Manuel Garcia-Orozco

Professor of Music

Affiliated Departments

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As a music producer, composer, and ethnomusicologist, Dr. Manuel Garcia-Orozco has dedicated his career to producing musical documents that amplify cultures in resistance, under his label, Chaco World Music. Such efforts have gained various accolades, including the 2021 Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for Ancestras (Petrona Martinez) and the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for El Orisha de la Rosa (Magin Diaz), among multiple Grammy nominations. The Chaco World Music releases contain music, artwork, oral testimonies, academic research, and interactive packaging. Collaborations include Petrona Martinez, Angelique Kidjo, Susana Baca, Carlos Vives, Monsieur Periné, Aterciopelados, Flor de Toloache, Aymée Nuviola, Celso Pina, Martina Camargo, the Colombian National Symphony, and many more.

Garcia-Orozco holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University, where he teaches core classes. His dissertation investigates bullerengue music as an aural practice, tradition, and social space through which cantadoras (Afro-descendant elderly women singers) construct and preserve knowledge, memory, and affect, despite multiple oppressions in Caribbean Colombia. He has authored two books in Spanish and the digital educational platform Bullerengue.com.

Garcia-Orozco has presented his research at the Society for Ethnomusicology and various universities in Colombia and the USA. As a composer/musician, he has been featured in international venues, including Carnegie Hall, Cannes Film Festival, Lincoln Center, Blue Note, and Symphony Space. He is the recipient of the Colombian Ministry of Culture’s Award for Music Research, The Latin Grammy Foundation’s Music Research Grant, the ASCAP Foundation’s Cy Coleman Award, and the Fulbright Research Abroad Grant.

Career Highlights

Releases on the Chaco World Music label:

Petrona Martinez: Ancestras (2021), Petronica (2015), Las Penas Alegres (2010).
Martina Camargo: Canto y Río (2024), Canto, Palo y Cuero (2009)
Voces del Bullerengue: Anonimas & Resilientes (2019)
Magin Diaz: El Orisha de la Rosa (2017)
La Caña de Millo: Voz Histórica y Silenciada de la Cumbia (2021)

Awards

• Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album (Ancestras), 2021
• Latin Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album (Aguajes de Mar y Manglar), 2023
• Latin Grammy nomination for Recording Package (Ancestras), 2022
• Grammy nomination for Recording Package (Anónimas & Resilientes), 2020
• Latin Grammy nomination for Recording Package (Anónimas & Resilientes), 2019
• Grammy Award for Best Recording Package (El Orisha de la Rosa), 2018
• Independent Music Award nomination for Best World Music Producer, 2018
• Latin Grammy Award for Best Recording Package (El Orisha de la Rosa), 2017
• Latin Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album (El Orisha de la Rosa), 2017
• Colombian Ministry of Culture National Award for Music Research, 2014
• Latin Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album (Las Penas Alegres), 2010
• ASCAP Foundation, Cy Coleman Award 2010

In Their Own Words

"I aim for my classes to help students see musicality as a fundamental aspect of the human experience. I encourage students to critically engage with diverse musical traditions, using the lens of social justice to explore how music reflects and influences societal structures. My ultimate goal is to inspire and help students develop as informed, reflective, and socially conscious individuals, who, with their unique musical perspectives, are equipped to contribute to a more just and inclusive world."

"My commitment to amplifying historically overlooked musical cultures enriches my teaching deeply. Drawing from my experiences with esteemed artists like Angelique Kidjo, Susana Baca, and Petrona Martinez, I emphasize the significance of their repertoires, histories of resistance, and epistemologies as vital knowledge systems that sustain life and nature, especially in the face of global crises such as wars, hunger, and ecological devastation."

"These diverse musical experiences shape my appreciation for each student’s unique interests, skills, sensibilities, and practices related to their music studies. My work as a producer and ethnomusicologist informs my role as an educator aiming to create, facilitate, and nurture a realm of possibilities for every student. This approach fosters intellectually and emotionally engaged communities within the classroom, allowing us to collectively explore and expand our understanding of music and its broader social implications."