Jean Carlo Ureña Gonzalez (he/him/his)

Jean Carlo is a versatile performer, composer and educator that connects western and nonwestern tradition into concert settings. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Santo Domingo, Jackson Symphony, Toledo Symphony and Adrian Symphony. He has performed on multiple occasions in New Music Detroit’s, Strange Beautiful Music (SBM) annual concert series. He is the founder and co-director of the first Dominican percussion ensemble that combines western and Caribbean musical traditions, ATEZA’O. Ureña González, joins the faculty of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music as a Assistant Professor of Percussion in the Fall of 2023.

Jean Carlo Ureña González, a native of the Dominican Republic, began his musical studies at the Elila Mena Music School, with piano. While studying western techniques there, he simultaneously learned Latin percussion techniques from the hand of his father and his oldest brother at home. Jean Carlo joined the Music Academy of the Congregation Mita Inc., where he was introduced to western percussion instruments. He furthered his studies at the National Conservatory of Music in D.R. where he studied classical percussion with Remy Taveras, Luis Martines el Sevif, Josue Santana and Dominican Folkloric Music with Edis Sánchez “El Gurú.”

While attending his undergraduate program at The Hartt School, Jean Carlo was awarded the Paranov Concerto Competition of 2015, where he performed the Emmanuel Sejourne’s Marimba Concerto with the Hartt School Orchestra. Additionally, In 2017 he was the recipient of the Alexander Lepak Percussive Award given to the outstanding, collaborative and percussion community involving percussionists. Jean Carlo was the first Dominican to perform a concerto with marimba with the National Symphony Orchestra of Dominican Republic, when he performed Ney Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto No.1, conducted by Christopher Zimmerman. Dominican Republic’s newspaper HOY, described Jean Carlo as someone that “shows mastery of technique, remarkable virtuosity potential and manifests musicality... his presentation was truly professional.”

Jean Carlo has shared stage with renowned musicians such as Stefan Bauer, Shane Shannahan, Alison Balsom, Paquito D’Rivera and Gustavo Dudamel. He can be heard on the GRAMMY nominated album Sila: The Breath of the World, in collaboration with John Luther Adams, The Crossing, JACK Quartet and the University of Michigan. 

Ureña González holds a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School of Music, a Master of Music Performance, Master of Chamber Music Performance, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The University of Michigan, making him the first person from the Dominican Republic to obtain a DMA in percussion performance. During his DMA program, Jean Carlo worked on a first-of-its-kind commission project developing works for solos for percussion by Dominican composers. His teachers include Ben Toth, Douglas Perkins, Ian Antonio, Joseph Gramley, Jonathan Ovalle, Thomas Sherwood, Jeremy Epp, Shane Shannahan, Ted Piltzecker, Cary Kocher, Rogerio Boccato, Joe Galeota and John Amira.

Jean Carlo currently serves as the interim president of the Percussive Arts Society’s Dominican Republic chapter. Ureña González proudly plays with Zildjian cymbals.