniel Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Under his direction, the Furman University Percussion Ensemble has been named a multiple-time winner of the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition and, in collaboration with the Shi Institute for Sustainability, has also released premiere recordings of the ecoacoustic percussion music of composer Matthew Burtner through Navona Records.

Students of the ensemble have also presented interdisciplinary performances and research at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Ecomusics and Ecomusicologies conference, the nief-norf Summer Festival Research Summit, the International Conference on Romanticism, and the Esri

International GIS User Conference. 

Omar is also the director, producer, and arranger for the “John Psathas Percussion Project”, a collaboration aimed at recording and performing percussion arrangements of the works of John Psathas, New Zealand’s most prominent composer. The recordings and scores from this project are published through PARMA Recordings and Promethean Publications respectively. Omar’s debut solo recording, entitled The Gaia Theory, was released through Rattle Records in 2013 and he can also be heard on the

Cantaloupe Records release of Pulitzer-Prize winning composer John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit for 9-99 outdoor percussionists, a work that he both co-commissioned and directed in its United States premiere.

His own compositions and arrangements have been performed around the world and can be found in publications and recordings through Riot Games, Ravello Records, Rattle Records, Tapspace Publications, Promethean Publications, and his own self-publishing site: omarcarmenates.com.

In addition to his duties at Furman, Omar is an avid participant in the marching arts whose work can be seen and heard around the globe. He has served as a composer and arranger for the Cadets, Boston

Crusaders, and Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps, and has also acted in various capacities with the Bluecoats, Carolina Crown, and Phantom Regiment Drum Corps. Omar has also been as an adjudicator for WGI Sport of the Arts since 2014 and has been the percussion arranger for high school programs across the United States including the Bands of America Grand

National Champion Tarpon Springs High School Outdoor Performance Ensemble. Omar is a proud endorser/artist for Grover Pro Percussion, Vic Firth, Inc. Remo Drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Pearl Corporation/Adams Musical Instruments.

Watch Omar perform with the Furman University Percussion Ensemble